Which Intensifier Tube Spec Matters the Least?

[@revvyishonisd5027]

Also halo value is set by physical distance from the photocathode to the micro channel plate. The closer they are set together, the lower halo value you get. But this can present a problem, if a strong enough lateral force is applied to your device and those to things bump into each other. You’ll get a nice big smear in the middle of your image. Google micro channel plate smear. You really don’t want that to happen. So really low halo isn’t necessarily a great feature, especially if you weapon mount your device. Or drop it and it lands lens first on the ground. Could really F you. From the sheets of L3 tubes I’ve seen, almost all of them are in the .8 to .7 range. This seems to be the “good enough but not too fragile” middle ground they shoot for. Since this is the most controllable value due to it being defined by parts placement rather than alchemical manufacturing processes like the other stat values.

[@Vinnytwotime]

My L3 WP unfilled tubes are 0.7 for halo. Good to know.

[@DelioPera]

I think the only Halo value that's worth looking at is 2. 1 was good, and Reach was solid, but 2 was a real generation defining game.

[@nfaisnfgay]

@@DelioPerano love for Reach? So over… the video games have fallen…

[@TheMsdos25]

@@Vinnytwotime I think the smudging damage is caused by the ion barrier film dislodging and/or touching the photocathode, so you won't need to worry about it on a filmless tube.

[@yzhou05]

@@TheMsdos25 I guess that could be 1 reason for plate smear, but pretty sure the OP is right that the majority of it is from MCP-photocathode touching. Also "filmless" tubes aren't actually completely without "film", it's just a proprietary film method that L3 calls "un-filmed".

[@baatmilk]

if anybody but Hop told me that the proccess of creating intensifier tubes involved giving them diablo random stat modifiers I would think they were lying to me

[@joshuahickey5264]

where can i buy a socketed pvs-14 im gonna load it up with el runes

[@rhodycars6058]

Just don’t get one of those ethereal tubes

[@trailertrashtactics]

I can't wait to see everyone on the forms suddenly speaking about how FOM doesn't matter when they were just preaching its importance 🤣

[@evey0259]

Everyone has been saying that for a while. Anything above 64 lp/mm is imperceptible and SNR is king.

[@knowtheplan472]

Hop and Brass have insane influence over the night vision community, I never seen nobody run the AEMS until BF showed how good it was and Airsoft PEQs are now hard to find single-handedly because of him. Someone should send Hop some Anvis-10s so he can shit talk them and drive the price down 😂

[@ethanbarnes3973]

All about that high Snr with 72lp

[@aidandavis2924]

Everyone has been saying that for a while

[@trailertrashtactics]

@@knowtheplan472 agreed on all topics

[@revvyishonisd5027]

Your next PowerPoint should be a night vision building company tier list. Cause a lot of the cost to value ratio in night vision comes down to the quality of the company you’re buying from and how greedy they are or aren’t. And amongst the most respectable mfg’s, buying is more of a personal dollar cost judgement rather than an esoteric hunt for specific stats and what is or isn’t important.

[@craposnap]

i agree, it needs to happen.

[@SuperXrayDoc]

I see too many people make the mistake of buying from companies that don't specialize in making night vision devices and don't show the tubes or specs sheet

[@craposnap]

@@SuperXrayDoc Same here, I’ve seen it happen plenty of times.

[@Hoplopfheil]

It seems like any good NV builder company is about a week away from a scandal about poorly assembled tubes... :)

[@craposnap]

@@Hoplopfheil 😞

[@TheAnimal191]

I recently heard a guy say "FOM is irrelevant" and had no idea what he meant because he classically refused to elaborate. This is the most comprehensive beginner intro to NV I have ever found. Thank you.

