Generations of Night Vision – A Sneak Peek!

Night vision devices are specifically designed for offering an ability to see in low-light conditions especially nights. The original purpose of night vision devices is to locate enemy targets during nights. Besides that military personnel use night visions for navigation and surveillance purposes. There are many other uses of night vision devices than military purposes.

With time and technology advancement, night vision devices also advanced and today there are three generations of night vision. So let us check out the generations below –

Gen 0 Night Vision

The first ever night vision device picked up at the end of the World War II was created using the anode image intensifier tubes with S-1 photocathode. The large infrared spotlights were used for illuminating targets. As the technology was not that advanced at that time significant light amplification could not be incorporated to produce operational low light images.



Gen 0 Night Vision was developed by the US Army. These devices are derivatives of the Gen 0 active devices with a difference i.e. these did not required infrared spotlight for operation. The Gen 1 night vision devices were built using an S-20 photocathode having higher light sensitivity. The devices relied on ambient light and have the power to amplify available light around 1000x.



Gen 2 Night Vision devices were one of the major breakthroughs in technology when compared to Gen 0 and Gen 1 night vision devices. The image intensifier tubes of Gen 2 night vision devices are based on micro-channel plate, which is a honeycomb-like wafer designed for trapping photons and increasing their number as they pass through it. These devices also comprise of an S-25 photocathode that has greater light sensitivity. All these technological improvements led to a much brighter night vision image with better resolution and light amplification capability of around 20,000x, which allowed the devices to function even in almost complete darkness and moonless nights.



Now came the latest and most advanced generation of night vision devices i.e. the Gen 3 Night Vision. The Gen 3 devices also make use of the Micro Channel Plate (MCP) that was developed for the Gen 2. The key advancement that makes Gen 3 night vision devices an advanced and better option is a gallium arsenide (GaAs) photocathode that improves light amplification and system resolution in a great manner. To enhance the life of the image intensifier tube, the Micro Channel Plate in Gen 3 devices is coated with an ion barrier film. However, due to the barrier effectiveness of MCP reduces to some extent as it allows fewer photons to pass through it. The “halo” effect observed during the bright light exposure is also because of the ion barrier. The Gen 3 night vision devices have light amplification ability around 30,000 to 50,000. Isn’t that great!

If you are looking for night vision goggles or any other night vision device, then make sure to go for the Gen 3 options for better experience.

Conclusion:

NightVision4Less.com offers a wide range of Gen 3 Night Vision devices including goggles, monoculars, binoculars and more. To find out more visit https://www.nightvision4less.com/gen-3-night-vision.aspx

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