IMPROVE YOUR VISION
26 www.guntradeworld.com
Gun Trade World looks into the dark art of night vision and
delves into the technologies you need to look out for in the
night vision products you want to stock or buy.
LIGHT IN THE DARK
First developed for military
purposes, night vision
revolutionized the way people
see in the dark. Night vision
devices have made tasks that
were previously quite diffi cult to
perform in darkness, such as law
enforcement, security or hunting,
signifi cantly easier than at any
point in history.
Next to professional users,
more and more consumers are
getting sold on the idea of night
vision as they have overcome
their initial cold feet and get
more knowledgeable on the
subject.
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
When considering the diff erent
technical aspects of night
vision, it’s interesting to know
both analogue, based on image
intensifi er technology and
digital night vision need light
to function in the dark. Th is can
be ambient light still present in
the surroundings, moon, stars,
streetlights… but also infrared
radiation emitted by an infrared
illuminator invisible to unaided
human eyes. Th ermal vision on
the other hand, another night
vision technology altogether,
uses a diff erent kind of infrared
radiation to spot heat diff erences
in the surroundings and create
an image based on these
diff erent temperatures to make
‘hot’ objects stand out.
BEST-SELLING SCOPE TYPES
When considering best-selling
rifl escope types, the market
has remained relatively stable
compared with last survey
Centerfi re hunting scopes
remain in the lead. Th ese tactical
rifl escopes have made quite an
inroad as well, carving out more
than one-tenth of the market.
IMAGE INTENSIFIERS
Th e heart of this technology
is made up of a photocathode,
an image intensifi er tube and a
phosphor screen. Light enters
the unit through the objective
lens and hits the photocathode
in front of the image intensifi er
tube. In doing so electrons are
emitted through the intensifi er
tube, which makes them
accelerate and cause them to
strike the phospor screen at
the back of the tube, creating
an image in the same pattern
as the light that struck the
photocathode in the fi rst place.
Th is creates the green image
we’re so familiar with. It is the
number of electrons in the
intensifi er tube, which makes
or breaks the performance of
an analogue night vision device.
Th e amount of light gain
produced in an analogue device
determines the brightness and
clarity of the viewed image.
Th e higher the quality of the
setup, the higher the number
of the electrons hitting the
phospor screen, the brighter
the image gets. Although the
very best equipment remains at
the highest end of the market
and out of reach of most for
normal sporting activity, constant
development, new materials
and technological advances
are continually able to provide
increasing levels of NV ability
at lower price points. For nearly
50 per cent of retailers in our
survey, sales of image intensifi er
equipment has increased over the
last year.
DIGITAL (R)EVOLUTION
One of the biggest game
changers in recent times, next
to thermal imaging, is the rapid
advance of digital night vision.
As complicated the ins and outs
of analogue night vision are,
the easy it is to explain digital
night vision. It all boils down
to the fact that digital night
vision borrows its technology
from digital cameras. Th e
same digital CCD chips and
CMOS chips are used to collect
light, amplify it and produce
an image on an LCD screen.
Some of the leading brands in
image-intensifi ed night vision
quickly recognized that digital
technology has the power to
bring night vision equipment
to a far larger market due to
the performance available at
even more aff ordable price
points. Fitted with an powerful
aftermarket infrared illuminator,
performance of these devices is
great while still being aff ordable.
Our survey results show the
popularity of digital night vision
devices is unstoppable with a
mind-boggling 85% of retailers
quoting sales of digital night
vision is on the rise compared to
last survey.
DEFINITELY HOT
Whereas image intensifi ers and
digital night vision, work by
detecting light, thermal imaging
detects thermal, actually infrared,
radiation, better known as
heat. Using camera technology,
a special lens in the thermal
night vision device focuses
the radiation on a detector
sensitive to heat. With incredible
precision, thermal imagers
spot temperature diff erences
and project these diff erences
as an image on a screen. With
a fi erce competition between
established brands and new ones,
image quality and features keep
improving all the time. Next to
black-hot or white-hot images,
wide arrays of colour schemes are
now available from most brands.
Meanwhile the emergence
of hybrid devices combining
traditional and thermal night
vision in one device looks
promising. As a fi nal note on
thermal imagers, be aware that
these can also be put to good
use during the day. Hunters far
and wide have quickly adopted
thermal imaging to spot game
during the day as well as the
nighttime. For culling purposes,
being able to spot game far
quicker than with regular
daytime optics is a real blessing.
Th e scope of products using
thermal imaging technology
has broadened as well. Next
to handheld devices, thermal
rifl escopes and multi-purpose
devices are well under way.
Also, due to the ever-growing
popularity of thermal devices,
prices have come down over the
years. Technology and image
quality that would have cost
several thousand euros a couple
of years ago is now available for
half or even one-third of the
price the same level of quality
would have cost some years back.
SPOTLIGHT ON...
NIGHTVISION
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