Thermopile vs. Bolometer
Two things are essential for calibration:
- Complexity and Effort
- Long-term Stability
While microbolometers for radiometric measurements have to be calibrated in a complex way and a large number of support points have to be used for an accurate radiometric calibration, thermopile arrays can achieve a similar accuracy with only 2 to 3 calibration points.
At the same time, leading manufacturers recommend that microbolometer cameras should be recalibrated annually, resulting in a recurring loss of time and ongoing costs. Thermopile arrays, on the other hand, show very consistent behavior over long periods of time. They drift little or not at all, so that recurring annual recalibration is not necessary.
