Background. The relevant question of increasing the informative content and reliability of the thermal non-destructive testing is considered in this article. The most promising algorithms of digital processing of sequences of thermograms are given. Objective. The main aim of this research is to determine the advantages and disadvantages of the application of each considered method of digital processing of thermograms. Secondary, the possibilities of testing automation with the use of the selected methods of digital processing of thermograms are analyzed in this article. Methods. Computer simulation software was used to obtain the artificial sequence of the thermograms. Methods of wavelet analysis, principal components analysis and neural networks were used to process the received data. Results. The simulation of active thermal testing process is carried out in this research. The artificial thermogram sequence with a high level of noise is obtained for the object of testing. In order to quantify the results of application of considered methods, relative errors of determining the area of defects were calculated. Also values of Tanimoto criterion are obtained. The advantages of the neural network processing of digital data in thermal non-destructive testing have been established and proved in this article. Shape of defects on a binary map built by the neural network was closest to true compared with principal components analysis method. The effectiveness of neural networks is also confirmed by quantitative estimates. Conclusions. The method of wavelet transformation has a high sensitivity. This method is ineffective in the conditions of uneven heating and high noise. The principal components analysis method allows increasing the SNR and improving the visual perception of thermograms, but does not provide complete separation of information about defects and noises caused by uneven heating. Methods of artificial neural networks theory provide the best reproduction of the shape and size of the defects, but the training process requires significant time and computing resources.