As someone who's actually read up on the subject recently, I can relate the following reasons to you. They are in no particular order.
First of all, what is the pixel/photosite size? 12um. Current photo sensors, like for the iphone 14, use 1.22μm "photosites" (and combine them to make pixels because they're going with a quad bayer pattern thus reducing the amount of usable pixels to 12MP... But that is all beyond the purpose of this discussion.)
How much do these IR sensors cost to produce? From what I understand, the cost is a bit more for a good IR light sensor.
How much demand is there? Thermal cameras are a bit of a niche application. That means that companies can charge more and innovate less because those who need these sensors really need these sensors. Like the US military.
How much gov regulation is there? Lots. And we can expect more because this is a tech that militaries rely heavily on. Why innovate when you'll just get caught in red tape and have your products total addressable market artificially limited?
Export control. They're required to be too low capability to be useful for making heat seeking missiles or military night vision systems. I don't know which spec these target, but the US has more restrictive limits for exportable hardware vs what civilians can own. Which means if you buy the better quality stuff for personal use, you can get in serious trouble if you forget it's export controlled and try to take it with you for vacation abroad.
That (export controls) would also be my main guess. Actual infrared cameras that image heat signatures are what real night vision is based on. Anything beyond a certain resolution and sensitivity is directly relevant to, for example, night vision sniper scopes, or finding camouflaged vehicles. Not even sure if generation III, IV and better thermal cameras are still available to civilians anymore; I never needed one, so I haven't looked at any in a long while.
'Night vision' and thermal cameras are rarely the same thing. Light-amplification (either tube-based or all solid state) is far more common for that application. Light amplificaiton tubes/cameras may operate in the near-infra-red range, but nIR can still be picked up by regular CCDs and CMOS arrays - which is why you can see TV remotes flashing 'purple' (green bayer filter blocks nIR strongly, red and blue do not) in digital cameras. Thermal cameras use a completely different sensor type (microbolometer array) and sense a very different range of wavelengths - an nIR camera can no more pick up thermal IR than it can microwaves.
You need to make each pixel larger because the photons you're trying to detect are bigger. Each pixel on a sensor has to catch enough photons to trigger that pixel as "seeing" something. Visible light has a wavelength range of 400-700nm. Infrared has a wavelength of 1000-14,000nm - up to 20x longer. So: to catch the same number of infrared photons per pixel as visible photons, your pixels need to be 20x larger.
But you actually have to catch *more* photons, because infrared photons are less energetic. If the sensor on these cameras is the same size as a regular 48mp smartphone camera sensor, then each IR sensor pixel is 30x larger than on the visible light sensor.
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Threska - Sunday, December 31, 2023 - link
Wonder why the resolution is so small compared to visible light sensors?meacupla - Sunday, December 31, 2023 - link
My guesses, in no particular order:No demand, cost, limitations of physics (750nm~1mm wavelength)
ballsystemlord - Sunday, December 31, 2023 - link
As someone who's actually read up on the subject recently, I can relate the following reasons to you. They are in no particular order.First of all, what is the pixel/photosite size? 12um. Current photo sensors, like for the iphone 14, use 1.22μm "photosites" (and combine them to make pixels because they're going with a quad bayer pattern thus reducing the amount of usable pixels to 12MP... But that is all beyond the purpose of this discussion.)
How much do these IR sensors cost to produce? From what I understand, the cost is a bit more for a good IR light sensor.
How much demand is there? Thermal cameras are a bit of a niche application. That means that companies can charge more and innovate less because those who need these sensors really need these sensors. Like the US military.
How much gov regulation is there? Lots. And we can expect more because this is a tech that militaries rely heavily on. Why innovate when you'll just get caught in red tape and have your products total addressable market artificially limited?
At least that's what I've read. I hope it helps.
mode_13h - Monday, January 1, 2024 - link
I'm pretty sure there are technical limitations behind the low resolution. I'm not sure if it's the optics, or what.It's interesting to read the framerate is restricted. I guess that's to keep them from being used in missiles or other weapons systems?
DanNeely - Monday, January 1, 2024 - link
Export control. They're required to be too low capability to be useful for making heat seeking missiles or military night vision systems. I don't know which spec these target, but the US has more restrictive limits for exportable hardware vs what civilians can own. Which means if you buy the better quality stuff for personal use, you can get in serious trouble if you forget it's export controlled and try to take it with you for vacation abroad.eastcoast_pete - Monday, January 1, 2024 - link
That (export controls) would also be my main guess. Actual infrared cameras that image heat signatures are what real night vision is based on. Anything beyond a certain resolution and sensitivity is directly relevant to, for example, night vision sniper scopes, or finding camouflaged vehicles.Not even sure if generation III, IV and better thermal cameras are still available to civilians anymore; I never needed one, so I haven't looked at any in a long while.
edzieba - Tuesday, January 2, 2024 - link
'Night vision' and thermal cameras are rarely the same thing. Light-amplification (either tube-based or all solid state) is far more common for that application. Light amplificaiton tubes/cameras may operate in the near-infra-red range, but nIR can still be picked up by regular CCDs and CMOS arrays - which is why you can see TV remotes flashing 'purple' (green bayer filter blocks nIR strongly, red and blue do not) in digital cameras. Thermal cameras use a completely different sensor type (microbolometer array) and sense a very different range of wavelengths - an nIR camera can no more pick up thermal IR than it can microwaves.BedfordTim - Wednesday, January 3, 2024 - link
Probably cost. Higher resolution cameras are available on Amazon, but they cost more. Weird US export controls may also apply.Glaurung - Thursday, January 4, 2024 - link
You need to make each pixel larger because the photons you're trying to detect are bigger. Each pixel on a sensor has to catch enough photons to trigger that pixel as "seeing" something. Visible light has a wavelength range of 400-700nm. Infrared has a wavelength of 1000-14,000nm - up to 20x longer. So: to catch the same number of infrared photons per pixel as visible photons, your pixels need to be 20x larger.But you actually have to catch *more* photons, because infrared photons are less energetic. If the sensor on these cameras is the same size as a regular 48mp smartphone camera sensor, then each IR sensor pixel is 30x larger than on the visible light sensor.
Samus - Monday, January 1, 2024 - link
Are there any products that support iPhone?BedfordTim - Wednesday, January 3, 2024 - link
Probably cost. Higher resolution cameras are available on Amazon, but they cost more. Weird US export controls may also apply.BedfordTim - Wednesday, January 3, 2024 - link
FLIR do one that connects wirelessly.