Thermoelastic Stress Analysis (TSA) is defined, and an overview is given to show its potentially wide applicability and brief history. A simplified calculation of instrumental response characteristics shows the substantial improvement in data acquisition speed that can be gained in a system using a staring array in comparison to that using a scanned detector. Descriptions are given of several methods which have been used to obtain data for thermoelastic stress analysis. Finally, image representations are presented of TSA data taken with a staring array imager showing the resolution attainable in practice using some laboratory fatigue samples and a prototype part.