What is 1-Touch Level/Span?

If you use a thermal camera for inspections each day, you’re likely familiar with thermal tuning to get the most accurate image. You want to get the image you need quickly without wasting a lot of time in the field making manual adjustments - this is where 1-Touch Level/Span comes in.

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1-Touch Level/Span allows you to choose a small area of focus in a thermal image - with one touch of the screen - and the camera will auto-adjust the level and span based on the thermal contrast at that spot in the image. The result: time saved on manual adjustments.

Load Break Elbow with Auto (left) and 1-Touch Level/Span (right)

If your camera has this feature available, you can use the touchscreen to choose an object or area of interest with one quick tap, and a circle will come up around the object or area you selected. The camera will automatically narrow the span to clearly represent the temperature span and level inside that circle, providing focused detail in the thermal image to better highlight issues.

The benefit is you can dial in on the problems and details you care about. 1-Touch Level/Span allows you to ignore all the areas of the image you are not interested in by narrowing the span.

Transformer with Auto (left) and 1-Touch Level/Span (right)

For example, have a look at the above thermal image of a pole-mounted transformer with the sky in the background. Let’s say you want to know the temperature of the hot spot and are not concerned with the temperature of the sky. If you touch the area of the transformer on the screen, a circle will pop up around the spot you selected, and the temperature span will adjust to show the highest and lowest temperatures within the circle. The contrast in the thermal image will increase, enhancing the image detail and improving your ability to spot a problem or even notice new failures - especially when small temperature variations can make the difference.

Transformer with Auto (left) and 1-Touch Level/Span (right)

1-Touch Level/Span can also be helpful for building diagnostics and electrical inspections, particularly when you’re aiming the thermal imager at a target with an opposite extreme temperature in the background – like a hot boiler or a chiller. The presence of two opposite extreme temperatures in the scene – your target and the background object – will force the camera to widen the span in the thermal image, which in turn reduces contrast.

Many FLIR cameras feature 1-Touch Level/Span, including the FLIR C5.