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It seems to be a consistent thing, historically - technological progress takes massive leaps forwards during times of war, with new ideas being born even as human life is extinguished. Such was the case in Korea, where infrared cameras first gave US soldiers the advantage of sight in any conditions, along with the ability to sight enemy troops, hiding amidst the foliage in the trees above them. These days, aside from their military applications, these instruments are being put to use in any number of fields, from building inspection and astronomy to, you guessed it, home security surveillance.

There's a fair amount of confusion regarding infrared security cameras, as many people erroneously associate the term with so-called 'night vision' security cameras. Night vision cameras utilize the World War II technology of night glasses, which use a large diameter objective along with numerous lenses to amplify light up to levels six or seven times greater than would normally be perceived by the human eye. Alternatively, some of them use so-called 'active infrared', whereby the camera is equipped with a torch which provides illumination just below the wavelength visible to the human eye, while the camera's lens is a CCD lens sensitive to light on this wavelength.

Neither of these designs is known for producing high-quality imagery. In point of fact, traditional night-glasses technology renders scenes into fuzzy, 8-bit visuals, whereas CCD cameras flatten scenes with their single light source, making it hard to distinguish between people and backgrounds.

Infrared security cameras, on the other hand, use microbolometers to detect the heat (scientifically known as black body radiation) of objects regardless of lighting conditions, as the light they detect is at a wavelength significantly longer than anything the human eye can perceive. They can pick up detailed, high-resolution images in the complete absence of illumination. While an infrared security camera might not be able to pick up superficial things such as the color of a person's skin or hair, it will help you to establish things like the build and gender of the intruder, as well as where they're likely to have left fingerprints. Since infrared wireless surveillance cameras are now available, your quest for state-of-the-art home security surveillance won't for you to face up to the complications of hardwiring your house. Indeed, wireless surveillance cameras allow you, if you so wish, to send footage directly to an online storage cluster, making your home security surveillance system completely tamper proof.

Infrared security cameras can be an invaluable addition to homes where poor outdoor lighting conditions render ordinary wireless surveillance cameras insufficient. While their images might be hard for a layperson to interpret, they provide what, for a skilled thermographic analyst, amounts to full-spectrum coverage.

Thermal cameras from FLIR, the leading manufacturer of infrared security cameras in the world, start at about $2000. Since even the most basic model is, obviously, a substantially pricey piece of technology, you should do a thorough evaluation of your home to determine if an infrared security camera is even really necessary. If you live in a very well lit area with good visibility even during the night, an ordinary wireless surveillance camera should do the trick. You can further eliminate the need for infrared security cameras by having motion activated lighting on all sides of your home (instead of just in the standard location by the driveway or front door).

There is, of course, also a cost-saving element to infrared security cameras. All you need to do is have your infrared security cameras set up in such a way that they alert the fire department when the ambient temperature in your home rises above a certain level, and they can double as fire detectors, eliminating the need for a smoke detection system.