Introduction to Infrared Thermal Imaging Palettes

Thermal imaging is an essential tool for several industries, including construction, electrical, and mechanical. It provides non-destructive testing and helps detect faults or weaknesses in structures or components. One crucial aspect of thermal imaging is the palette used to display the captured data or images.Thermal imaging generates images based on the temperature of the surface of an object. The representation of the different colors is determined based on the color mapping table. In general, a color map table shows the temperature changes on an object's surface by mapping temperature ranges to different colors. For example, a common color mapping table maps the low temperature range to blue and the high temperature range to red and yellow. Therefore, different colors represent different temperature intervals, which are displayed in thermal imaging images to represent temperature changes on the surface of the object.

 

There are several palettes used in thermal imaging cameras, but the most common ones are White hot, Black hot, Rainbow, Rainbow high contrast, Lava, Iron, Arctic, Isotherms. Each of these palettes has unique features and applications.

 

White Hot Palette:

The white hot palette is one of the most common thermal imaging palettes. It displays data in shades of white, with hotter temperatures shown as brighter white shades. It is ideal for detecting heat signatures in relatively cold areas. For example, it is used to spot heat leaks or energy losses in buildings.

 

 

Black Hot Palette:

The black hot palette is the opposite of the white hot palette. It displays data in shades of black, with hotter temperatures shown as brighter black shades. It is ideal for detecting heat signatures in hot environments, such as electrical or mechanical equipment. It is also useful for firefighting operations, where it can detect the hottest areas of a fire.

 

 

Rainbow Palette:

The rainbow palette is a popular choice for thermal imaging because it uses a range of colors to represent temperature differences. It is particularly useful for detecting small temperature differences, as it includes a wide range of colors that can differentiate between subtle temperature changes. The colors shown on the palette indicate different temperature values, with red being the hottest and blue being the coldest.

 

 

Rainbow high contrast palette:

The Rainbow High Contrast palette increases the contrast of the image more than the Rainbow palette, which allows you to see more uniform details and spot subtle temperature differences compared to other palettes.

 

 

Lava Palette:

Similar to iron red and North Pole, the lava palette shows hotter objects in warm tones and cooler objects in blue, which is another good option for quickly capturing body heat and other details in low-contrast environments.

 

 

Iron Palette:

The iron palette is another popular palette choice for thermal imaging, especially in medical and industrial settings. It uses a scale that ranges from black to dark red, hotter temperatures appear as lighter light warm colors, and colder temperatures appear as darker dark, cool colors. This palette is ideal for detecting temperature gradients in large areas, such as pipelines and machinery. It also provides a clear contrast between adjacent areas, making it easy to identify areas that require further inspection.

 

 

Arctic Palette:

The Arctic palette combines the simple tinted iron red palette with the low contrast performance of the Rainbow high contrast palette, identifying warm objects with gold and cooler objects with blue. Different colors quickly detect heat sources, while darker shades can distinguish slight temperature changes.

 

 

Isotherms Palette:

Isotherm palette is a bright color (usually red, yellow, or blue) that highlights a temperature range in the palette below the current span.

 

 

In summary, thermal imaging pseudo-color mode is a very useful image display technology, which can be used in many fields, such as medical, industrial, security, etc., to improve the efficiency of image recognition and analysis. choosing the right thermal imaging palette depends on the application and environment. Understanding the different thermal imaging palettes is crucial in achieving accurate and efficient results from thermal imaging cameras. In view of its wide application and importance, we should carefully study and master the basic principles and operation methods of this technology.