[@Zel_eo]

I got a deal for a mil surplus PVS 7 Gen 2+ with mount & knock off bump for $760. EVERYONE online said it was horrible because it was a pvs7 and only gen 2, but it was all I could afford as a poor legal student. Two years and some change later, I have done long range land nav, taken game, and can confidently shoot / move under nvgs. Fun Fact: any night vision is better than zero night vision. Also, being able to take hogs on a moonless night with an invisible laser from 200y away makes me feel like Great Value Sam Fisher. Now that I have a great paying job I'm looking to dive deeper with some pano bridge systems or maybe quads...if the bank will accept "Money for Noods" as a reason to give out a $35-40k loan.

[@MichaelThorne12Tribes]

Take 7️⃣ For The PVS?

[@ImperiumLibertas]

Definitely go pano. Quads are nice but heavy and they have distortion. Duals + pivot mount seems to be the best middle ground where you can go wide fov with more distortion and quickly switch to narrower fov with little distortion.

[@waylonk2453]

Chad

[@MichaelThorne12Tribes]

Will Pay 8️⃣ For PVS🤞 Meet Or 🚢

[@roflchopter11]

The QTNVG is "only" like $12k with medium quality tubes.

[@PolymerLad]

Understanding tube specs was such a steep learning curve, glad to see a video to help anyone getting into the game. As a warning, even with a tube image provided, the focus of the image might not represent the blems well, at least of the one tube I have.

[@Hoplopfheil]

Yeah same with fuzz or junk on the inside of the housing. Your eyeball can focus on stuff the camera looks "past" I guess.

[@TacoTory556]

Very true noticed that when I got my tube recently, in the picture you couldn’t even notice the blem until i actually looked through it

[@luguefamily1498]

Really great vid Hop, especially for just getting into the NV game recently. Your knowledge and reviews are appreciated.

[@BrassFacts]

brace for people that don't own nods to get really upset over this one

[@Hoplopfheil]

Almost as upset as the people who do own NODs

[@edwardlance2379]

I don't own NODs yet. The only night vision I have is a digital IR scope on my 6.5 Grendel DMR. I'm having a blast with it (no pun intended), but a set of intensifier tube NODs is my holy grail. A good chance I'll never be able to afford them, but it's nice to have a goal. To that end, I've been trying to learn what I can about them, all the differences, tubes, housings, optics and so on. I watch a lot of comparison videos, but have yet to actually look through any in real life. As someone who dabbles in photography, I fully understand that seeing a video doesn't always lend itself to the real world experience of actually looking through them. I really appreciate this video as it puts all those specs and numbers into perspective, along with some aspects that aren't rated (which are still important). Anyway, based on what I have seen so far, if money were no object, my "dream" NODs right now would be a pair of high SNR L3 super gain tubes wearing some Boomslang 50 degree lenses, and to be honest, if I could get those in green phosphor, all the better. From what I've seen, the GP just seems to have more contrast and looks less washed out in comparison to WP. Anyway, maybe that combo sounds silly to "those in the know", so if you think it is, please explain why. I'll continue my learning journey.

[@travislupum]

​@edwardlance2379 I prefer my green over white especially out in the forest under canopy and clouds and brighter nights I run my lli filter on it

[@IowaNVGuy]

Killed it! The industry sucks for passing this info on to the end user, nice to have this available for those just getting into the game!

[@bass779]

This is the most important presentation you have made. There is a complete vacuum of information on tube selection, ever since Sam Houston put his rambling, amateurish presentations behind a paywall. Thank you so much.

[@HanzHermannHoppe]

I would take anything Sam Houston, or any of the other TNVC salesmen, say with a grain of salt anyways.

[@bghiggy]

He's an absolute douche online too. Anyone asking simple questions he comes in and shits on you like you are supposed to have 10+ years of experience and expertise

[@94todd]

Maybe the real important NV spec is the friends we make in the night 🟢👄🟢

[@kraemer66]

I love a good clean signal to noise ratio. I usually keep my gain low too. It reduces noise and your eye adjusts and it looks great. Nothing worse than those tubes with no gain control. Put it on and it's like you're looking into a grainy blue sun compared to how I run mine. Halo becomes even important when you're running full power IR devices. The stronger lasers really bloom on mine.

