Short Wave Infrared Camera

SWIR Cameras

SWIR stands for Short Wave InfraRed. It is more often than not referring to the wavelength band of light that sits between 900nm and 2500nm. Unlike Long-Wave Infrared (LWIR) light, which is emitted from the object itself, SWIR light is similar to visible light in that photons are reflected or absorbed by an object, giving you the strongest contrast possible, which you really need for high resolution imaging. A LWIR camera produces low quality images, while a SWIR camera produces excellent, high definition images.

Short Wave InfraRed Imagers

We can use SWIR imaging in a multitude of applications. Some of these may be including silicon inspection, laser beam profiling, hyperspectral imaging, chemical and plastics sensing, machine vision imaging, agricultural sensing, surveillance systems, and medical imaging. They give you the ability to see those super minute defects that you just can’t catch otherwise, and in some circumstances that’s the difference between life and death. SWIR can also be used in facial recognition on your phone or in autonomous cars!

Machine Vision Imaging

Machine vision imaging may be the most heavily used application for SWIR at this time.. Machine vision imaging necessitates cameras that can see the absolute smallest defects, see that at extremely fast frame rates, and a field of view wide enough to image a large area. SWIR cameras fit in with most vision softwares Manufacturing anything always has some unknown and risk to it. There are just so many steps involved in most manufacturing processes, there’s always a chance for something to wrong and lead to you putting out some undesirable product. You don’t want inferior products being distributed.

NIR Cameras

Near-infrared is also known as NIR. It is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum directly adjacent to the visible range, meaning it is not visible to the human eye. NIR-optimized industrial cameras are popular for applications that need to utilize this wavelength range, mainly applications with poor light conditions, such as traffic monitoring or even security. Until now, these applications were only possible with infrared cameras with expensive CCD sensors. Some application fields and inspection solutions require NIR for high wavelengths as well as for normal lighting, to record high-contrast images. Standard industrial cameras quickly reach their limits in that particular scenario, since they require very great lighting to get useable images. Setting up these light solutions adds tremendous cost and complexity, which in turn leads to rising system costs and deterioration of the price/performance ratio. A Short Wave Infrared Camera will have a different use, but both are good for different applications.