Frequently Asked Questions

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Night Vision, thermal, and related items inside the US are subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). For all intents and purposes night vision, thermal, or related products cannot be taken or sent outside of the US. It does not matter where the device originated, once it is in the US, it is subject to ITAR and cannot be exported without proper permits from the US State Department.

L3Harris uses a set of codes to indicate the minimum and maximum (in some cases) specs that a tube will have.

The first letter is the Restriction Indicator. The letter will either be an L or U. L indicates it is a Limited tube, which has maximum spec restrictions. L tubes are meant for export to other countries by qualified exporters. U indicates it is an Unlimited tube, which does not have maximum spec restrictions. U tubes are meant for domestic use.

The second letter is the Image Quality Indicator. The A indicator is for aviation tubes that have more stringent minimum cosmetic spec standards. The M indicator is for ground use tubes which have less stringent minimum cosmetic spec standards.

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Resolution multiplied by SNR

A honeycomb or wave-shaped pattern of dark thin lines in the field of view either throughout the image area or in parts of the image area. This is due to the structural bundles of the MCP.

This is the number of times a night vision device amplifies light input.

This is the amount you see in an image tube that is turned on but there is no light at all on the photocathode. The EBI level determines the lowest light level at which you can detect something.

This is how big the circle of bloom is around a light when viewing through the tube.

SNR is signal to noise ratio. It is a measure of the light signal reaching the eye divided by the perceived noise as seen by the eye. If you think of an old cathode tube television with batwing antennas it’s easy to visualize. When the antenna is perfectly placed the picture is crystal clear. When it’s not perfectly placed you get some scintillation or fuzz in the picture. That fuzz is the “noise” part of the picture. The SNR determines the low light resolution of the image tube. Because SNR is directly related to the photocathode’s sensitivity and accounts for phosphor efficiency and MCP operating voltage, it is the best single indicator of an image intensifier’s performance.