| Editor’s note: For a guide on how to select the right TIC for your department, check out ‘Tips for Purchasing a New Thermal Imaging Camera.’ |
By Jamie Thompson
FireRescue1 Editor
 Photo MSA |
Thermal imaging technology seems to be advancing every year, resulting in more and more new cameras being introduced to the market.
But the fact that one TIC can have completely different operating and display functions from another can create problems for firefighters in trying to adjust to the latest model.
MSA has attempted to resolve the issue in its latest TIC, the Evolution 5800, with fit, form and function the same as its predecessors, the Evolution 5200 and 5600.
“Any firefighter who uses thermal imaging cameras can pick up the 5800 and go right to work with it, said Shane Bray, product manager of thermal imaging and electronic PPE systems at MSA. “It’s very user friendly.”
Bray said while the Evolution 5800 does contain some of the same features as the earlier models, a range of improvements have been made that harness ever-improving technology.
Many TICs made for the fire service are typically geared toward use in high-heat environments, he said, so MSA worked on enhancing imagery in low-temperature contrasts, too, with Image Detail Enhancement (IDE) software.
“With the introduction of IDE, it’s given us the best of both worlds, providing the best image in high heat and the best image in low-contrast environments as well,” Bray said.
“The camera’s imagery is enhanced so that it matches the total range of the actual image.”
This technology has been combined with user-selectable palette imagery, which allows the user to select a customized image that takes into account the environment the camera is operating in.
The fiver user-selectable palettes — white hot, black hot, fire and ice, fusion, and rainbow imageries — provide the user with a range of options.
“While white hot imagery is the standard firefighter mode, the black hot or reverse polarity imagery could be used during a water rescue, when you’re trying to see someone on a large body of water,” Bray said. “It would turn all of the water white, and the individual black.”
All of this makes it a much more functional tool for first responders in all types of applications, Bray said, not just in firefighting but in other areas such as search and rescue.
In addition, a feature found in earlier models — Quick Temp — has been incorporated into the Evolution 5800, which uses crosshairs located right in the center of the display to focus on a specific area.
“It lets the firefighter know what the temperature is of the item that their crosshairs are on, both temperature gradient as well as a normal readout,” Bray said.
In line with other TICs in the 5000 series TICs, the Evolution 5800’s features include single-button activation, a dual-handle design, a lightweight lithium ion battery with more than two hours of run time and a protective battery compartment.
The “engine technology” in the camera is a vanadium oxide microbolometer that incorporates a 320 x 240 focal plane array sensor, generating more than 76,000 pixels of image detail. The MSRP for the E5800 is $14,899.
- For more details on MSA thermal imaging cameras, visit MSAnet.com.