The advanced refrigerated infrared imager is equipped with an integrated cryocooler imaging detector. This is a device that can reduce the temperature of the detector to the cooling temperature. In order to reduce the thermal noise below the level of the scene imaging signal, the temperature drop of the detector is essential. The refrigerated infrared thermal imager is the most sensitive infrared thermal imager, which can detect the smallest temperature difference between objects. They operate in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) bands of the spectrum, where thermal sensitivity is physically high. Thermal sensitivity refers to the change of signal relative to the target temperature. The higher the thermal sensitivity, the easier it is to detect scenes where the target temperature differs little from the background. Uncooled infrared thermal imager is an infrared thermal imager equipped with imaging detectors that do not require cryogenic refrigeration. Common detector designs are based on pyroelectric detectors, which are small vanadium oxide resistors with a large temperature measurement coefficient, large surface area, low thermal capacity, and good thermal insulation. The change of scene temperature will lead to the change of infrared detector temperature, which will be converted into electrical signals and processed to produce images. The uncooled detector is used in the long wave infrared (LWIR) band, where the target similar to the ground temperature emits the most infrared thermal energy. Compared with the refrigerated detector, the uncooled detector has fewer manufacturing steps, higher production rate, lower cost of vacuum packaging, and the uncooled infrared thermal imager does not require extremely expensive cryogenic refrigeration equipment. The uncooled ir thermal imager is equipped with fewer moving parts and has a longer service life than the refrigerated IR thermal imager under similar working conditions. The advantages presented by uncooled IR imaging devices pose a dilemma: when is the best time to use cooled IR imaging devices for r&d/scientific applications? The answer is: it depends on the application requirements.

1. Sensitivity, accuracy and error

When the refrigerated infrared thermal imager works, the refrigerating machine first operates to reduce its own temperature, so that it can detect other objects with higher sensitivity, higher accuracy, smaller error and wider temperature range. The non-refrigerated infrared thermal imager is inferior to the refrigerated infrared thermal imager in these aspects, especially the non-uniformity of the non-refrigerated infrared focal plane array has a great influence on the measurement error.

2. The power consumption

The refrigerating infrared thermal imager needs to cool down when it works, so it will consume more energy and consume more power than the unrefrigerating infrared thermal imager.

3. Service life

The refrigerated infrared thermal imager has high precision, small error and high sensitivity, which makes its detection result more reliable.

4. The reliability

The refrigerated infrared thermal imager has high precision, small error and high sensitivity, which makes its detection result more reliable.

5. Price

Generally speaking, the refrigerated infrared thermal imager is expensive, while the non-refrigerated thermal imager is relatively low.

6. The volume

The refrigerated ir thermal imager is more bulky than the unrefrigerated type because the refrigerated ir thermal imager needs the refrigerator to work cooperatively.

7. Application

In terms of application scope and military field, compared with traditional imaging system, the structure of uncooled infrared imager is much simpler, the cost is lower, and the resolution, detection sensitivity and reliability of imager are improved.