What is better (most used) nightvision?

[Benze 0]

When I think of nightvision, I think of two types: thermal (lots of colors depending on heat, or just greyscale) and the light enhancing cathoide type, the one that creates a "green" look.

Which is better? Which is the one that modern armies use? Which would you rather use in the field? What are the pros and cons for both of these types? I need some clearing up on my nightvision knowledge, any help would be appreciated.

[Harnu 0]

I like the NV like on police helocopters. A greyscale using the heat of an object or body to make that bright white. It's very clear and defined picture.

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

Thermal Imaging (which uses heat, because almost everything realises heat) lets you see humans.

Night Vision uses invisable light, which lets you see at night.

Thermal is used on tanks, because tanks get hot (the M1 Abrams engine gets 1500 F ).

I think i would use Thermal in combat, but then again, you cant really identify who your targeting.

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

There is also different types of Thermal imaging.There is Black Hot, and White Hot.The differents is, the target will show as a black object with yellow background, or the target is white, with a black back ground.

[FSPilot 0]

I'd prefer thermal imaging. You can see imporant things more clearly, like people and vehicles.

[eh remraf 0]

The US military now uses a hybrid of the two that combines the best of both worlds into a single package.

[FSPilot 0]

Do they hand noggles out to all the combat servicemen or just pilots and special ops?

[Benze 0]

Rehmaf, could you give any links? That would be very helpful.

Which lasts longer? Doesn't the thermal imaging one have to be chilled very cold to work?

What are the drawbacks of both?

[Assault (CAN) 1]

Hmmm. Well, as it's been mentioned, there are two types: Thermal, which is what armoured vehicles use, and the light enhancing type (which I beleive is infrared). The Night Vision Devices (NVD's) that we use in Canada are the latter type.

On the goggles, there is a "passive" infrared mode, which just collects the incoming I.R. and transforms it to visible light, and an "active" infrared mode which shines out an infrared 'flashlight' which is picked up by the goggles as it reflects off objects. The same kind of technology is used in remote controls. The images seen from the NVD's is green in colour.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Inrared - Electromagnetic waves in the frequency range just below visible light corresponding to radiated heat. IR waves can be generated by a kind of LED and are often used for remote controls for televisions etc<span id='postcolor'>

The only thing I'm confused about is the actual difference between Thermal vision and infrared, how are they different?

Tyler

[Assault (CAN) 1]

Alright. It looks as if both 'Thermal' vision and 'Night intensification' vision both use infrared light to work.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Night vision equipment falls into two major categories: image intensification systems and thermal devices.

Even when a night appears completely dark, near-infrared light is emitted by the moon and stars. A night vision device amplifies this light to visible levels. The light, which is made up of photons, is converted into electrical energy and then accelerated through a thin disk called a microchannel plate. As the converted photons strike a phosphorus screen as electrons, they are perceived through an eyepiece in shades of green.

"The reason it's in green is because when you put the unit down, you want your eyes to remain dilated so you can see in dim light," said Rich Urich, director of operations at Night Vision Equipment Company in Prescott Valley, Ariz. "Use most any other color and your pupils will constrict when you take off the unit."

Infrared technology measures fraction of a degree differences of heat given off by objects. All living things and many objects — people, animals, recently used cars — emit heat in the form of infrared radiation. Infrared radiation is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum just below ("infra") the frequency of red light. Infrared devices read heat by absorbing infrared light, converting it into a grid of video signals and creating a picture the viewer can see.

<span id='postcolor'>

Taken from

ABC news.

So, it looks as if infrared is used in two ways. One, to amplify light, and the other to tell the difference between the heat of objects (Thermal).

Does that sort of clear things up? I put in bold the parts where I thought the article was begining to describe each type.

HTH.

Tyler

[Balschoiw 0]

This should answer all questions. It´s a complete description of both types:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/nightvision.htm

In general mostly light enhancing NV goggles are used for mobile Infantry units. Thermal devices are in fact ever a bit bigger and heavier. Also they are more expensive.

Light enhancing devices are good for distance up to 200-300m´s if no moon shows up and the sky is clouded.

The problems most units have when using NV goggles whatever type is the missing 3D look as the goggles display planar 2D. This often leads to confusion in the beginning as people tend to crash trees in woods . Once you get used to it it´s not a big problem anymore.

Thermal sights for field combat is not the best choice as it renders silhouettes only but surrounding objects can be a trap.

The mix of both is great, but heavy.

[Renagade 0]

http://www.howstuffworks.com/nightvision.htm

[Sam Samson 0]

the US SF are using the PVS-7D battery powered image intensifiers which come with that green tint.

I heard they're clumsy and fragile. but as a soldier I'd use them.

if I were a rocket on the other hand, I guess I'd go for an infrared / heatseeking device.

[second_draw 0]

http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/4/21/60057

-cause of crash???

[BaronVonRed 0]

There is no single vision enhancing system that will satisfy all tactical requirements. In the best case scenario, you will know in advance which is required and will have access to them all, but this is seldom reality.

I have no experience with thermal vision, but have used NV devices heavily. Unlike most video games/simulations, our SF team used NV only to get into position for an early morning wake-up call or to position a hot recon unit. Gunplay at night was avoided wherever possible as gunflashes not only gave your position away but also tended to create temporary blindness if not flash suppressed.

NV's we used had two modes, active and passive. Passive mode simply takes what little light there is and enhances it, whereas active mode used IR. In passive mode, things were still pretty dark, but far better than with the naked eye, especially if there was any moonlight avail. Active mode was almost like using a flashlight (although still green), but the biggest drawback for BEL recon missions was that the IR transmitter was highly visible and if you encountered any real light while in this mode, you would be temporarily blinded. There was a switch on the unit itself that would toggle between off/passive/active.

That's the low-down on NV's, at least it was "back in the day". While never used on an actual mission, I have used the thermal enhancement, but found it quite disorienting and more prone to being used from a vehicle or stationary position as moving around on foot with them on would be hazardous, and seemed to me they had a much longer range than the NV's we used.