Infrared Camera Market

Market Overview

The global infrared camera market size was valued at USD 951.33 million in 2022. It is estimated to reach USD 1,981.74 million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 8.5% during the forecast period (2023–2031).

Infrared cameras are non-contact devices that detect infrared radiation and convert it to an electronic signal. This signal is then processed to produce a thermal image on the monitor. The heat sensed by infrared cameras is precisely quantified and measured to monitor thermal performance and identify heat-related problems. Recent innovations, particularly in the detector technology and incorporation of built-in visual imaging along with automatic functionality and infrared software development, are expected to deliver more cost-effective thermal analysis solutions in the coming years.

The infrared camera system is mostly used for long-range imaging, as the camera employs highly sensitive technology. A cooled thermal imaging camera consists of an imaging sensor integrated with a cryocooler, which lowers the sensor temperature to cryogenic temperatures. Infrared cameras are mostly contained in a vacuum-sealed case and cryogenically cooled. Cooling is one of the most important aspects of infrared cameras during the operation of semiconductor materials, as they might get blinded by their radiation.

Market Dynamics

Market Drivers

Increasing End-Use of Infrared Cameras in Security and Surveillance

The world places the highest priority on public safety. To ensure effectiveness, public safety organizations are investing in various innovative technology. The government has implemented novel technologies and security measures in response to the rise in crime, antisocial behavior, and terrorist attacks. It has become necessary to improve the system and responses to catastrophic attacks and to find safe, cost-effective, and feasible solutions.

Additionally, various infrared cameras are being adopted for surveillance in defense, homeland security, perimeter surveillance, and enforcement fields. Enhanced features such as excellent performance, superior imaging capabilities, and high reliability drive the market's growth. These cameras can also be integrated with pan and tilt positioning systems to create a complete surveillance system for various end uses. Similarly, infrared cameras offer long-range detection up to 50 km, even in complete darkness. This feature adds traction to the market growth and offers lucrative global opportunities for the infrared camera market.

Rising Adoption of Infrared Cameras in Quality Control and Inspection

Infrared cameras are gaining traction in quality assurance monitoring and process control. Process control assures temperature measurement data and determines a product's shape on a production line. The acquired data controls and improves the process so that the temperature and product shapes meet specifications. Thermal imagery in the production line provides enhanced information to product specialists. For instance, thermal imaging is used to monitor metal manufacturing production lines. In addition, metal manufacturing uses heat treatment to alter its chemical and physical properties. These cameras are used to monitor the temperature of metal parts.

In addition, many automobile manufacturers are using infrared cameras for quality control. End-use in automobile manufacturing includes inspection of rear window heating, heated seats, and air-conditioning outlets. Infrared cameras are also used for quality control and inspection in semiconductor manufacturing to detect hot spots indicative of defective products. All these factors enable the usage of infrared cameras in quality control and inspection under various industry verticals, thereby boosting global market growth.

Market Restraints

High Initial Acquisition and Maintenance Cost

Infrared cameras are quite expensive and face significant obstacles to adoption, majorly in developing nations. The market's expansion is anticipated to be hindered by the lack of enough financing from the government in developing nations like Qatar, South Korea, and others for the adoption of security technology. Enhanced technology involves major investment, a barrier for the infrared camera market. In addition, enhanced surveillance cameras are available for different end applications depending on the features, the number of cameras, and the monitoring systems chosen. The installation and maintenance of these infrared cameras are usually high, increasing the technology's cost. Therefore, the initial investment is anticipated to restrain the market's growth.

Market Opportunities

Rising Usage of Infrared Cameras for SWIR

Cooled infrared cameras are majorly used for long and medium ranges. However, with increased technological advancements, these infrared cameras are being used for short-range end uses. Cooled infrared cameras use InGaAs focal plane array with low dark current and defective pixel count. For short-range end uses, infrared cameras are used for metrology measurements in the SWIR spectrum. In addition, these short-range infrared cameras allow low-noise levels at 220 frames-per-second rates approximately. Various companies are developing products for short ranges and medium and long-range wavelengths. Infrared cameras for SWIR enhance vision and promote passive cooling under various end uses. These cameras, under short range, are used for semiconductor inspection, spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging, and laser beam profiling, which is anticipated to create lucrative opportunities for market growth globally.

Regional Analysis

The global infrared camera market is bifurcated based on region into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

Asia-Pacific Dominates the Global Market

Asia-Pacific is the most significant global market shareholder and is anticipated to exhibit a CAGR of 9.7% during the forecast period. The IR camera market is now being led by Asia-Pacific, which is expected to have the highest CAGR growth rates soon. Organizations from various industries have realized the value of infrared cameras to ensure effective detection as the demand for security and surveillance systems has increased. It is the most lucrative market for infrared cameras due to the availability of high-end enhanced technologies, increased demand for smart electronics, and the growth in manufacturing industries. Moreover, various supportive non-profit organizations toward embedded systems fuel the market growth. These organizations take various initiatives to build power infrastructure with advanced technologies, driving the growth of the global market.

North America is estimated to exhibit a CAGR of 6.2% over the forecast period. North America is among the key contributors to the market, owing to the increase in commercial, industrial, and residential applications, which fuels the demand for video surveillance cameras and equipment in the region. The region has major players offering advanced solutions. This is explained by the substantial use of cutting-edge technology in the region, which is predicted to fuel market expansion. Furthermore, the rise in commercial end-uses fuels the growth of the market in this region.

The U.S. is the leading revenue contributor in this region. The expansion of the American infrared camera market is fueled by growth in the semiconductor industry and rising trends in data processing, power transfer, and processing. The U.S. is the rapid adopter of technology, owing to the high growth of defense and military devices, upcoming automobile technology such as electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare monitoring systems, and others. The increase in disposable income of people in the U.S. also drives the sales of equipped infrared cameras.

