Take two cameras from our database. The HIKMICRO B20S advertises 640 × 480. The FLIR E8 Pro advertises 320 × 240. On paper, the first crushes the second.
In reality, the B20S's sensor measures 256 × 192, i.e. 49,152 temperature points. The FLIR measures 76,800. The model advertising the bigger number actually measures 36% fewer points.
192 measured values768 displayed values
How the inflation works
A microbolometer contains a fixed number of detectors, each measuring the temperature of a small square of the scene. That number never changes. This is the native resolution.
Software resampling consists of calculating intermediate pixels by averaging neighboring pixels. The image becomes smoother and larger on screen. It contains no additional information: every added value is derived from the ones surrounding it.
Enlarging a photo doesn't reveal new detail. A thermal camera is no exception to that rule.
On the B20S, the ratio is 6.25: of every seven displayed pixels, six are reconstructed. The TOPDON TC002C Duo shows a ratio of 4. The HIKMICRO PocketE, which measures 96 × 96, displays 240 × 240 — also 6.25.
The case of the B20 and B20S
The most telling comparison in our catalog pits two devices from the same series against each other.
| Spec | HIKMICRO B20 | HIKMICRO B20S |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor | 256 × 192 | 256 × 192 |
| NETD | 40 mK | 40 mK |
| Optics | 50° × 37.2° | 50° × 37.2° |
| Weight | 380 g | 380 g |
| Displayed resolution | 320 × 240 | 640 × 480 |
The two devices are mechanically and optically identical, down to the gram and the tenth of a millimeter. The real differences come down to the screen, which goes from 240 × 640 to 480 × 640, and image processing pushed further. The S is marketed as an upgrade.
When super resolution is honest
There is a technique that genuinely does add information: combining several images slightly offset from one another. The slight tremor of a hand is enough to shift the scene by a fraction of a pixel between two shots. Recombining these images reconstructs details that no single shot contained on its own.
It's a proven principle in astronomy and satellite imaging. And one manufacturer in our database documents it properly.
testo publishes, for its 872s, the IFOV achieved after processing: 2.3 mrad natively, 1.3 mrad in SuperResolution. In other words, testo quantifies the actual spatial-resolution gain instead of just advertising a pixel count. It's the only manufacturer in our catalog to do so.
The three questions to ask in front of a product page
What's the native resolution? If it isn't listed alongside the advertised resolution, that's already a warning sign. Look for the number of "measurement points" or "pixels", often given in parentheses.
What's the ratio between the two? Beyond 2, most of the image is reconstructed. At 6.25, six out of every seven pixels are calculated.
Is the post-processing IFOV published? If it is, and it improves, the technique adds information. If it isn't published, or stays the same, the processing is purely cosmetic.
What our comparator does
Every product page shows the native resolution, the advertised resolution, and the ratio between the two. The resolution-honesty criterion scores zero for a device that advertises interpolation without publishing its target resolution, because staying silent shouldn't pay off more than telling the truth.
Ten devices in the database claim no interpolation at all: the entire FLIR range, the Bosch models, the Seek CompactPRO, the InfiRay P2 Pro, the TOPDON TC001, the Fluke models, the FOTRIC models, the HIKMICRO E1L, and the UNI-T UTi260B. What they advertise, they measure.
See the device-by-device detail.
All values cited come from manufacturer datasheets and the sources listed on each product page. No data is estimated.