Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Page 1 of 6
GunsAmerica Home Forums Home Magazine Home Subscribe Join the NRA
Welcome Guest Active Topics | Log In | Register
GunsAmerica Magazine And Forums » Magazine Articles 100% Moderated Discussion » Accessories » Night Vision vs. Thermal Vision - What You Can't
See CAN Hurt You!
UNTAG AS FAVORITE
Night Vision vs. Thermal Vision - What You Can't See CAN Hurt You! Options
Rank: Master
Posts: 1
Night Vision vs. Thermal Vision
Location: New Hampshire
What you can't see CAN hurt you!
Thanks: 0 times
Was thanked: 1 time(s) in 1
post(s) By: Devin S. Standard
I recently had the opportunity to do some night operations training down in North Carolina. Wow!
Whether running and gunning with, helmet-mounted goggles, engaging targets with a night vision
scope, or sending .308 projectiles down-range with the aid of a thermal scope, the ability to see in
the dark delivers a super-human like feeling of invincibility! Hundreds of thousands of night vision
devices are giving our fighting forces a significant advantage on foreign battlefields this very
evening. Tens of thousands of law enforcement professionals are currently using night vision to
help keep the streets safe. You need to get some of this technology too, and now you can.
http://forums.gunsamerica.com/yaf_postst87_Night-Vision-vs--Thermal-Vision--What-Yo... 11.Jun.10
Night Vision vs. Thermal Vision - What You Can't See CAN Hurt You! - Accessories - G... Page 2 of 6
These three technologies are regulated under International Trafficking in Arms Regulations
(ITAR). This means, as a non-felonious US Citizen, you should be able to purchase them; but you
may not export them. "Exporting" includes demonstrating them to non-US persons, agents or
firms, as well as not leaving US waters upon your boat. There may be exceptions. Check with your
legal counsel. Thank God, I am not a lawyer.
IMPORTANT ACRONYMS:
• NVD- Night vision device
• NVM- Night vision monocle
• NVG- Night vision goggle
• I2- Image intensification
• MCP- Micro-channel plate
• IR- Infrared
• FPA- Focal plane array
Now that you've decided you want to negate
the night, it's time to decide what to buy.
First of all let's look at I2 products. They come in
several different generations: GEN 0, GEN I, GEN II,
GEN III and GEN IV. As with ammunition's +P and +P+
varieties, there are some additional identifiers with night
vision devices. I am going to forego those details until a Weapon mounted thermal.
future column.
Devices also come with names like PVS-7, A/NPVS-14, etc. Those are simply US military
logistical codes for identifying various products. The A/N stands for Army/Navy and the PVS
stands for Passive Vision Site. The most common one you will see on today's battlefields in the
AN/PVS-14, or PVS-14, which is a GEN III night vision monocle which can be hand held, weapon,
or helmet mountable,
GEN 0: They were developed by AEG for the German army in the late 1930's and several other
firms for the US during the same time period. These early devices used large infrared illuminators
to highlight the targets and a "tube" consisting of an anode and photocathode to create the image.
The resolution was not great. You wouldn't want to pay for one of these, except for potential
collectability.
GEN I devices became available during the Vietnam War era. They were essentially GEN 0 with
technology enhancements, allowing the utilization ambient light instead of artificial infrared light.
The light is amplified by about 1,000 times by a GEN I NVD. The technology improvements have
made them significantly smaller and lighter than GEN 0; but their 1960's photocathode based
http://forums.gunsamerica.com/yaf_postst87_Night-Vision-vs--Thermal-Vision--What-Yo... 11.Jun.10
Night Vision vs. Thermal Vision - What You Can't See CAN Hurt You! - Accessories - G... Page 3 of 6
http://forums.gunsamerica.com/yaf_postst87_Night-Vision-vs--Thermal-Vision--What-Yo... 11.Jun.10
Night Vision vs. Thermal Vision - What You Can't See CAN Hurt You! - Accessories - G... Page 4 of 6
THERMAL
http://forums.gunsamerica.com/yaf_postst87_Night-Vision-vs--Thermal-Vision--What-Yo... 11.Jun.10
Night Vision vs. Thermal Vision - What You Can't See CAN Hurt You! - Accessories - G... Page 5 of 6
getting smaller and more powerful. The better devices are extremely sensitive, and currently able
to detect differences as small as .01 degrees Centigrade. This means you can see the residual
heat left when someone has touched a wall or walked across your carpet until the heat dissipates,
wow. You can see video of this on Youtube.com. Here is a good example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4vZKGq3lE8. Just type in "thermal image" if this linked film
isn't running for some reason. There is quite a collection of videos.
