First Look & Review: Fluke Ti400 Thermal Imager (Part 1) By Mike Gilley

 

For more information on this product, contact Fox River Systems at (630) 365-4030 or visit on the web at www.FoxRiverSystems.com.

An innovative autofocus system, straight forward user interface, flexible storage options, and wireless connectivity choices add up to improve usability and enable users to apply Fluke thermal imagers in new ways. When  I  first  got  our  hands  on  Fluke's  new  Ti400  thermal  imager,  it  was  hard  to  put  it  down!  The  performance  and  usability  of  the  Ti400  is  so  good  that  I  felt  just  as  excited  about  rediscovery  of  the  thermal  world  as  I  did  when  I  learned  to  use  a  thermal  imager  for  the  first  time!    Autofocus  Reimagined  The  consistently  excellent,  in-­‐focus  images  I  was  able  to  capture  with  the  Ti400  was  exciting  because  of  the  ease  of  getting  good  focus  and  the  speed  of  getting  it.    The  new  imagers  feature  Fluke's  new  LaserSharp™  autofocus  system  that  uses  an  integrated  laser  distance  meter  and  automatic  lens  control  to  establish  the  focus  distance  and  then  get  the  lens  into  position  rapidly.    Competing  solutions  use  other  techniques  that  take  educated  guesses  at  what  the  target  interest  area  is,  but  sometimes  they  make  mistakes.    Getting  a  focused  image  is  critical  to  making  measurements  and  it's  challenging  for  many  new  users,  so  I  welcomed  this  new  time  saving  and  image  quality  improving  capability.    

     

A  focused  image  (Left)  of  a  target  located  beyond  a  fence.    Some  thermal  imaging  autofocus  systems  have  problems  capturing  this  image  since  the  imager  sees  both  the  fence  and  what’s  behind  it,  but  doesn’t  know  which  to  put  into  focus.    Fluke's  LaserSharp™  system  focuses  where  you  aim  the  laser.  

A  mocked  up  image  of  a  Ti400  laser  pointed  at  a  tank  

First Look & Review: Fluke Ti400 Thermal Imager (Part 1) By Mike Gilley

 

For more information on this product, contact Fox River Systems at (630) 365-4030 or visit on the web at www.FoxRiverSystems.com.

   Simplifying  the  Complex  The  user  interface  and  menu  system  for  this  next  generation  thermal  imager  is  well  thought  out  and  cleanly  organized  to  minimize  the  amount  of  interaction  needed  to  configure  the  imager  to  display  and  capture  what  you  want.    Two  forms  of  navigation  are  supported:    (1)  traditional  interface  with  3  function  buttons  and  directional  pad  which  offer  the  tactile-­‐feedback  necessary  to  operate  the  imager  even  while  wearing  safety  gloves  and  (2)  touchscreen  navigation  with  support  for  swiping  and  touch  selection  of  menu  choices  which  you  can  use  when  you  aren't  wearing  gloves.  The  combination  of  buttons  and  touchscreen  could  have  been  clunky  to  operate,  but  Fluke's  implementation  is  clean  and  you  communicate  your  intentions  to  the  imager  using  the  buttons  or  touchscreen  or  both.    

             Fluke  Ti400  Function  Buttons  and  Direction  Pad      

The  Ti400’s  ruggedized  touchscreen  user  interface  can  be  operated  by  touch  or  by  the  traditional  buttons.  

 

A  Top  Performer  in  Manual  Mode  or  Automatic  One  of  the  most  important  tests  I  conducted  investigates  the  amount  of  "pain"  (measured  in  time  and  effort  of  button  presses  or  screen  touches)  it  takes  to  optimize  an  image  of  a  target  with  unknown  temperatures.    I  found  the  speed  and  ease  of  adjusting  LEVEL  and  SPAN  on  the  Ti400  to  be  excellent  due  to  the  context  sensitive  directional  pad  and  the  responsiveness  of  the  embedded  microprocessor  and  software  for  updating  the  screen.        While  the  AUTO  level  and  span  mode  does  a  fine  job  of  putting  an  image  on  the  display  as  a  starting  point,  there  are  many  cases  where  the  image  span  will  be  too  large  to  give  you  the  thermal  contrast  necessary  to  see  the  thermal  signatures  on  the  target  that  you're  looking  for.  Trained  thermographers  will  switch  to  MANUAL  mode  at  this  point  and  iteratively  make  adjustments  to  the  LEVEL  and  SPAN  while  looking  at  the  screen  to  optimize  the  thermal/visual  contrast  on  the  target's  area  of  interest.    The  Ti400  performed  very  well  in  our  MANUAL  mode  tests.    Control  Over  Calibration  Ranges    The  Fluke  Ti400  employs  3  calibration  ranges  and  offers  users  the  flexibility  to  configure  the  imager  for  automatic  range  selection  or,  when  you  need  it,  manual  selection  of  the  calibration  range.    The  ranges  options  include:  Range  1  (-­‐4  to  176°F),  Range  2  (-­‐4  to  482°F), Range  3  (-­‐4  to  2192°F),  and  Full  Automatic  Range.    Before  now,  only  Fluke’s  higher  priced  FlexCam  thermal  imager  family  featured  the  ability  to  manually  control  calibration  range—and  even  those  models  didn’t  offer  the  Full  Automatic  Range  option  offered  by  the  Ti400.    Control  over  the  calibration  range  is  important  when  the  image  scene  you’re  working  which  has  a  target  of  interest  exhibiting  apparent  temperatures  in  one  of  the  lower  calibration  ranges  while  other  objects  in  the  scene  exhibit  apparent  temperatures  that  are  in  a  higher  calibration  range.    

First Look & Review: Fluke Ti400 Thermal Imager (Part 1) By Mike Gilley

 

For more information on this product, contact Fox River Systems at (630) 365-4030 or visit on the web at www.FoxRiverSystems.com.

Ultimately,  the  biggest  impact  of  working  in  too  high  of  a  range  is  that  the  image  quality  can  suffer  since  small  temperature  differences  are  not  as  detectable  when  working  in  the  higher  ranges.    You  can  maximize  the  quality  of  your  image  and  improve  accuracy  of  measurement  by  manually  selecting  the  lowest  temperature  calibration  range  possible  to  detect  the  apparent  temperatures  of  your  target.    For  example,  if  you  were  inspecting  the  inside  of  a  building  envelope  to  assess  insulation  performance  and  a  500°F  boiler  was  operating  and  located  within  the  thermal  image  scene  that  you  are  about  to  capture,  a  Ti400  in  Full  Automatic  Ranger  would  select  to  operate  in  calibration  Range  3  and  you  could  now  manually  select  to  operate  in  calibration  Range  1  since  the  building  envelope  temperatures  should  be  well  under  176°F!    High  Temperature  Measurements  Range  1  will  be  the  most  common  range  to  operate  in  for  a  building  envelope  inspection,  but  what  about  high  temperature  manufacturing  processes?    These  applications  demand  Range  3  and  beyond.    Fluke's  foundry  and  mill  customers  will  appreciate  the  support  that  the  Ti400  offers  for  high  temperature  applications  up  to  2192°F.    The  high  temperature  capabilities  address  a  gap  that  Fluke  has  had  in  its  thermal  imager  product  line  ever  since  the  Ti45HT  high  temperature  thermal  imager  was  discontinued  several  years  ago.        In  Part  2  of  the  Ti400  First  Look  &  Review,  I'll  report  on  the  wireless  connectivity  options,  the  SmartView  3.4  update  (for  Windows  PC),  and  the  introduction  of  the  SmartView  Mobile  App  (for  Apple  iPhone  and  iPad).