I know the MLX90614-DCI is a "single pixel" and the MLX90640 break out board has 700+ pixels (for little more than double the price).
Is the individual / "one pixel" MLX90614-DCI more sensitive than any of the many MLX90640 pixels at distance? In other words if all I am seeking to do is detect a warm body at distance and not see shape etc, then is the MLX90614-DCI better to detect? My requirement is to detect a warm body compared to ambient temp at greatest difference.
I have not found any tests / documentation on this question on the internet.
A pixel in a thermal camera reports the average temperature of its entire field of view. To detect a warm body, you want a detector with a field of view that ideally covers just the warm body, with as little of the background as possible.
In turn, the field of view is a solid angle and the portion occupied by the "warm body" rapidly decreases with increasing range.
So, if you compare the respective fields of view in the device data sheets, it should be obvious which sensor to choose, and what range you might expect to achieve.
