Infrared Thermometers
Technical bulletin: Infrared Tutorial
WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF INFRARED TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT?
The Royal Astronomer Sir William Herschel discovered “Dark Heat” radiation in 1800. In 1880 the term “infrared” was coined. Samuel Langley invented the bolometer that measures variations of resistance when heated. In 1901 a bolometer could detect a cow at 400 meters. After World War II, many countries invested huge amounts of money in IR for military applications. In 2002 Radiant Innovation Incorporated designed the most compact and the most affordable IR thermometer (IRT). Low-cost IR thermometers are achieved by using proprietary ASIC System on a Chip (SoC) technology incorporating MEMS-based advanced thermal sensors. This advanced low-power design also resulted in the longest battery life of any available IR thermometer (70 hours continuous use).
