FLIR Systems, Inc. announced Boson^TM, its smallest, lightest, and least power-consuming, high-performance uncooled thermal camera for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Sized between FLIR’s Tau^R and Lepton^R camera cores, Boson is the first thermal camera core to incorporate a sophisticated, low-power multi-core vision processor running FLIR XIR^TM expandable infrared video processing architecture.

Boson features a high sensitivity 12-micron pixel pitch detector that provides high-resolution thermal imaging in a small, low power, lightweight, turnkey package. It also offers several levels of video processing with inputs and processing for other sensors including visible CMOS imaging sensors, Global Positioning Systems (GPSs), and Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs). Additionally, FLIR XIR provides OEM customers with a suite of advanced image processing features including, super resolution algorithms, sophisticated noise reduction filters, local area contrast enhancement and image blending.

Offered in 320 x 256 and 640 x 512 formats with 15 field-of-view options, Boson offers the widest range of features and lens choices for FLIR’s OEM customers. Boson also supports common interfaces for displays, storage devices and data communication. OEMs can also leverage FLIR's Solution Accelerator to develop product solutions for key market verticals including firefighting, automotive, maritime, hunting, UAS, and military.

“Boson represents a significant advancement in size, weight, power and cost for small high-performance microbolometer-based cameras,” said Andy Teich, President and CEO of FLIR.

“As the market demand for affordable and smaller sized camera cores strengthens, we continue to drive technical breakthroughs that enable high performance sensing at lower costs to produce. We’re excited to introduce Boson into our family of cores and to offer a broader range of configuration options to OEMs that will help them expedite development and lower their cost-to-market,” he added.