Thermal imagers: the new mainstream choice of security cameras?

Thermal imaging is a sophisticated technology which has many industrial and engineering applications, and which has in recent years also been deployed in specialist security installations for intruder detection.

The capability of thermal imaging has always been attractive to security professionals: the infra-red (IR) signature of a human being is very hard to mask, and so thermal cameras provide highly reliable detection of intruders, in daylight and at night. Nevertheless, the sheer unit cost of a thermal imaging camera – several multiples of that of a conventional, visible CCTV camera – for many years made it an unaffordable choice for mainstream security installations.

Are thermal imaging cameras the new mainstream choice of security cameras?