Re: Did SF predict the Internet?

David M. Palmer wrote:

There's a reason why these things don't cost $99 through
lwir-cameras-r-us.com .


The main reason being demand and volume, with cost of optics being a close second. Though if someone wants to front me, say, $250,000, I can finish the development of one that WOULD cost you about that and have many uses at close range.

If you want long range/high resolution, you'll need to come up with a market which will allow the production demand equal to, say, your current demand for digital cameras. Development of high-res IR camera imaging arrays has lagged visible light array development because there isn't nearly the demand for it that will offset development costs; I can get a 320x240 LWIR array unit for about $2,000. Then I need to build a camera around it. A 640x480 will be a lot more than that, and there's no such thing AFAIK as a, say, 4 megapixel IR array, at least not one usable in an ordinary digital camera design.

Then you have the problem that IR-transparent materials are heavy and expensive, and that for the same basic optical performance they have to be considerably LARGER (because the LWIR radiation has a much longer wavelength than visible light). IEM (the company I do R&D work for) has a unique wide-angle IR lens (150 degree circular FOV, 120 degrees effective with the right imager, minimal distortion, etc.), but where a similarly-performing visible light lens would be about $150 - $300, this one's going to set you back a few thousand dollars apiece. Multi-element germanium lenses are expensive. AND less rugged.


--
Sea Wasp
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;;;
Live Journal: http://seawasp.livejournal.com

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