[@brandonpowell480]

Great video for those looking for basic understanding. On the super gain tubes, these are not new and not exclusive to tnvc. They came from a South Korean military request specifically for jungle warfare circa 2017ish I believe. Basically the requirement was asked for to help with really dark canopy cover. Any L3 distributor (tnvc, licentia arms) is able to get them for customers. From what I understand, the South Korean military no longer orders them because they determined the normal pvs31 tubes served a better overall purpose.

[@p03saucez]

SNR is kang. Night vision is better than none. And totally agree with you on not getting hung up on specs alone (same goes for cans). My Elbit WP XLS tube has like 22 SNR but still looks amazing.

[@JamesReedy]

Just buy it is a great point. Going from no NVG to a middle of the road $3000-3500 mono is like unlocking a f’ing super power. The first time I looked I nearly shat myself, then I turned to the sky and was like holy f’ck, stars, satellites, meteors. I’ve gone a year plus without seeing a meteor. I saw 3 inside of 15 mins of staring at the sky thru my PVS-14.

[@waylonk2453]

Hop, as someone who's getting into the NV game I must say thanks. You've saved me a lot of time sitting at the computer stressing specs and tallying tradeoffs.

[@M81_WOODLAND]

This is definitely a useful reference to come back to. I want to be a moon goon when I grow up.

[@christas6774]

i love your comedy through this video. The last picture at the end of the video....cheap night vision, expensive night vision...the All Seeing Eye hahaha

[@Gio-od7if]

Really well explained! Getting my first NV device soon and this was insanely helpful, thank you.

[@spartan7404]

“Taking pics and posting them is the entire point of NV ownership, and everyone will make fun of you for every blemish in your tube.” Truer words were never spoken.

[@stevedo18able]

For me, this is priority of NV 1. Budget 2. Color of Phosphorus 3. No zone 1 blemishes or peppering Snagged an Elbit WP with 64 Res, 35 SNR, 2290 FOM, 0.98 EBI, 0.61 Halo in mil spec Carson for $2400 few months ago. 1 pepper in zone 3. The market is great at this moment in time to pick up anything gun related from 3rd party. That same tube would be around $3500 estimate, brand new from a company.

[@kevin11288]

Phosphor*

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

where would one look around? I'm just a lost neophyte.

[@MyLonewolf25]

Where did you find that sale??

[@stevedo18able]

@@MyLonewolf25 arfcom forums. Great deals pop up once in a while, mixed with polite haggling.

[@mikethemaniac1]

Hop I don't think they solely send rejects anymore. While that WAS in fact the practice of the mid 2000's, It has not been my experience that tubes bought present day are military spec rejects. In fact, my tubes I bought in 2020 met all OMNI VIII contract specs and are perfectly clean, so... You know.

[@danielh5397]

There are indeed certain characteristics of intensifier tubes that will NOT show up in a spec sheet. For example, certain tubes have visibly more fixed pattern noise (chicken wire effect) than others and what I've noticed personally is that tubes with higher SNR tend to have this effect more commonly and more noticeably than tubes with lower SNR. Another characteristic that won't show up in a spec sheet is when certain tubes have a "streaking" effect when exposed to light sources. Some have it worse than others. Some tubes that do have this get reportedly better over time or after the tube has been on for some time. White is not always better than green simply for being white. I've looked through some reportedly low spec green tubes that absolutely look incredible compared to high spec white tubes. Every tube is truly a unique snowflake.

[@GetTheFO]

I experienced the streaking issue with an L3 OMNI VII tube, it would get better after it had been on for a little while, but it was a pain in the ass using it in areas with light sources. Otherwise was a great tube… just would shadow and streak like a motherfucker.

[@mrgrump2534]

@@GetTheFO I always try to use my night vision at night, not around light sources when I first got them and I used them around my neighborhood. I couldn’t help it because there are light sources, but I go to woods these days

[@fatedescent2329]

“…your eyeballs aren’t that good…” why you gotta come for me like that.

