The borescope is an optical device featuring a rigid or a flexible tube with an eyepiece on one end, an objective lens on the other linked together by a relay optical system in between. Borescopes are used durin inspections for areas which are impossible to reach by other means. Depending on the tube, borescopes are either rigid or flexible. Rigid borescopes provide better image quality and are also cheaper than flexible models, but the problem with them is that can’t bend or twist so the object must be in a straight line. This makes rigid borescopes suitable for inspecting automotive cylinders, fuel injectors, hydraulic manifold bodies. The whole idea of all borescopes is that they allow you to discover the problem with a given device, without having to completely dismantle it and you can imagine how much time this can save you when you are dealing with an aircraft engine. Flexible borescopes can bend and access cavities with more complicted shapes.
In addition to that, borescopes can have magnifying capabilities to illuminate the work being inspected. The eyepiece of a borescope can be fitted with a coupler lens so that you can connect the borescope to a digital camera and record the images or view them on a large screen.
Special video borescopes have smaller imaging CCD chips replacing borescope optics. flexible video borescope insertion tube, with an articulating tip, houses a small CCD within its tip diameter. The year 2002 marked the introduction of fifth generation system case video borescope with live digital motion capture. Those models have USB fast digital communications port so that you can easily connect it to a PC. They also have a built-in removable storage media (memory card).
Video borescopes allows the viewer to to see more area and more distant or higher magnified detail, as opposed to a limited, cropped, darker traditional borescope optical image. Video borescopes also decrease the eye strain as it is much easier to watch higher resolution images on a big monitor with both eyes. Also, inspectors can record test results and perform instant image analysis and even apply multispectrum imaging, so you cans see wavelengths invisible to the naked eye.
Another thing to consider is that when you connect the borescope to the camera, some functions of the camera might not work properly like the auto focus or exposure features. It’s always a better idea if you can test all those things before you make any purchases. This is because some camera models sense the focus and light level through the lens, while others use external sensing (they will work correctly). To avoid this problem, buy a camera that has manual adjustment of the focus and exposure.