Abstract:
Quality evaluation methods for linear infrared focal plane array (IRFPA) detectors based on human vision have limitations, whereas the objective evaluation of detectors based on measurable physical parameters is scientifically significant and practically valuable. In this study, we developed and investigated a parametric evaluation scheme based on the noise equivalent temperature difference(NETD) and image uniformity to objectively evaluate the performance of linear IRFPA detectors. The scheme aimed to provide a parametric description of the quality of infrared detectors by taking a surface-type blackbody as the target radiation source, imaging the target with the detectors, and then measuring the image characteristic parameters with IRWindows
TM5 software. This foundation was used to determine the parameter ranges for distinguishing the detector quality levels through comparison experiments with human-vision subjective evaluations. Furthermore, we investigated the effectiveness of the scheme in simplifying and optimizing the non-uniformity correction procedure in the traditional scanning thermal imaging camera installation process. The results of this study offer novel solutions for the objective evaluation of infrared detectors and thermal imaging camera performance.