DRS Technologies, announced that its Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (DRS RSTA) Group has developed a compact, low power, digital thermal imaging camera, specifically developed for commercial applications.

The WatchMaster IP Elite is the newest addition to the WatchMaster IP family of thermal imaging cameras manufactured by the commercial infrared systems line of business of DRS RSTA, based in Dallas, Texas and Melbourne, Florida.

“Historically this thermal imaging technology has been cost prohibitive for many commercial applications and predominantly used in defence solutions,” said Terry Murphy, President of DRS RSTA.

“Our recent expansion into high-volume, low cost manufacturing enables thermal imaging solutions to be adopted into traditional commercial security and surveillance applications. We are delighted to offer this latest evolution in digital thermal imaging for the protection of commercial establishments, institutions and other critical infrastructures.”

Unlike many conventional video surveillance cameras like active DVT, CCTV or LED illuminated low light cameras, the WatchMaster IP Elite does not require any ambient light or illumination. It detects infrared (heat) waves to provide users with superior thermal images in challenging environments where obstacles are difficult to detect due to lighting constraints, such as complete darkness and over water.

The WatchMaster IP Elite meets FCC and UL certifications and is available with a 320 x 240 resolution. With a choice of three fully sealed and hard carbon-coated athermalised fixed lenses, the thermal imaging camera offers a horizontal field of view of 40°, 16° or 9° and is capable of 4X digital zoom with a detection range of up to one kilometre.

It is open network video interface forum (ONVIF) conformant to allow for networking into other commercial security and surveillance systems, and incorporates embedded memory to support storage and video analytics. The camera is ideal for outdoor use as it incorporates tamper resistance features and it is rated at IP66 —indicating protection against the ingress of dust and water.

It is also designed to mechanically interface with mounting hardware from multiple security vendors and can operate in a networked environment through a central office, a remote video management system or a DRS-provided web interface utility.