Surface temperatures, which are important in many combustion and energy transfer processes, can be measured optically using rare-earth or transition metal doped ceramic materials, so-called thermographic phosphors. For this purpose, the surface is coated with a thin phosphor film, which can be excited by different light sources. The properties of the subsequently emitted luminescence are exploited for temperature determination employing appropriate calibration measurements. The present review introduces the basic principles with regards to combustion and energy science. In this context, a broad overview of phosphor film preparation techniques is presented. For the first time, an entire error analysis is given for this technique, which may sensitise future studies for error sources and encourage an estimation of their total accuracy. Finally, a tabulated survey provides a broad database, which may help future work to identify appropriate phosphor materials. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.