[@WillStinton]

This was a helpful video. I think I’m just gonna get a Photonis White Phosphor PVS-14 and content myself in the “Having NV is better than not having it” group of people

[@DagaYute]

Super useful vid - probably the only youtube vid that goes over this in detail.

[@uh60ce1]

From someone with 1500 hours under nvg's don't go cheap. Remember what environment you're using them in. And remember SEFE. Material Defects. Shading, Emission points, Flicker effect and Edge Glow. Otherwise, you can deal with cosmetic blemishes and the people making fun of your chicken wire are the poor's that didn't have the funds to even own them. Hopefully this helps. Awesome as always Hop.

[@yamahapeanut44]

What is flicker effect?

[@uh60ce1]

@@yamahapeanut44 if you think of like the old drawing books you flip through to see a movie., It's like that. The Nvg's will flicker on and off. Sometimes really fast, other times really slow. Either way, ya wanna get a migraine? It sucks.

[@yamahapeanut44]

@@uh60ce1 that makes sense. Thank you.

[@Grunt-Barra]

Even playing airsoft, all these guys talk s*** about someone else's budget nvgs, and there isn't a thing on their kit worth more than $100 😂

[@Auto5k]

FOM should be calculated by multipling with the square of the SNR, so that it weighs nore in the result, this would help make FOM a more useful metric.

[@HanzHermannHoppe]

I don't really care about CR anymore now that the majority of commercially available tubes are 72+

[@aidandavis2924]

We don't really even need fom at all

[@VoluntaryPlanet]

I've been needing a video like this for some time, thank you!

[@cornelius5595]

I've been looking at some of these sheets wondering where the hell to even start for considerations. I appreciate the breakdown, and know that I shouldn't worry about it all too much.

[@DevonReclaimed]

"Halo, were you blinded by it's majesty?"

[@jeffgeesaman4386]

I really wish you had this video made 2 years ago. LOL Awesome info and totally on point. I bought my expensive L3 DTNVS NODS and I love them but now that I've had the pleasure of looking through a dozen pair or so, I would have saved some serious money had I know all this before. Love your content. Straight forward no bullshit. Keep up the great work.

[@masterjo_6703]

Great information, very well done presentation, for a lot of people I don't think it makes a large difference, unless you have the cash to care. I have one omni 8 tube from 2018 and one omni 5 from 2004 with a huge blem. Currently about to bridge the two into duals, because other than Snr and extreme low-light preformence it doesn't make a huge difference for my use case, and it's perfectly usable. I could spend a couple thousand more for something better, but I have the same practical visibility (I'm not in the worst conditions ever) and advantage of two tubes either way. Practicing using your night vision, having a comfortable setup and being able to have it at all is more important imo.

[@KevinLou1]

That throwback Bungie reference - much respect

[@opel1111]

Really appreciate all the NV videos, just bought my first PVS-14 this past weekend went with L3

[@christoph9587]

You lucky dog you!!!!! I want to get some so damn bad but just don't have the cash yet. I am jeolous....

[@perchowski3021]

Same, picked up a WP L3 unfilmed from TNVC. Its 37.7 SNR 72 lp/mm, .7 EBI & .7 HALO, with 0 blems. Think I got a pretty good tube!

[@joshgalt2022]

Awesome video and perfect timing. I just took the plunge on my first set of duals today. Cheers to the King-El Hoppe’

[@Sardy540]

Outstanding delivery. Brief, super informative. Thanks from Australia mate.

[@KingKong-bo7nk]

Thanks hop I’m just starting to look into this seriously and this was the break down I was looking for to get my head around the spec sheets

[@PistoleroJesse]

I got the knowledge beat down in the last live cast, but this was an epic follow up. Thanks.

[@christoph9587]

This was amazing!!! I needed to see this. I am currently looking at buying Nighy vision. This was a huge help. Thanks for your expertise sir. Much appreciated....

[@CertifiedBullpupHater]

Fantastic breakdown Hop.

[@AidanShourds]

Thanks for this video Hop, i got lost in spec sheets so this helps narrow my choices down.

[@PeekEngineering]

Thank you Hop. This is unequivocally the best night vision buyers guide on the internet.

