Home Tech & Gear Is Night Vision Scope and Infrared the Same?

Is Night Vision Scope and Infrared the Same?

Is Night Vision Scope and Infrared the Same?
Photo by Piotr Wilk on Unsplash

Common people often confuse between the night vision scope and the infrared vision scope by mistaking them to be the same. But not army professionals! Night vision scopes and infrared scopes are completely different. Army personnel or pro hunters use both.

The difference between the Night Vision Scope and Infrared Scope

What Is Night Vision Scope?

Have you used a camera? Well, if you have, night vision scopes are just like that, except they have greater magnification power. As the name suggests, night vision scopes help you to see things at night. People working in the army or those at war use night vision scopes with rifles to locate and target their enemies.

How Does Night Vision Scope Work?

One might wonder how we can see things during the night with night vision scopes. The reason is that the scope soaks up any light and magnifies it into greenish images. The scope absorbs light from the surrounding objects like the moon/stars. This means the clearer and brighter the sky, the more prominent the image is. Using the night vision scopes with rifles makes it easy to target.

Pros of Night vision scope

Unlike infrared vision scopes, night vision scopes are much cheaper, making it easily affordable to use with hunting rifles.

With night vision scope, you can get a greater/pan view of the area; thus, helping you to scan the entire target area all at once.

Like the normal camera, it gives you clear and prominent images with a hint of a greenish hue.

Another advantage of having a night vision scope is it has long battery life.

Cons of Night vision scope

It is of no use during cloudy or rainy days. The scope is not able to absorb light; hence there’s no image.

With night vision scopes, it becomes hard to locate the enemies who have camouflaged in the dark.

If there’s smog/fog/smoke, it will disturb the clarity and the visibility of the scope.

What is Infrared scope?

Infrared is commonly known as thermal imaging. Unlike night vision scopes, Infrared scopes don’t work like cameras. Rather, the sensors detect any radiation produced by the object and create an image.

How does Infrared scope work?

In this, the image gets captured when the scanners read the heat properties of any object. When the heat signature of any object is more, the image becomes more prominent. It doesn’t matter when and where you use this device. Whenever the sensors catch any radiation, they will produce an image; thus, making it the best choice for people at war to trace their enemies and kill them.

Pros of Infrared vision scope

Unlike night vision scopes, Infrared vision scopes do not require any light to produce images. One can use it during the day and night.

With infrared vision scope, you can also track the hand and footprints of your enemy through their residual heat.

It helps one to see things even during extreme weather conditions like smoke, smog, or rainfall.

It allows you to capture the movement of your enemies even through thin materials.

Cons of Infrared vision scope

It is quite expensive, making Infrared vision scopes a less affordable choice.

It requires time to set up.

Infrared vision scopes are quite bulky, making them hard to carry around.

It works better when used by professionals.

To sum it up, both night vision scope and infrared vision scopes help you see objects at night. If one has to choose, then infrared vision is a much better option. But again, it is a bit costlier than the night vision scope. People in the military use both when at war!

Featured Photo by Piotr Wilk on Unsplash