Thermal vision products can be rather confusing at first glance, a lot of technical info that means not so much but has a big affect of price! This guide we hope will make things clear!
Photo above from a Lynx 10mm Pro on dark heat mode
See the HIK range here
Thermal Basics
- All objects emit thermal radiation in the Infrared (IR) bands, due to molecular vibration and motion
- Thermal cameras detects this energy, and creates an image based on temperature differences
- Visible light and thermal energy are both part of the electromagnetic spectrum, but they have different wavelength.
Visible light - is what we see with our eyes during the day (and in a limited way at night) "Night Vision" products work by intensifying this light to allow our humble eyes to "see" visible light when it is dark. How well this works depends on how light there is to intensify. NV would not work at all in an enclosed box for example. Whereas thermal would.
Thus when we talk about thermal vision it's is important not to make the mistake of thinking of it only as "thermal night vision". Thermal works in a way that our eyes simply do not. Heat emitting objects literally jump out against their background no mater how well camouflaged they are
This does mean that yes, thermal is superb at night for sure but can be equally as useful during daylight, when for example, surveying a cluttered, overgrown area looking for skulking critters
Important also before moving on to make it clear that thermal does not replace light intensifying night vision technology in your kit. NV also has it's place in that it can give a sharper and more precise image that you can hunt to.
Ideally, budget allowing you use both. Thermal to detect that "something is there" and then NV scope to get in there in detail.
Other thermal uses - Dog owners take note
Tracking - injured animal blood trails - the HIK "Red Hot" option is brilliant for tracking such especially in colder conditions. Though if it is hot and there is a lot of rock about there will be "noise" Fine tuning can help filter,
Where is the poo?
Ever been out with your dog(s) maybe in autumn and they do one at a distance in an area where you really want to pick it up (like in your garden!)....lets call it a brown on brown incident. Whip out your monocular which you have in a pocket (obviously) and the poo stands out like a shining beacon. Red marks the spot! Now that's useful tech 😂
Now on with the guide to the technology and terminology - To recap
- All objects emit thermal radiation in the Infrared (IR) bands, due to molecular vibration and motion
- Thermal cameras detects this energy, and creates an image based on temperature differences
- Visible light and thermal energy are both part of the electromagnetic spectrum, but they have different wavelength.
Electromagnetic Energy
- Different types of light are distinguished by their wavelengths, frequency and energy
- Longer wavelength -- less “energetic” light
Thermal Fundamentals
Visible technology need a light source (e.g. Sun, bulbs) to emit radiation which is reflected on an object. This reflection is what we see with our eyes.
The Thermal Advantage
The Thermal Camera Technology
A thermal camera consists of many components to get a thermal image from the heat radiation of a scene.
Lenses for thermal cameras are typically made of Germanium (Ge)
The Detector
- An infrared detector is a detector that reacts to infrared (IR) radiation.
- The two main types of detectors are thermal (Microbolometer – uncooled) and photonic (photo detector – cooled).
- Infrared radiation strikes the detector material, heating it, and thus changing its electrical resistance.
- This resistance change is measured and processed into temperatures which can be used to create an image.
How this relates to resolution
- Resolution of thermal detector refers to the number of Pixels on the uncooled Focal Plane Array
- Right now, the mainstream resolution in the market are: 160x120/ 384x288/ 640x512 ... available also 1280x1024
The bigger the number the better the resolution as each images contains more information which = better image quality and details - But also higher cost!
Focal Length
This is the distance from the center of the lens to the principal focal point of the lens. As the lenght changes the amount of subject captured by the lens changes. Again bigger = better in terms of image quality/detail and critically distance the device can effectively operate
How this relates to HIK product naming
So for example the Lynx C06 is the entry level and Owl Q35 is the top (35 not on this image but is in the range)
And in real terms how does this affect affective use range? Easier to show than say
HIK models and their best practical uses
Distances based on deer sized object. So for example, for a rabbit sized target the effective spotting/identification range will be less
See the HIK range here

See the HIK range here
See the HIK range here
See the HIK range here
See the HIK range here