#DigitalNightVision

Welcome back to Friday Night Lights. Last week I wrote about the AGM TB75, a thermal biocular with digital night vision fusion. Well, digital night vision seems to be getting better and tonight I will show you something new from DuskEagle. The DE916 is a digital night vision scope that is lightweight and can see in the dark better than expected.

Thermal and digital night vision is making leaps and bounds within the firearms community when it comes to the capabilities they are now offering end users at much lower pricing than we’ve ever seen before. PARD, a European producer of digital and thermal night vision devices for observation, hunting, and shooting, is attempting to bring more awareness to its efforts to bring affordable and durable devices to the US market. That’s why I’m happy to have Derick from PARD on the podcast today to talk a bit about their current product lineup and what it offers to various users within the shooting community. Derick and I also take a minute to chat about some of the basic terminology of common specifications and features found on digital night vision and thermal devices, to give us a clear definition of what they mean, and how those numbers and figures relate to what you’re buying. Please give a warm welcome to Derick with PARD Technology!

Welcome back to another installment in our Friday Night Lights series. Last week I showcased some rather niche gear, thermal beacons. This week we will take a look at something that has caught the attention of some people – the SiOnyx OPSIN helmet-worn digital night vision device. A lot of people have been asking for an OPSIN review so let’s dive in.

SiOnyx has made a name for themselves with their Aurora action camera. It is sensitive in low light and has been called digital night vision. However the Aurora was never designed to be a helmet mounted system. It is camera first and foremost. Well now SiOnyx has a new digital night vision monocular called the OPSIN.

One of the country’s leading digital night vision device manufactures has landed a pretty big contract with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. SIONYX recently acquired a 5-year long contract to provide FBI agents with the pocket-sized Aurora PRO digital night vision camcorder to allow their agents to capture full-color daylight images in low light conditions. The SIONYX Aurora PRO operates using an extremely light-sensitive sensor in stark contrast to true night vision devices which use image intensifier tubes.

At last SHOT Show 2020, SiOnyx unveiled their new Aurora Pro digital night vision camera. If you recall, I reviewed the original Aurora camera a year before that. Well, partially thanks to my mistake in further testing my Aurora, SiOnyx was gracious to replace my broken Aurora for the new Aurora Pro.

If you recall, I reviewed the SiOnyx Aurora last year. Then last Summer, SiOnyx released their Aurora Sport, a simpler version of the Aurora for a lower introductory price of $399. Well at SHOT Show 2020, We got to see the Augmented Reality SiOnyx Aurora Pro.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) came out on November 9, 2009. The Prestige Edition of MW2 came with extras for the game including a set of digital night vision goggles. Fast forward almost a decade later and Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019) just came out and just like its decade-old predecessor, this year’s Dark Edition MW came with real digital night vision goggles. From the interviews and sneak peeks it looked like the COD MW Dark Edition Pano NVGs might be quad tubes for the masses.

An opportunity arose when Digital Crosshairs reached out to TFB. They wanted us to review their Digital Crosshairs 1000R which is a digital night vision camera system that clips onto your scope. The 1000R only retails for $700 ($600 on sale at the time of this article) so I figured it might be an interesting item to review for those looking to get night vision on the cheap.

For this week’s Friday Night Lights spotlight we will take a closer look at the SiOnyx Aurora. Last November I wrote an article about the validity of digital night vision technology. Click here to refresh your memory. I mentioned two strong candidates that can help one see in the dark without using a flashlight. Those examples were the Sony A7S and SiOnyx Aurora. After writing that article, some new test videos were posted online and the Aurora further piqued my interest. So I ordered the Aurora when it went on sale around Thanksgiving. You may be interested in what I discovered in my testing of the Aurora as a digital night vision camera and its potential to be used as a Night Optical/Observation Device (NOD).

Actual night vision is typically rather pricey. While there are cheap night vision like Gen 1 and some heavily used Gen 2, most people want Gen 3 night vision and they cost a couple thousand dollars and in some cases are upwards of five figures. Digital night vision is slowly becoming a reality. There are two digital camera systems that turn night into day.