What Is Infrared Night Vision?

Infrared night vision is something that is largely associated with spy movies and action heroes. However, this is a very real type of equipment used by many real life heroes such as military personnel, law enforcement personnel and private investigators. Night vision has gained popularity with many hunters as well, and there are many play "spy" toys on the market that claim to have this feature as well. This is a very real feature that many pieces of equipment have and there are two basic types of infrared night vision.

Types of night vision

Infrared night vision allows you to see up to two hundred yards away on a moonless, cloudy night. The first type of night vision is image enhancement where tiny amounts of light that may not appear visible to the naked eye are amplified on the lower end of the infrared light spectrum until the object is clear. The second type is thermal imaging where the upper portion of the infrared light spectrum is captured. This is emitted by heat on objects rather than light. Warm objects give off much more light than cool objects with this method.

Although infrared night vision may seem like something you only see in movies, it is a very real and useful feature in many situations. Night vision works by taking small amounts of light or heat from an object and amplifying it so that it is visible to the human eye. Night vision is a great piece of technology that helps people in potentially dangerous situations remain safe.