[@himawaricopter]

Thanks hop. This helped me a lot with filtering through all the info out there.

[@stcredzero]

I really appreciate that Considerations is zero-indexed! (It's a programmer thing.)

[@Ironjo22]

Spectacular info!!! Literally helped me from making a mistake but that’s not cheap. Thank you sir.

[@jameslarkins7589]

Came for the guns. Stayed for the bullet points!

[@breckfreeride]

Where's the cats

[@Pinetreemoto]

Shooting without earplugs until I can’t hear my auto gate whining anymore

[@CallsignArclight]

thank you so much hop, this is a really well done video that condenses a lot of useful info down into somethig incredibly manageable for me

[@yzhou05]

Great info Hop. Only thing i’m not sure is accurate is that “all civ tubes are gov contract rejects”. I have heard from TNVC and other reputable resellers that if the tubes are described as “Mil-Spec” they have met all the gov contract minimum requirements (as low and useless for comparison as those specs sometimes are). The tube manufacturers definitely have to fulfill .gov/mil quotas first, but afterwards extra tubes are available to the civilian market.

[@Hoplopfheil]

The way I understand it is that they're trying to make milspec tubes all the time but the results are so inconsistent a bunch end up failing out. They never set out to make blemmed low spec tubes to sell to dirty civilians but it turns out that way. Like how a lot of Intel i5s were just failed i7s with two cores disabled.

[@yzhou05]

@@Hoplopfheil For sure some fail in some way or other and are then sold at a small discount to us dirty civilians, but I've seen plenty of direct to civilian market tubes with much higher than even the most recent OMNI VII or VIII minimum specs.

[@brandonpowell480]

L3 finished goods are definitely not rejects. Especially the pvs31a, 1531, and the M914A. These units come as the full deployment package and with the same government issued tubes.

[@TACOHOG]

yeah, that isn't the case, Civ tubes are not mil reject tubes.

[@thearmorer5527]

As an og bungie fan, the marathon joke hit different. Love it.

[@LordSquirrelShow]

I laughed more at the Halo/Marathon joke than I probably should have.

[@adamy9260]

Thanks for doing the NV spec leg work for us Hop. It is all a lot clearer now.

[@clarenceclark8592]

Thank you hopp for explaining what’s important an what’s not it freakin helps a lot why isn’t their more videos like this if everyone had this info manufactures would have to either lower prices or increase quality of tubes jus my opinion who knows but thanks it helped me good job

[@roseprecision]

I really like these in depth videos from hop. They give you the ability to evaluate products independently before purchasing.

[@ABCABC-hw5zh]

I recently came back from a night vision training course with some of the best night vision instructors, Elb-it Systems was brought up for below average cost NV's with good specs. My Elb-it white phophor, thin filmed NODS have better specs than some unfilmed NODS. You may have a couple spots in the tubes, but my 2 small spots on my tubes, I hardly ever notice them. $7G compared to $10G, you dedide. At this night vision training, one of the trainers who has built NODS said that SNR and EBI are the most important specs on your NV tubes. Reply

[@TacoTory556]

Wait I’m sorry you spend 7gs on a thin filmed tube? Or did I misunderstand

[@SuperXrayDoc]

Agreed. People overlook insanely good spec tubes because of a few spots you'll never see while shooting so long as they're in zone 3. I got an elbit PVS14 for $2.7k that has 2500 FOM, 35 SNR, 0.4 EBI, and 0.7 Halo. Theres one small spot in zone 3 I never notice while actually shooting. Those specs are better than some milspec tubes

[@stevedo18able]

@@SuperXrayDoc Snagged an Elbit WP with 64 Res, 35 SNR, 2290 FOM, 0.98 EBI, 0.61 Halo in mil spec Carson for $2400 few months ago. 1 pepper in zone 3. Zone 2 spots is case by case basis if it were up to me, and a solid no for zone 1 spots. But people need to understand. Any NV is better than none.

