Night vision still grainy & sparkly?

Fifteen years ago I tried several gen. 1 russian night vision binoculars and a monocular. All the binoculars were very grainy and sparkly and could not be focused very well. The monocular, however, was very sharp and had a useful illuminator. Alas, it developed an internal poor electrical connection, so I had to return it, and they had none to replace it with.

Has quality improved in the last 15 years, or is the mass public still thrown mostly gen. 1 night vision. What would one suggest today in terms of a sharp monocular with IR illumination and not grainy/sparkly?

AFAIK you can even buy XD-4 devices in US (an improved version of gen-3 tubes), just try them and you'll notice the difference

I've never had the chance to try any night vision gear... but I've always thought it must be "the way to go". Don't fight the dark with hotwires and LED flashlights when out in the woods... blend in and use NV.

I always thought good NV cost too much - and the really good stuff is truly forever out of reach of civilian use.

It's instructive how obscure and quiet this NightVision section of the forum is!
Everyone's too busy trying to blast holes in the dark with "big guns" lights :devil:

Cydonia said:

I always thought good NV cost too much - and the really good stuff is truly forever out of reach of civilian use.

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My scope was just another gen. 1 nightvision from Russia, but man, it was a diamond in the rough... crystal clear optics, no sparkles or shimmering, unlike any other Russian gen. 1 I ever tried. I miss it.

Turbo DV8 said:

My scope was just another gen. 1 nightvision from Russia, but man, it was a diamond in the rough... crystal clear optics, no sparkles or shimmering, unlike any other Russian gen. 1 I ever tried. I miss it.

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Tell us more...

Cydonia said:

Tell us more...

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Well, for now, all I recall is it was purchased through a Sportsman's Guide mail order catalogue. Had a built-in IR illuminator. I'll check to see if I still have a copy of the original manual. I know I have the manuals for the binoculars I had, but not sure about the monocular.

Turbo DV8 said:

Fifteen years ago I tried several gen. 1 russian night vision binoculars and a monocular. All the binoculars were very grainy and sparkly and could not be focused very well. The monocular, however, was very sharp and had a useful illuminator. Alas, it developed an internal poor electrical connection, so I had to return it, and they had none to replace it with.

Has quality improved in the last 15 years, or is the mass public still thrown mostly gen. 1 night vision. What would one suggest today in terms of a sharp monocular with IR illumination and not grainy/sparkly?

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At least Gen 2 IMO. I have 2 Gen 3 devices, and they are awesome, but they cost. Always go with a reputable seller in case you have a problem. I bought my gear from OpticsHQ and have been treated like royalty.

Tachikoma said:

AFAIK you can even buy XD-4 devices in US (an improved version of gen-3 tubes), just try them and you'll notice the difference

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Yeah, I need these for bird watching.

The D300 has long been the standard gen 2, value priced monocular in the night vision world. I had the weaponsight version of this scope which was called the Falcon (at the time) and it lived up to its performance to value reputation. It's considered a gen 2+ with 28 line per millimeter minimum resolution. It can also be purchased with higher spec'd tubes and milspec for water resistance but at additional cost. What's nice about this is that it can be upgraded should you choose to do so at a later time. Price is just over $1200.

There isn't a huge wow factor between Gen2 and Gen3 units but there is a massive wow factor between even the best Gen1's and Gen2's. ATN is highly respected for it's Gen1 but the D300's image made my older Gen1 ATN Aries look like a kid's toy. Gen1 still uses roughly the same technology priciples that we had late in Veitnam. It's hard to describe the difference without writing a small book but Gen2 is everything it's cracked up to be.

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Turbo DV8 said:

Well, for now, all I recall is it was purchased through a Sportsman's Guide mail order catalogue. Had a built-in IR illuminator. I'll check to see if I still have a copy of the original manual. I know I have the manuals for the binoculars I had, but not sure about the monocular.

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I have a gnome n kb it kinda sux, do you still have a copy of manual?

NODs get sparkly and grainy when the Intensifier Tube is dieing. Gen 1 tubes are not very clear at all and often seem to not focus, it's the nature of the beast. Gen 2 is better but a Gen 2A or Gen 3 is by FAR the way to go and it's worth waiting and saving to get em over Gen 1...NEVER buy Russian or Chinese NODs, their technology is and durability is far behind the Western companies like ATN or Litton. Scour FleaBay for PVS14s if you want a monocular and PVS7B or D for a binocular. Lots of accessories for the 14s like weapon mounts, head mounts ad helmet mounts as well as camera adapters, sacrificial lenses, eye cups, cases and demist lenses.

One other Scope that should be on the list is the AN/PVS-4 Especially for a AR/M-14 or observation scope. yes it's old school but you can find Gen2-Gen2A (High Performance gen2 almost Gen 3) and Gen3 tube equipped models. With a bulletproof chassis, Superior optics even by todays standards and a wide field of view, it's no surprise a unit first put in service in 1977 can still hold it's own with the modern Starlight scopes and still is sought after as relatively few ever made it in the civilian market and were still having parts shipped to some military units as recent as 2008

i would never part with mine, even with others avail my PVS-4 just looks too wild mounted & works as good to give up. Bring on the Zombies

What I believe you are refering to is "scintillation". A faint, seemingly random sparkle or twinkle effect throughout the image area. You might find its more pronounced the less light you have available. Thats a normal characteristic of NVD's. Especially older GENs. But to answer to your quesion, yes. As the tech inproved scintillation was reduced. So was many other NVD problems.

gen 1 are producing 'anti statick' curcuits now to stop those spakelers, or shadow moving.. and gen 1 are starting with auto gains to protect from overlight, and have had auto 'cut to half power' for a few year now..10 year odd.

gen 2 has a rather nice selection fot about 1000 pound on average with other options bringing it down to the 600 mark.

gen three even has one that glows live things yellow while the backround is in tradisional green.. starting to get pricey at this end though, 2.5-15k..

the gen 4 i'd read its only gen three improved and not an actual new generasion. but.. it's something to debate over lol.

The sparkles you are seeing can be referred to as noise. To help with that you want a tube with good signal to noise ratio. The lower the ambient light, the more you will notice the noise. All tubes have noise, it's a question of how much noise. An unfilmed gen 3 tube will do very well in this regard. Most people will tell you that these are for aviation or similar use and not a good choice for weapon mounting due to recoil.

Stephen is correct.
I am a dealer and have seen hundreds of tubes. All of them have noise to some extent. "Perfect" ones are in The Middle East right now working.........no two tubes are the same, like diamonds. I wear NV binocs for work and even mine which were handpicked for me by my manufacturer rep have some noise depending on ambient lighting conditions, (scintillation) etc. I use only generation 3 Pinnacle tubes from Excelis, and that is the latest standard issued to the US warfighter. Look at Morovision.com for an explanation of nomenclature and the technology. Or ask me.