RedShift Systems Inc. announced May 10 that it has successfully completed the development and testing of engineering samples of its optical wavelength converter, the Thermal Light Valve (TLV). This marks a significant shift in the $2 billion thermal imaging market by facilitating the accessibility of high-quality, optical thermal imaging cameras to price-sensitive markets including security industrial. In the past, the high cost of thermal imaging cameras has made them inaccessible to 95 percent of potential users.
“RedShift Systems, Inc. has successfully fulfilled initial commitments with several companies and we have started shipping initial engineering samples of the TLV,” said Matthias Wagner, CEO, RedShift Systems, Inc. “We will announce those companies during the course of the year. Our ongoing collaboration with OEMs sets a solid foundation for us to ramp manufacturing and address a market that is long-overdue for change, with our first module shipments in 2006.”
“Until recently, the only camera technology that worked satisfactorily at these thermal wavelengths (8 to 14 microns) carried a cost of between $5,000 and $10,000. Their use is limited to military or very sophisticated industrial applications that can afford the high cost unit,” said David S. Terrett of J.P. Freeman Laboratories. “RedShift Systems has developed breakthrough technology, which allows for thermal imaging for mass production.”
The patented core of the optical platform is RedShift’s “Thermal Light Valve” which provides the competitive advantage. The “TLV” coverts long-wave IR signals to CMOS visible light and measures infrared signals optically rather than electrically. This new platform is the first of a new generation of “Optical Thermal Imagers” that use an optical readout system based on standard CMOS imagers to measure infrared signals rather than the highly complex and specialized thermal-resistance effect employed in traditional microbolometers. Specifically, RedShift eliminates the need for non-standard materials like Vanadium Oxide (VOx) as well as the requirement for highly complex and custom readout integrated circuits (ROICs) that greatly reduce yield and raise costs of microbolometer systems.
RedShift’s proprietary breakthrough allows a new generation of Optical Thermal Imagers to quickly replace the traditional uncooled thermal imagers. Optical Thermal Imagers leverage the large commercial shipments, standard technology and off-the-shelf availability of CMOS imaging technology, thereby allowing exponential cost savings over traditional thermal imaging. As a result, RedShift has broken down the cost and availability barriers and is now enabling universal deployment.