[@SuperXrayDoc]

@stevedo18able as long as it isn't in zone 1 and not on the horizon line (blem could be mistaken for something if on the horizon line), the blems really don't matter. When focusing on shooting you never see them in zone 3 or small ones in zone 2. You'll only really notice them when walking around

[@RomeoAirsoft]

@@SuperXrayDoc damn those are insane specs for that price

[@maxamick9962]

I can’t recommend Kosher Surplus enough! First time buyer and I couldn’t be more happy with my purchase.

[@Tofu61]

When hop pulls out the powerpoint presentations I get a full chub

[@RomeoAirsoft]

Great video hop! Really helped me understand specs more in a condensed manner

[@poortac5568]

Night Vision Guys has a fantastic deal on Gen3 Elbit WP PVS14 right now. All the specs are at or above what you recommend and are less than 3 grand 👍 Great video, I wish I saw this before spending 6 months trying to figure out what I should buy.

[@zackz4015]

Thanks for the video, I already had my unit but it was fun to pull out the spec sheet and actually understand it

[@protectpersevere2030]

Great write up man. Appreciate the time it prob took research this

[@zaynemikita6897]

Well glad I watched this. I bought an Elbit WP tube and people all said hey its only 1800 FOM. Whats funny is my tube still looks significantly better than their photonis tubes and crappy old gen 3 green tubes. Wish I would have watched this earlier. Thanks!!!

[@badat3208]

all i took from this is someone may have had a knife fight for a remake of Marathon

[@Hoplopfheil]

I'll knife fight anybody who tries to remake Marathon

[@abledemo1]

This was actually really helpful, just listened to the vid while cross referencing my spec sheet. And feel pretty good about my Elbit gen3 white. Glad Steele ind. Didn’t bend me over.

[@stefanmcfarland7905]

Preach it. So true that people get caught up in the weeds on this. Just get the best that you can afford, but something is WAY better than nothing.

[@mountedpatrolman]

Something that wasn't mentioned here, is higher HALO tubes are generally more recoil resistant and are better for clip-ons.

[@Glonk_Respecter]

I’m legit hunting for a 14 right now, this video couldn’t be better timed.

[@zackaryk2000]

Now that's some good content. Thanks hop!

[@parallel-knight]

I don’t own NVG but am interested in getting a pair of PVS-7’s or PVS-14’s. Gen 2 +. So this video is actually really helpful and interesting! Thank for posting would be interested in more.

[@va05sti]

Solid info! That’s for breaking it down for the new guys!

[@bahima]

Hop, an enjoyable and informative PowerPoint presentation into the murky world of NV. If all civilian NV are rejects, why does ITAR still apply? So freaking hard to get into civilian NV here in Australia without paying military prices for civilian gen 1 garbage.

[@Hoplopfheil]

Check out Cold Harbour, they're a Canadian company who can sell night vision to Australia.

[@bahima]

@@Hoplopfheil Thanks heaps Hop, I will check them out!

[@urgentcarestories]

Thank you for making this. Very dry but helpful info as I’m getting into Nv shooting. Much appreciated Hop. Feel better soon

[@nocturnal_walker]

amazing vid, this topic is not really covered elsewhere. thx, will save this one for future use when I'll be on market for NV.

[@kingchungus]

me learned me brain is small like walnut, me make big fire in forest so me see better at dark time, shaman runes for magic bug vision make brain hurt.

[@deltathirtyfour]

nice "who's line" line :)

[@Hoplopfheil]

Who's Line Pair/mm

[@deltathirtyfour]

@@Hoplopfheil I like some high signal to noise , great pp.

[@streetjustice4287]

Yo the eye of Sauron had me laughing my ass off in the break room at work

[@revvyishonisd5027]

I took that to mean AC130 mounted thermal 😂

[@maxmatthews2776]

Best explanation I've seen without the bullshit. Feel better soon buddy

[@schizosaint777]

Hop power points are the only ones I have ever paid attention too

[@australovenatortomino_1741]

Really helpful, especially when this is the first time ever I saw these specs.

