# Thermal Cam: decoding the Thermal Master P1 USB stream

> Thermal Cam implements a macOS viewer for the Thermal Master P1 using a documented USB control and frame protocol. Its Swift driver starts the vendor stream through libusb, decodes radiometric frames into temperatures, and displays palettes, per-pixel readings, and snapshots.

- Type: Case study
- Targets: Protocol
- Category: Independent reconstruction cases
- Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
- Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
- Added to the catalog: 2026-11-08
- Original resource: <https://github.com/johnboiles/thermal-cam>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/johnboiles/thermal-cam/blob/9dad5c97651abf0d0d302d2bc4c58bd868f02a8b/docs/P1_PROTOCOL.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/thermal-cam-p1-protocol-case/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/thermal-cam-p1-protocol-case/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/thermal-cam-p1-protocol-case/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- **Prerequisites:** A Thermal Master P1 camera and macOS 15 or newer are required for the documented viewer.
- **Prerequisites:** Building requires Xcode 26.4 or newer with Swift 6 and Homebrew libusb.
- **License:** MIT.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/johnboiles/thermal-cam/blob/9dad5c97651abf0d0d302d2bc4c58bd868f02a8b/docs/P1_PROTOCOL.md>
2. <https://github.com/johnboiles/thermal-cam/blob/9dad5c97651abf0d0d302d2bc4c58bd868f02a8b/README.md>

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## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.