The difference between night vision equipment and thermal imaging equipment
1. Effectiveness
1) If you have used a regular night vision instrument, you will find that the observation feeling of a night vision instrument is completely different from that of a regular infrared thermal imager. This is because a typical night vision instrument observes the target directly through the lens, so the field of view is circular, similar to what a telescope lens sees, and the image is green. If the clarity is sufficient, it is possible to identify who the character's target is and see the person's facial features clearly.
2) The infrared night vision thermal imager sees the image on the internal LCD screen, rather than directly seeing the target, so the field of view is square. The imaging of an infrared night vision thermal imager will be based on temperature distribution. The higher the temperature, the greater the brightness. Conversely, the lower the temperature, the darker the color. Its main purpose is to discover targets and identify target categories, such as humans and animals.
2. The influence of light factors
1) The second-generation+night vision system is greatly affected by the environment due to its imaging principle. Especially under the influence of light, when the light becomes dim, the observation distance will be shortened. In the case of complete darkness, auxiliary infrared light sources must be used, and the distance of the auxiliary infrared light source can generally only reach up to 100 meters. At the same time, they also fear strong light, although many traditional night vision devices have strong light protection. However, if the ambient brightness changes significantly, it will have a significant impact on the observation.
2) Infrared thermal imaging night vision devices are not affected by light. Whether it is day or night, or rainy, snowy, or foggy days, the target object can be clearly observed. It is precisely for this reason that top-level car mounted night vision systems, such as Mercedes Benz and BMW, use infrared thermal imagers.
