Abstract: A method of phosphor thermographic temperature measurement comprising the steps of; illuminating (12) a thermographic phosphor coating (10) with a pulsed electromagnetic radiation to produce luminescence (16) of said phosphor coating (10); measuring and recording the intensity of said luminescence (16) over a period of time; and correlating the measured variation of the intensity of the said luminescence (16) over time to obtain a temperature measurement. The phosphor coating (10) being a relatively thin film phosphor coating. The thickness (t) of the thin film phosphor coating (10) being less than 10 &mgr;m, preferably between approximately 0.3 &mgr;m and 10 &mgr;m. The thin film phosphor coating (10) being annealed before being used for temperature measurement.