Difference Between Night Vision and Thermal

Difference Between Night Vision and Infrared

Difference Between Night vision and Infrared.

Infrared is radiant energy invisible to human eyes but felt as heat while Night vision lets you see in the dark by gathering existing ambient light from the stars, moon, and infra-red light.

In summary;

  • Night vision requires nearby visible light to work effectively while infrared doesn’t require any light to work properly
  • Night vision works by amplifying nearby visible light while infrared works by detecting distinctions in temperatures of objects in its line of sight.
  • Night vision takes a scene and magnifies the light, then translates it into green-tinted images while infrared translates heat signatures into images that are clear and viewable, and objects with higher heat signatures are shown in yellow, orange, or red color.
  • Night vision is lessened by conditions such as dust, smoke, rain, and fog while infrared is not affected by such and can see in total darkness.
  • Night vision is a technology that is cheaper but lower quality( older Generations) than other options. Infrared on the other hand is a highly desired technology that increases safety at night better than its contenders although it can be more expensive.
  • Infrared is better for camouflaged targets than night vision
  • Night vision can be thwarted by a bright light while infrared can be thwarted by cooling

Night vision is better for:

  • Seeing at night
  • CCTV and surveillance
  • Wide-angle views
  • Creating images that look more natural

Infrared is great at:

  • Search and rescue operations like firefighting
  • Spotting warm bodies and objects over a greater distance
  • Commercial inspections and surveys
  • Seeing humans or animals at night

Final Thoughts

We hope this article has perfectly covered the Difference Between Night vision and Infrared. Get more information about Night vision and infrared in the below articles.

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