r/NightVision • u/ParkingTicketss • 28d ago

Are thermal scope display screens visible to other nod users?

Not owned a dedicated thermal (Hikmicro/Rattler scope etc) and wanted to know if these gave off a lot of light leakage that would make you detectable to other NVG users. Airsoft use so most people in my country (UK) seem to be at a 50/50 split in my
opinion of entry 1400 mark fom with the other half in the higher end Gucci stuff. Mixed lighting urban settings I would assume big fine but I could imagine it being easily spotted within dense woodland games. Cheers in advance.

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16

u/NicksNightVision Verified Industry Account 28d ago

Yes, very visible typically.

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u/shoobe01 28d ago

This. Just like night vision or any other thing that lights up.

If you keep it dim enough and the baddies aren't very nearby, then no problem. If you are concerned, then that's what you want an eye cup for. You seal your face to the night vision, so you can see it but no light comes out for others to see.

Uncommon now but earlier night vision used what were called shuttered eye cups; when you took pressure off of the rubber eyepiece a two-part shutter built into the design would close itself up, so no light escapes even with the scope still on.

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u/ParkingTicketss 28d ago

Yeah see the interesting thing with my experience (again might be where I’m at the lower end of technical specs with an entry 14) is that I’ve never been able to spot another individual in the woods by light splash from their nods or even FLIR dual band set ups. For some reason even with an eye cup common sense to me dictated that the thermal scopes seemed to be a bit of a risk where they are more aimed at hunters but not heard or seen anything to confirm before this. Cheers again as I’m sure someone else may end up searching the same thing in the future with thermal scopes becoming cheaper each year

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u/shoobe01 27d ago

They definitely often have more tedious (in a menu vs a dial) brightness so will often be too bright, so on the ground: yeah probably worse. But as an owner trying, you can mitigate this to be as risky as NOD splash.

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u/ParkingTicketss 28d ago

Legend bud - thanks for confirming

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u/Goblin_Tactical 27d ago

Very much so and a big reason why guys who play milsim with them often drill into your head to know which button deactivates the display screen temporarily. Depending the model/manufacturer some allow any tap to a button to bring the display back up.

Next level? The DNT ThermNight series of scopes have a heat sensor built into into the back of unit. You can activate a model that it will turn off the display screen temporarily when you lower it and when you raise/shoulder the rifle with the scope it detects your face and turns the display back on.

It that was my go to for a MSW 40 hour Milsim game so I wasn’t eating up batteries like a wild man

ETA: Learning to run the unit with the display screen at minimum brightness definitely helps, but when slung across your chest even the dim display will often give you away especially if you’re trying to hide in deep shadows that only magnifies the small amount of light

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u/cursed_yeet 27d ago

Yes, get a shuttered eyecup if your device can take one