The temperature and illumination effects on the transient and steady state photoconductivities of TlInSe2 crystals have been studied. Namely, two recombination centres located at 234 and at 94 meV and one trap center located at 173 meV were determined from the temperature-dependent steady state and transient photoconductivities, respectively. The illumination dependence of photoconductivity indicated the domination of sublinear and supralinear recombination mechanisms above and below 160 K, respectively. The change in the recombination mechanism is attributed to the exchange of roles between the linear recombination at the surface and trapping centres in the crystal, which become dominant as temperature decreases. The transient photoconductivity measurement allowed the determination of the capture coefficient of traps for holes as 3.11 x 10(-22) cm(-2). (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.