Night vision technology consists of two major types: light amplification (or intensification) and thermal (infrared). Most consumer night vision products are light amplifying devices. This technology takes the small amount of light that''s in the surrounding area (such as moonlight or starlight), and converts the light energy (scientists call it photons), into electrical energy (electrons). These electrons pass through a thin disk that''s about the size of a quarter and contains over 10 million channels. As the electrons go through the channels, they strike the channel walls and thousands more electrons are released. These multiplied electrons then bounce off of a phosphor screen which converts the electrons back into photons and lets you see an impressive nighttime view even when it''s really dark.
Technical Details
All image intensified night vision products on the market today have one thing in common: they produce a green output image. But that''s where the similarities end.br> In the night vision world there are generations that reflect the level of technology used. The higher the generation, the more sophisticated the night vision technology. The first units were Gen 0 and 1, and they were used through the 1960''s. The "Starlight" scope used by many U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War was a Gen 1 device. Gen 2 was introduced in the 70''s for military use. Gen 3 was developed in the mid 80''s and remains the highest available technology today. Most of the very inexpensive consumer products today use Gen 1 technology developed nearly 40 years ago.
If you''re using night vision to find a lost person in the woods, locate boats or buoys on the water, or stargaze out in the wilderness, you need Generation 3 because it creates the best images when there is very little ambient light. Generation 2 may be the choice in situations with higher levels of ambient light.
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