Test stand for determining parameters of microbolometer camera

Abstract

In order to objectively compare the two infrared cameras ones must to measure and compare their parameters on a laboratory. One of the basic parameters for the evaluation of the designed camera is NEDT (noise equivalent delta temperature). In order to examine the NEDT ,parameters such as sensitivity and pixels noise must be measured. To do so, ones should register the output signal from the camera in response to the radiation of black bodies at two different temperatures. The article presents an application and measuring stand for determining the parameters of microbolometers camera. In addition to determination of parameters of a cameras the measuring stand allow to determine defective pixel map, the non uniformity correction (NUC) coefficients: 1-point and 2-point. Additionally, developed test stand serves as a test system to read the raw data from microbolometer detector. Captured image can be corrected with calculated non-uniformity correction coefficients. In a next step the image is processed and visualized on a monitor. Developed test stand allows for an initial assessment of the quality of designed readout circuit. It also allows for efficient testing and comparison of the number of sensors or readout circuits.