Although military night vision goggles are used by the army, navy and air forces in various different countries, today such equipment is also being used by many law enforcement agencies as well as safety personnel (fire fighters).

However people are also able to purchase night vision goggles for their own personal use but generally these do not have the same kind of specifications that you will find in military versions.

The reason why military night vision goggles have now become an expected part of modern warfare is that they allow the wearer to see images in the dark which cannot be viewed with just the naked eye. Also the military versions have a special feature in which they are able to focus the image that the wearer is seeing for each eye individually which means that they are able to maintain a depth of perception when viewing images at all times.

Although the military first used night vision devices during the Second World War, it was not until the Vietnam War that they became more widely used. Since then, the technology used to produce night vision googles has greatly evolved and there are now several different generations of night vision products to purchase.

Each new generation of night vision googles comes with much better performance capabilities and also the prices are becoming somewhat more affordable as well. However certainly for the top of the range military night vision goggles you will not expect to see these available in the market place any time soon.

Currently the NVG’s (night vision goggles) that the military are using today whether it be at home or whilst fighting in Iraq can either be helmet mounted or hand held. Normally the military use goggles known as passive ones.

These particular military night vision goggles will pick up any light immediately in the vicinity where they are located and them increase the amplification of the image several thousand times through utilizing an image intensifier.

The night vision goggles work using a photoelectric effect which is caused by photons colliding with a detector plate. When the photons hit the metal, it then produces electrons which are then amplified further causing more electrons to be produced that will then light up the screen in front of the wearer’s eyes.

In some cases all the wearer needs to illuminate their entire field of vision is a star high up in the sky. You will often see these kinds of devices being used to report on wars and the picture we often see on TV where these have been used is colored green.

The reason why most NVG’s use green is because the human eye is very sensitive and is able to discern most shades of green much better than any other color. Plus using green allows the wearers eyes to readjust to normal situations once removed much more quickly than they would find with any other color if they were used.