Helmholtz resonator can be used as a transmission part to connect the thermoacosutic engine (TE) with its load. However, the resonator may significantly influence the performance of the TE. In order to investigate the impact of Helmholtz resonator on the onset process of a TE, infrared (IR) imaging is firstly used as a visualization method to characterize the onset mechanism. Influence of dimensions of Helmholtz resonator on onset process is analyzed experimentally and theoretically. Results show that Helmholtz resonator reduces the pressure amplitude at onset moment and increases the onset temperature of the TE, which both depend on the acoustic power absorbed from the TE. Onset without sudden increase of pressure amplitude is observed with Helmholtz resonator at resonance length. The paper shows that IR imaging is an effective way to characterize the temperature distribution in TE study.