NDT Blog Official Blog of Borescope IT Inc.

Does My Borescope Need a Video Camera?| Video Borescope’s Advantages

One of the best optical devices ever created for remote inspection is the borescope, which is consist of a flexible tube with an eyepiece at the other end. The first end is the home for an objective lens and both of these lenses are linked by a relay optical system. Borescopes are widely used during inspections of areas inside an engine or equipment where it is impossible to reach without opening it. Borescopes are either rigid or flexible in which both have their own applications. According to experience and certain uses, rigid borescopes gives better image quality than flexible ones. The only drawback is the inspection of areas where there are bends that should be inspected. Rigid borescopes are widely used in engine cylinders, hydraulic manifolds bodies, and sometimes fuel injectors.

All borescopes gives the same idea and application of giving a complete data on a certain object by discovering the problem inside of it. These inspections are done without having to dismantle the entire engine. You can just imagine how much time you can save inspecting very complicated equipment like the aircraft engine. You can use a flexible borescope which can maneuver in difficult shapes and bends inside of it.

In addition to its flexibility, you can magnify the image of your inspected material to several levels. A coupler lens is also a great addition to borescopes so that you can connect it to a digital camera or a computer. Doing this can let you save images and record videos which can then be used to analyze the problem in the future.

So does a borescope really need a video camera? The answer is yes. For this application, videos are being created in order for technicians and engineers to get a perfect view of the problem inside the equipment. Most video-capable borescopes have their own CCD (charge-coupled devices) inside of them which converts images and videos into digital format which can then be saved in a computer or a digital camera. This CCD is placed at the tip of the scope. It was in 2002 when the first video-capable borescope is introduced. This is the fifth generation of the digital video borescope family. These models have their own fast digital connection such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) so that you can easily let it communicate with a computer for data storage and viewing. Some of them have their own storage media as well.

Video borescopes enables the user to magnify views in higher levels and even getting into longer areas inside analyzed equipment. This is a very great advantage over a rigid, dark, and straight borescope optical image. It also gives a huge advantage on the part of the user's vision because all he has to do is to watch the operation in a monitor. In addition, the inspectors can save data and record videos for future and ongoing tests and these are also capable of giving the user a multispectral imaging which can give the user a full view of the wavelengths being made.

These borescopes have their own capabilities and problems when you are connecting them to the digital camera, special features like the exposure and autofocus might not work great when connected but it can work properly with certain settings and upgrades. Before you make a borescope purchase, always test and ask if it can perform your needed applications. Some cameras are adapting the focus and light of a borescope so you can't fully control it to get your desired image and video, while some are using their own imaging and adjusting capabilities controlling all of the flow. To reach your goal of getting the perfect results for analysis and evaluation, you should also choose the best compatible digital camera.

Borescopes are breakthroughs of modern analysis and troubleshooting. With the growing number of complicated engines and equipment which are subjects for inspection, you are sure that you can have the best view for your own evaluation if you have a video camera with your borescope.