Europe is one of the prominent markets for infrared cameras. Major businesses are acquiring smaller semiconductor firms to expand their market share and offer next-generation technology through their product line. Growth in several digital electronic devices, adoption of advanced electronic vehicles, and advanced virtual systems foster several growth opportunities for infrared camera vendors in Europe. Europe is estimated to witness a high growth rate for the global market during the forecast period due to development in the defense and military industry, the adoption of advanced technologies such as advanced driver assistance in automotive, and the need for low-power consumption devices in the region, which propels the market growth.

LAMEA contains a large number of developing nations. LAMEA holds a relatively smaller market share of the global market. The surge in demand for EVs in Latin America fuels the growth of the market in this region. The rise in demand for power management devices in electronic end uses is expected to drive the growth of the LAMEA infrared camera market. In addition, LAMEA is slowly adopting infrared cameras across end uses such as energy and power, electric vehicles, inverters, defense and military, and others. A continuous increase in the need for public safety in the region drives the demand for infrared cameras, thereby boosting market growth.

Segmental Analysis

The global infrared camera market is segmented by technology and end-user.

Based on technology, the global IR camera market is bifurcated into cooled IR cameras and uncooled IR cameras.

The uncooled IR camera segment dominates the global market and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 7.2% over the forecast period. An uncooled infrared camera uses an imaging sensor that does not require cryogenic cooling. Uncooled sensors are designed to work in the LWIR band, where terrestrial temperature targets emit most of their infrared energy. Compared to cooled infrared cameras, uncooled cameras are typically far less expensive. Uncooled cameras do not require cryocoolers, which are very costly devices. They also have fewer moving parts and longer service lives than cooled cameras under similar operating conditions. The development of such cameras also raises their demand in the market. For instance, FLIR System launched its firCryocoolerst fixed-mount, uncooled, autonomous leak detection camera designed to visualize methane and other industrial gases.

Cooled infrared cameras can provide superior image quality. Compared to thermal imaging cameras with an uncooled detector, those with a cooled detector have advantages. However, the main restraining factor of cooled cameras is high maintenance cost, more downtime for service, and relatively higher prices than uncooled cameras. An imaging sensor and a cryocooler are incorporated into a modern cooled thermal imaging camera. It lowers the sensor temperature to cryogenic temperatures. This reduction in sensor temperature is necessary to reduce thermally induced noise to a level for creating a clear image. Product launch by significant players in the market increases the market demand, as FLIR System 2018 launched three IR-cooled camera cores for industrial, commercial, and defense OEM and system integrators.

Based on end-user, the global IR camera market is segmented into defense and military, industrial, commercial surveillance, automotive, and others.

The defense and military segment owns the highest market share and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period. Governments worldwide are promoting strategies to support problem-solving techniques proactively reported in immediate conditions using surveillance and monitoring systems, which can instantly provide live feeds. Infrared cameras in military and defense are used for weapon sights and to identify stations. This camera technology also increases the gunner's visual range to identify and acquire targets in all lighting and weather conditions. Infrared cameras provide remote access to data, and this function encourages governments to use these surveillance systems in high-alert spaces such as prisons. This system helps analyze the government function of guard staff, ensure the security level of all jail areas, and maintain the protocol.

In addition, video analytics helps security departments to identify specific time-period activities. This technology continuously provides both passive and active monitoring. It is used in many defense end-uses to enable high-resolution vision and identification in darkness. Such enhanced features of infrared cameras create lucrative opportunities for this technology in the defense and military industry verticals.

Industrial automation is gaining popularity globally with the introduction of Industry 4.0. Various industries are adopting automation processes requiring high sensitivity, fast integration, and accurate camera synchronization. Companies are developing enhanced industrial products suitable for automated thermal inspection and process control for high-speed production and processing lines. In addition, infrared cameras are incorporated with global shutters to inspect fast-moving objects effectively. This feature allows the output of all pixels to be read simultaneously. Stealing raw materials is a problem manufacturers face as thieves target warehouses and factories. The advanced surveillance system protects employees, buildings, and materials, reducing losses.

Similarly, the usage of infrared cameras in industries promotes greater magnification capacity. This is useful for industrial end uses such as paper manufacturing and other high-volume processes. Therefore, the demand to improve industrial safety by monitoring increases the demand for IR cameras.

Impact of covid-19

Unlike all other industries that had adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the IR camera market has seen significant growth in the said period. The growth was due to the increased use of thermal imaging devices to scan for elevated body temperatures of people during the Covid times.

In mid-2020, Infrared cameras Inc. (ICI) announced that the thermal imaging system that utilizes IR cameras is the best and safer way to get highly accurate data regarding surveillance and the temperature checks of a person for elevated body temperature. This is the only market segment that has been on the positive quadrant of the graph, even in the toughest time for the entire world. The major use of these IR cameras was made in the medical and healthcare industry during the Covid times, which contributed to a significant revenue generation.

Recent Developments

• April 2023- Teledyne FLIR announced the expansion of its Boson+ thermal camera module product line to include 24 compact models with a resolution of 320 x 256. Boson+ is a line of longwave infrared (LWIR) cameras that can be integrated into unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and utilized for various purposes.
• March 2023- Z3 Technology, LLC, a prominent provider of video encoding systems, introduced a new AI-capable, low-latency dual Camera Encoder compatible with SDI and IR Cameras. This H.265/H.264 encoder simultaneously transmits and records 3G-SDI or HD-SDI video and long-range thermal cameras, including the FLIR® Boson®, FLIR® Tau® 2, Leonardo DRS® Tenum®, and other customs digital or analog thermal cameras.