Image intensifier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Says it right there, that "the tubes suffered greatly from fragility during testseriouslyby 2002, the NVESD revoked the fourth generation designation for filmless tubes, at which time they simply became known as Gen III Filmless. These tubes are still produced for specialist uses such as aviation and special operations however are not used for weapon-mounted purposes."
If you know anything about NV dealers, they all have the BEST. I had one dealer on here tell me (they) had better shit than the next guy, next guy said the exact same thing, so somebody was bullshitting me. When I told them I was only interested in OMNI 7 hand select 14's manufactured in either ITT or L3's cleanroom, they STILL had the balls to tell me THEIRS was better than TNVC, who I ended up going with (least bullshit, answered most questions satisfactorily, called to make sure the model they were sending me was up to my expectations). They were also honest enough to say that there isn't a difference between an actual ITT model sold by dealer A, and the same model with similar specs from dealer B. They also sold that exact model for around $1000 less. When approached about the price, well, THAT model isn't "SF grade" and THEIRS is. And "did I really want less than that?"
If ITT and L3 aren't interested in making it, I'm not interested in buying it. That they failed over 20 years ago to pull it off (and I'm assuming they continue R&D on many levels) that concerns me. Also, ATN is the other maker, and I've had an ATN scope. It was such shit that I couldn't give it away --literally. I ended up throwing it in the trash after very little use. That they put their name on it at all says it all about their business plan.
I didn't know ATN and Armasight were the same, but that doesn't surprise me. Bobcat-special-etc.-etc. weapons, they use the same model. Once you sell total shit, you have to change your name. Newcon Optik is another company I wonder about. For civilian legal class 3 IR lasers, nobody seems to buy 'em, folks go for the class 1 stuff at similar prices.
Do your homework. Night vision has profits on par with heroin and gold apparently, so I don't believe much of what any dealer says. Especially after the shit I had to go through to find a good dealer for my most recent purchase, it took 2 weeks at least. I'm sure there are other good ones, but TNVC was just the most honest with me and what they said jived with what ITT said when I called them.
To use an analogy, when I have Joe Ford tell me their red F150 is better than Bill Ford's red F150, same model, same features, but worth $40,000 vs. $30,000, my bullshit deflection system automatically goes up. This post isn't directed at anyone or any company in particular, but the industry as a whole, so if anyone gets butt hurt, that says a lot there. And I'm familiar with these sales tactics. All dealers use 'em, ADT dealers will tell you the exact same shit about alarms, knowing good and well the only difference will be the actual installer that shows up to your door, similar with cars, similar with NV.