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FLIRs and IRSTs

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Principles of Infrared Technology

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Abstract

Like pornography, FLIRs are sometimes hard to define precisely, but a seasoned infrared engineer usually knows one when he sees one. The term “FLIR” probably should be eliminated from IR techno-speak, but so many people in the industry use it that it is likely to remain in the jargon for awhile. “FLIR” is archaic sixties jargon for forward-looking infrared. The term originated to distinguish these systems from IR line scanners, which look down rather than forward. There is nothing to stop a FLIR from looking backward. Conversely, most sensors that do look forward are not considered to be FLIRs (e.g., cameras and astronomical instruments). An IR sensor that views perpendicular to the motion, sometimes using the motion for one of the dimensions of the scan, is sometimes (though, fortunately, rarely) referred to as a side-looking infrared (SLIR). Modern FLIRs are characterized by real-time imaging with real-time ergonomics, high backgrounds, self-scanning, imaged targets, and image stabilization.

“A tool is an extension of a man’s hand, and a machine is but a complex tool, and he that invents a machine augments the power of a man and the well-being of mankind.”

Henry Ward Beecher

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Authors
  1. John Lester Miller
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© 1994 Van Nostrand Reinhold

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Miller, J.L. (1994). FLIRs and IRSTs. In: Principles of Infrared Technology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7664-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7664-8_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7666-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7664-8

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