Thermal imager with large dynamic range and improved signal-to-noise ratio

摘要

A system for producing thermal images acquires at least first and second thermal images comprising a plurality of pixels and a first and second dynamic range, respectively. The second dynamic range is such that its upper limit is higher than that of the first, and at least partially overlaps the first. A final thermal image is created comprising pixels from the first thermal image that are not saturated or nearly saturated with respect to the first dynamic range, and pixels from the second thermal image that are saturated or nearly saturated with respect to the first dynamic range. The resulting final image generally comprises both a large dynamic range and high signal-to-noise ratio.

主权项

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing executable instructions causing one or more processors to perform a method of creating a final thermal image from at least a first and second thermal image of a scene, the second thermal image having a larger dynamic range than the first thermal image, the method comprising:
defining a first set of pixels in the second thermal image, the first set of pixels consisting of pixels not saturated or nearly saturated with respect to the dynamic range of the first thermal image; defining a second set of pixels in the second thermal image, the second set of pixels consisting of pixels not saturated or nearly saturated with respect to the dynamic range of the second thermal image; constructing a final thermal image comprising the first set of pixels from the first thermal image and the second set of pixels from the second thermal image.