Your Browser is OutdatedWhat would be the difference in a product like this and a night vision product? — 2 Answers
They are different technologies for the most part. Thermal works off of heat signatures while night vision works by amplifying what little light is available at night or with an infrared illuminator to provide an image. The thermal is like a small computer processor that translates the heat signatures to a digital display while traditional night vision amplifies light to provide an image to the display. There is also digital night vision that works somewhat similar to digital cameras with night vision modes. There is a ton of literature and information available online and on our website that helps provide some information on the basics of the technologies. You can find a ton of information here in our How To guides:
https://www.opticsplanet.com/howto/
Thermal picks up the radiation coming off of all objects. Night vision amplifies existing light. For night vision you can see a face or identify objects, where with thermal it would show up as a blob. Night Vision works best with an external light source like an IR illuminator, with thermal you do not need a light source. Night vision is able to see through glass, where thermal reflects off glass like a mirror. They have pretty distinct strengths and weaknesses.