[@HanzHermannHoppe]

while I agree that people (especially the white wall warriors who obsess over the smallest dot) put far too much importance on specs, to say that tubes are always indistinguishable on spec differences goes a bit far. On overcast nights, new moons, or under canopy there is a noticeable difference between a "medium-high" SNR tube and a very high one, and in an environment with lots of over-threshold lights(especially when driving or on ranges which mandate visible light markers on shooters) having a higher halo is definitely noticeable. Granted this is largely dependent on personal preference and your individual use-case, but I don't think it's wasted effort to find what specs matter to you and make sure your tube(s) meet those criteria especially with how many reputable builders have either hand select options, regular batches of ready-to-ship tubes with listed specs, or both. I totally understand the eye-rolling over how often nvg enthusiasts have pissing contests over specs though. Overall: great video, I'll be sending all of my NVG-curious friends here as all the other spec breakdowns don't do nearly as good a job as you've done.

[@edwardlance2379]

Funny you mention pissing matches over specs. Throughout my life, I've found ANYTHING technical in nature tends be a rather large culture of pissers...to the point it seems that all that matters is the piss itself! Lol. I've been shooting (casually and competitively) and reloading for over 40 years. Now that's a culture(s) who delves quite heavily into a lot of pissing over specs and ratings. I think part of the drive is everyone is looking to get the absolute best bang for their buck, but I agree, some times you can dwell too much on those specs to the point of being neurotic over it. I do it to myself all the time. My only night vision so far is a digital IR scope. I drove myself nuts looking over the specs and reviews of a few scopes I picked out in my price range. Even after deciding on the one I wanted and getting it (I got the ATN X-Sight Pro 4K 5-20x) I started second guessing myself, even though it performs as good as the reviews I watched and I like it a lot...what if the others I was considering are better? Admittedly, if I was wealthy and money was no object, I'd probably not worry so much, but I'm not, so I stress over things like this when it comes time to plunk down the cash. Beyond that, I think people just like to argue over specs because everyone has a favorite and they want to justify it. However, some specs really do matter and it's important to understand them and "get it right." Either way, in the end, I'm happy to see it, really. Numbers and specs and all that really do help drive a market. I mean, take guns and cartridges, for example. Realistically there are maybe 3 or 4 guns and cartridges that will do just about anything you need to do in the world of firearms, but that'd be boring and there'd be little, if any, innovation in the market. So, piss away! Just try to not to piss into the wind!

[@voltron0911]

This was incredible. Thank you. 🙏

[@musician445]

Thank you Hop sir, this helps a lot.

[@Meeko1010100112]

>binge watching perun basically every week Perun is possibly miltube's favorite aussie, next to hypohystericalhistory.

[@Jewifer333x2]

24UA tubes with L3 are about the closest you can get to milspec tubes. They're aviation grade and are sort of needed to have pretty clean images. You'll get very mild peppering but no super noticeable blems. Mine were both pretty average on the SNR and EBI. LG was like 60,000. Pretty bright. Overall nice tubes.

[@coopersand911]

I love it when he brings out the slide shows!

[@TuxPenguino]

Eye of Soron. Great picto for seeing everything.

[@alexandrasvulfgang1205]

I recently bought my first PVS-14 and was wondering how the specs on mine stacked up against the rest. It turns out that I have a high performing tube that I got for a really competitive price(although it was a random chance). Thanks for breaking the stats down into bite size chunks.

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

I'm just a noob with hat in hand, do you mind telling me where you shopped for it? I'm totally lost on this stuff and just trying get a look at the market.

[@alexandrasvulfgang1205]

@@sinisterthoughts2896 I am also a n00b. For a very long time, I thought it would be a fantasy to own, so I am not much further along than you. I bought my PVS-14 from Night Vision Guys, with minimum promised specs that it far exceeded, but ymmv. I know there is also US Night Vision, Tactical Night Vision Company, and Cold Harbor Supply, but I'm sure there are many others. I got my XLSH WP Elbit tube for $3K, but I didn't get to choose and got a lucky IIT.

