In pyrometry measurements, the unknown target emissivity is a critical source of uncertainty, especially when the emissivity is low. Aiming to overcome this problem, various multi-spectral pyrometry systems and processing techniques have been proposed in the literature. Basically, all multi-spectral systems are based on the same principle: the radiation emitted by the target is measured at different channels having different spectral characteristics, and the emissivity is modelled as a function of wavelength with adjustable parameters to be obtained empirically, resulting in a system of equations whose solution is the target temperature and the parameters of the emissivity function. The present work reviews the most important multi-spectral developments. Concerning the spectral width of the measurement channels, multi-spectral systems are divided into multi-wavelength (monochromatic channels) and multi-band (wide-band channels) systems. Regarding the number of unknowns and equations (one equation per channel), pyrometry systems can either be determined (same number of unknowns and equations, having a unique solution) or overdetermined (more equations than unknowns, to be solved by least-squares). Generally, higher-order multi-spectral systems are overdetermined, since the uncertainty of the solutions obtained from determined systems increases as the number of channels increases, so that determined systems normally have less than four channels. In terms of the spectral characteristics of the measurement channels, narrow bands, far apart from each other and shifted towards lower wavelengths, seem to provide more accurate solutions. Many processing techniques have been proposed, but they strongly rely on the relationship between emissivity and wavelength, which is, in turn, strongly dependent on the characteristics of a particular target. Several accurate temperature and/or emissivity results have been reported, but no universally accepted multi-spectral technique has yet been developed.