Night Vision Did I fail the fusion test?

[nikonNUT]

Hey guys,
Went over to a dude I knows place to kill some racoons that have been eating his cantaloupes and while I schlepping my gear in I noticed something. I had my helmet on (MH25) and he has these little solar powered led lights everywhere to scare the critters off. What I noticed was that when I focused on a light with both eyes there was a separation between the thermal image and the naked eye aka they didn't overlay each other. Did my brain fail the fusion test or is that par for the course? Just curious and thanks for the info in advance!

 

[Killswitch Engage]

true fusion like that is a fallacy at best bud. it doesn't happen like that.

 

[shoots100]

You need to train your mind into thinking that gap isn't there, kinda like how over time you forget you live next to a train track.

SJC

 

[carbonbased]

kinda like how over time you forget you live next to a train track.

 

[nikonNUT]

true fusion like that is a fallacy at best bud. it doesn't happen like that.

Good to know. As I am a complete nOOB can you expand on that? Is it naked eye versus eye looking at a screen or is there more to it? Very curious!

 

[shoobe01]

Even on the actual fusion systems (e.g. ENVG-B), there are two different sensors. They are not even designed to align properly until things are least 47 ft away* The closer you get with any system, the less they combine.

Your eyes CAN totally figure out that these are the same object, and perfectly align everything. When that happens: magic. I get it a lot, but not by default. I often instead get two slightly offset images and it works fine. Happier walking around with two bands than one.

Note that purpose built non-fusion night vision binoculars will generally be collimated to align better but also are probably not perfect; the two similar images are more easy for your brain to combine, to ignore the differences so you don't notice.

Which is the biggest part: If it bugs you, then you can't do fusion. If you can ignore it, all is good. All my friends are happy I have mine because they tried it and it bugs the hell out of their brains to have the two and not-quite-matched images.



* it is 47 ft, I have zero idea where that number came from, but it is the same for several systems.

 

[Dogtown]

^^^ what he said

If the I^2 sensor was somehow in the same location as the thermal sensor, then there would be no parallax and the overlay would be consistent regardless of range. But with that initial offset, anything that's fairly close will show an offset. For example, an E-COTI or Jerry on a set of binos works great, but the thermal overlay is shifted slightly because there's about a couple inches offset between sensors. At distance this isn't a problem because the incoming photons are essentially parallel, but up close they diverge and you get an overlay offset.

The longer the offset distance, the farther the sensor convergence.

 

[TheHorta]

Having used or owned every fusion system known to man (including some prototypes never fielded), your eyes and brain are working just fine.

 

[rlsmith1]

Having used or owned every fusion system known to man (including some prototypes never fielded), your eyes and brain are working just fine.

F-PANO?

 

[shoobe01]

L3Harris Begins Production of Next Generation Panoramic Night Vision System for USSOCOM

L3Harris has begun low rate initial production (LRIP) of the Fused Panoramic Night Vision Goggle (F-PANO) which will provide the United States Special Operations Command with unprecedented situational awareness for improved mobility, targeting and lethality.

www.l3harris.com

It's like a GPNVG and an ENGV-B loved each other very much. See above the single thermal sensor:

 

[TheHorta]

L3Harris Begins Production of Next Generation Panoramic Night Vision System for USSOCOM

L3Harris has begun low rate initial production (LRIP) of the Fused Panoramic Night Vision Goggle (F-PANO) which will provide the United States Special Operations Command with unprecedented situational awareness for improved mobility, targeting and lethality.

www.l3harris.com

It's like a GPNVG and an ENGV-B loved each other very much. See above the single thermal sensor:

There’s literally zero difference between these and the L3 ENVG-B, as the thermal is only displayed on the right-front tube. The other three are NV-only (obviously). But they are awesome (had an ENG sample to play with for a short while). The thermal performance isn’t super-impressive, but they’re for CQ stuff so…

 

[shoobe01]

I am personally shocked beyond words that TheHorta has actually looked through one.

 

[nikonNUT]

Having used or owned every fusion system known to man (including some prototypes never fielded), your eyes and brain are working just fine.

@TheHorta I take issue with your assumption that my brain works just fine cuz it don't! But seriously... I appreciate everyone's input! The wealth of information here is awe inspiring!!!

 

[Killswitch Engage]

Even on the actual fusion systems (e.g. ENVG-B), there are two different sensors. They are not even designed to align properly until things are least 47 ft away* The closer you get with any system, the less they combine.

Your eyes CAN totally figure out that these are the same object, and perfectly align everything. When that happens: magic. I get it a lot, but not by default. I often instead get two slightly offset images and it works fine. Happier walking around with two bands than one.

Note that purpose built non-fusion night vision binoculars will generally be collimated to align better but also are probably not perfect; the two similar images are more easy for your brain to combine, to ignore the differences so you don't notice.

Which is the biggest part: If it bugs you, then you can't do fusion. If you can ignore it, all is good. All my friends are happy I have mine because they tried it and it bugs the hell out of their brains to have the two and not-quite-matched images.



* it is 47 ft, I have zero idea where that number came from, but it is the same for several systems.

this^^^

 

[roostercogburn98]

Having used or owned every fusion system known to man (including some prototypes never fielded), your eyes and brain are working just fine.

First post I’ve seen in a while. All set up in your new hut in timbucktwo I take it.

 

[TheHorta]

I am personally shocked beyond words that TheHorta has actually looked through one.

They’ve actually been in development/testing since pre-Covid. I’m sure the units being deployed are more refined than the prototypes I fondled.

 

[rlsmith1]

They’ve actually been in development/testing since pre-Covid. I’m sure the units being deployed are more refined than the prototypes I fondled.

Does ATAK work well now? I heard some guys were getting motion sickness with all that in their FOV (I’m hopeful the private sector has something like that someday)

 

[TheHorta]

Does ATAK work well now? I heard some guys were getting motion sickness with all that in their FOV (I’m hopeful the private sector has something like that someday)

It was never hooked up for my tinkering, but the menus had various wired and wireless settings for bits like ATAK and RTA-type stuff. Basically lifted straight from the ENVGs