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

@@alexandrasvulfgang1205 thanks for the info.

[@Gingercattleman]

A lower Halo Value is better really after Halo 3 ODST the value isn't worth the money

[@GravySealNetwork]

Pocked up a L3 Harris unfilmed Fom: 2678 SNR: 37.2 RES: 72 HALO: 0.8 EBI: 0.7 With a small bit of peppering in zone 2. Super excited to get it this Tuesday

[@musicman1eanda]

It's actually quite difficult now to get those minimum stats you mentioned without going L3. Most common SNR ratings for Elbit right now are in the 22-28 range on Steele and Custom Night Vision. You can spend $3700 and still not cross the 30 SNR line.

[@MegaDman34]

Another thing, manual gain is much more important for monocular PVS 14 devices but not nearly important at all for binocular devices. The reason being manual gains primary utility comes from reducing brightness to help your naked eye collimate your image with your aided one

[@Hoplopfheil]

The most important thing about manual gain to me is being able to crank it up to force your tube to stay at max gain even if there's a bright sky or other source of light. Otherwise the tube adjusts to the average brightness of the image, and that can make the shadows impossible to see into.

[@MegaDman34]

@@Hoplopfheil that must depend on the tube right? At least for L3 filmless, my tubes have auto gain that can’t be manually overridden so even if you crank up the gain if it’s too bright it will automatically reduce gain. I Can see this in my device when I rapidly crank up gain and the tube goes peak bright then quickly dims by itself. Anyway, great vid, your NVG content is my favorite you and BF do

[@Hoplopfheil]

@@MegaDman34 Yeah I think the gain control is more like a suggestion than a command, lol. But it does seem to help in some environments. If there's still light in the sky you can crank the gain up and get a much grainier image but see a little more detail in the shadows. Useful for that first hour of twilight.

[@Dovacat]

I really wish this was posted before the Steele industries black Friday sale cause it would have saved me a lot of time

[@musicman1eanda]

Why do I watch these when I know I won't be able to get night vision until digital takes over?

[@DrAlexanderTobacco]

Why do you assume digital will be cheaper once it takes over? The digital sensors which actually rival analog NV will be just as expensive, I can assure you.

[@ken8990]

Good luck music man, it'll be many years to come. If you go to a night vision training class, like Kinetic Consulting, you'd know why your comment is not true.

[@robertb6768]

Digital nightvision is unlikely to ever match the performance of high-end Gen3 tubes, unless an analog photo-multiplication element is added to the “digital” device. There’s a reason that, when billion dollar research laboratories want to measure tiny photon signatures, they use analog photomultiplier tubes that are basically the same technology as Gen3 nightvision.

[@revvyishonisd5027]

Digital overtaking, and then becoming cheaper than analogue… probably won’t happen in your lifetime lol

[@musicman1eanda]

@@revvyishonisd5027 Well regardless of price, for my situation, I won't have enough cash saved up for probably 5 + years. We have 8.5k student loan debt left, then we need a 14k emergency fund, then we need a house downpayment of about 20-30k, then by that time one of our cars will probably be dead so that'll be another 5-15k. If ALL of that is taken care of then I'll be able to buy night vision of some kind. When you're a husband and father you don't get to buy what is essentially a toy (for lack of a better term) until responsibilities are met. It sucks.

[@simoncleret]

Best joke of the presentation was Marathon, IMO

[@bob_mosavo]

Thanks, Hop 😁 I voted for you on the Gundies 👍

[@baalzamon3593]

I have a tube with high Fixed Pattern Noise. The tube is amazing otherwise. Almost no blemishes, high resolution, plenty bright, great SNR, low halo, etc. But that damn honeycomb pattern gets really distracting when the brightness is turned up

[@Hoplopfheil]

Yeah I've noticed a lot more fixed pattern noise on super high spec tubes. That's how you know they're epic I guess.

[@achilles_kbab]

I lost my shit when the eye of Sauron popped up at the end of the scale

[@EliasRodriguez123]

Great content, thanks for breaking it down!