Identification of faulty sensing elements in sensing element arrays

摘要

A sensing element array 10 comprises a plurality of sensing elements 11 such as infrared sensing elements. The sensing elements are connected to a processing unit 12 operable to process the signals output by the sensing elements 11 and a motion sensor 13 operable to determine whether or not the array 10 is in motion and output a signal indicative thereof to the processing unit 12. The processing unit 12 determines whether the motion detected is suitable for identifying faulty sensing elements. If it is determined that the motion detected is suitable, the processing unit 12 implements a faulty sensing element identification algorithm. The motion sensor may comprise a compass, gyroscope, inclinometer, position sensor or accelerometer. The array 10 may be provided with a memory unit 14 in which can be stored the location of faulty sensing elements. An imaging device (20, Fig. 2) may incorporate the array 10.