Night scopes were originally devised for military and other purposes related to it. Night vision goggles were used to dramatically intensify human night vision under low light source during wartimes as advancing troops or attacking enemy camps at night was an exercise in futility because of the darkness in the absence of night visions equipment. However due to its invention, military warfare at night have become possible and efficient and gave users tactical advantage.
Due to some amendments of some federal laws, the use of it for purposes other than warfare have become possible. Today, even an ordinary civilian can freely use such devices for entertainment or recreational purposes like war games. Commercial airline pilots are also allowed of its use especially during night time flying and during rescue operations by military operatives were visibility is a major problem that may hinder the success of the operations.
How does a vision goggle operate? Night vision goggles may operate through the infrared system wherein the infrared light that is focused on a scene, an object or a human body is undetectable by the human eye allowing a covert operation. The images or scenes illuminated are then transformed into visible images by image-converting processes. Another way that these goggles operate is through thermal imaging from which the thermal energy or heat that is emitted by the human body, animals and even objects are converted into visual images. Simply explained, it works by releasing a light invisible to human eye through a lens, a tube that functions to intensify images and again to another lens called objective lens which functions similar to camera lens which focuses the light into the image intensifier tube.
What are the parts that make it work? The image intensifier tube, the most complicated part and the main working component of the device, is composed of millions of hair-fine fibers of optic glass. The tube size ranges from 11×2 centimeters to 5.5 centimeters long and weighs about 0.4 kilograms. It resembles a vacuum tube that houses the micro channel plate in between the anode and cathode and a power source. The photo cathode absorbs lights called photons and converts it into electrons that pass through a wafer-thin micro channel plate that multiplies a converted light or electrons into a thousand times. The phosphor screen on the other hand, reconverts the electrons into a light image and focuses it on the output window. Other parts include the battery, the power supply unit, the switch, the eyepiece and the objective lens that are as important as the rest of the main parts.
Now that the night vision manufacturing is also made available to non-military personnel, the demand for it is increasing despite its excessively high prices depending on its generation, special features and among others.