Thermal devices capture the heat
information from all objects, including the
ground, rocks, trees, etc., within its field of
view. The device's processor then creates
an image for you to see. People and
animals can't hide their body heat, so users
equipped with thermal devices can easily
identify them, their foot, hand or paw prints,
etc. Thermal imagers work the same during
the day, or at night, so the tool can be used
for target observation 24/7/365. Unlike the
previously discussed night vision, which
requires minimal light and an un-obscured
line of sight, to the target, with thermal
imagers, you can:
• See people in total/absolute darkness The reticicle of a weapons mounted thermal.
• See people through smoke, dust, and
light fog, light rain and light snow.
• See people through camouflage and foliage in any lighting conditions
• See more - and see farther - than with other low-light night vision goggles and cameras.
5 things distinguish thermal cameras from one another;
1. Resolution is expressed as: 160 x 120, 320 240, and 640 x512. The higher the number, the
larger the number of pixels/unit of area. The greater the number of pixels/area, the better the
accuracy of temperature measurement yielding clearer, more precise pictures. The resolution
race is on among various manufacturers, and crisper images are today's standard as
opposed to the "blob cams" of the 1990's.
2. Refresh Rate, expressed in Hertz, is
another way of saying frames/second
as in movie film. The higher the better.
A 50/60Hz devices will refresh at 50/60
frames/second and will give full motion
video, just like watching TV. Slower
refresh rates will exhibit some drag,
and the images may be jumpy, or have
some blurring if the user turns the
device quickly. Only low refresh rate
thermal imagers may be exported
without going through the Department Thermal Weapon Site $15,000
of State paperwork. Please be careful,
we don't want the good stuff in the wrong hands.
3. The leading manufacturers now produce high performance thermal cameras with color
images. The color does not match human visual reality; but small differences in temperature.
Once you get used to the artificial color palette, this is proving ever more popular. It is nice for
clearly distinguishing guns on a person's body versus the more common grey scale, black &
white displays.
4. Ruggedness: Hand held Mil-spec thermal cameras are generally built to be waterproof to 66',
to withstand extreme changes in temperature and even multiple drops from 4' onto concrete.
Weapon-mountable, Mil-spec thermal sights are designed to stand up to weapon recoil as
well.
5. High-end thermal cameras also have the ability to measure target temperatures. This is
called Thermography. This is a great tool for knowing whether a machine is running in an
optimal operating temperature range, whether a suspect is sweating or feverish, etc. I've
heard that road side bombs clearly have a different temperature/color than the dirt, debris or
other material under which they are hidden. I have no personal experience with this however.
Both night vision and thermal imaging device come in a variety of form factors.
http://forums.gunsamerica.com/yaf_postst87_Night-Vision-vs--Thermal-Vision--What-Yo... 11.Jun.10
Night Vision vs. Thermal Vision - What You Can't See CAN Hurt You! - Accessories - G... Page 6 of 6
Configurations
Back to top You must register to reply to this topic | Report? | Edit by user
UNTAG AS FAVORITE
GunsAmerica Magazine And Forums » Magazine Articles 100% Moderated Discussion » Accessories » Night Vision vs. Thermal Vision - What You Can't
See CAN Hurt You!
http://forums.gunsamerica.com/yaf_postst87_Night-Vision-vs--Thermal-Vision--What-Yo... 11.Jun.10