Does Tube Generation Matter? Photonis 4G High Gain In-Depth Overview

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  • čas přidán 2. 06. 2024
  • Explore the intricacies of NVG Tubes beyond the typical "Generation" classification. In this long awaited video, Ryan delves into the innovative Photonis 4G High Gain tubes, challenging conventional notions and how well these tube perform. Discover the advancements and practical applications of these "Generation 2+" tubes in comparison to existing offerings. Join us for an insightful examination that reshapes your understanding of NOD technology.
    **Small correction in video: Ryan refers to the MCP as the photocathode material when its a separate thing.
    But in a nutshell:
    Gen 3 (L3, Elbit): Gallium Arsenide Photocathode
    Gen2+ (Photonis, NVT): Hybrid MultiAlkali Photocathode
    Our Ready to Ship Night Vision with 4G High Gain Tubes Here: coldharboursupply.com/collect...
    CAMERA SETTINGS FOR THIS TEST:
    A7SIII with SEL24F28G lens + NV adapter
    4k/24fps SLOG-3 with rec709 LUT
    12.8K ISO (The dual native ISO on the Sony A7SIII)
    F2.8, 1/50 Shutter, 5800K White Balance (we found this to be decently true to colour on most NVGs)
    TIMESTAMPS:
    00:00 Intro
    00:34 Tube Generation and why it might not matter as much as one thinks!
    3:39 Why 4G High Gain Tubes?
    6:13 Test Parameters
    7:05 Lab Testing
    10:54 Real World Testing
    16:45 Conclusion
    ---
    Website: coldharboursupply.com
    Instagram: / coldharboursupply
    Facebook: / coldharboursupply

Komentáře • 60

  • @Yogurtstorm
    @Yogurtstorm Před měsícem +34

    Over 9000!?

  • @connor56347
    @connor56347 Před měsícem +16

    Spec Ops: The Line was one of the best narratives in recent video games. It translated the main plot and ideas from Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now into the medium of video games so well and while it isn't quite underrated, it never did quite get enough sales to warrant any follow up unfortunately. Or maybe like most truly great pieces of entertainment, it's better off being left to stand on its own.
    Oh wait this is a video about night vision??

    • @coldharboursupply
      @coldharboursupply  Před měsícem +5

      My man gets it.

    • @MissingData_
      @MissingData_ Před 29 dny

      @@coldharboursupply I dont even know what he's talking about, But when Connor says something you gotta agree!

  • @matthew5289
    @matthew5289 Před měsícem +7

    I'm definitely glad I grabbed a set of GP high gains, they are sick.

    • @mikemajoris8644
      @mikemajoris8644 Před měsícem +1

      Love mine, price/value can't be beat

    • @agentorange268
      @agentorange268 Před 16 dny

      @matthew5289 Where did you get your GP high gains ? Can't seem to find these in EU.

  • @pgan100
    @pgan100 Před měsícem +8

    Great video as always. Production quality getting better and better.

  • @BatmanShampoo
    @BatmanShampoo Před měsícem +2

    I definitely notice temporary burn in with my Elbit XLSH tube. As stated, it does go away fairly quickly when used in darker environments. Those Photonis high gain tubes do seem to perform very well!

  • @zact9941
    @zact9941 Před měsícem +1

    You changed my mind about what a gen 2 tube can do!

  • @AC-bl1rl
    @AC-bl1rl Před měsícem +6

    It would be great to see a 4G with a similar SNR and EBI rating (if it can) to the Elbit. Then it would likely take over.

    • @k1ng5urfer
      @k1ng5urfer Před měsícem

      I agree, it had better visible gain as far as i can see, and was less washed out at higher illumination (i know thats easy to fix with manual gain, but only if you have it). It was definitely noisier and yeah would definitely be curious to see the equal FOM, as i suspect it would be noticably better than the Gen3 then.

  • @PhotonisDefenseInc.

    Super video, good job! You all get better with each and every one! Thank you again for the straightforward presentation of instrumented testing results. For your viewers, we'll repeat what we always say, which is everyone's eyes and brains are calibrated differently, therefore at the end of the day (or night), always get the NOD/Tube combination that works best for you, no matter who makes the various components, and at the price point that meets your budget. We're biased; however, we'll just say that we firmly believe that Photonis Tubes, NODS and optics offer the best all-around performance for every possible scenario. And if you get to the point where you need supplemental lighting, as your video illustrates, then turn on a light that other non-Photonis equipped NODS can't see. Finally, does the generation label make a difference? All we can say is the recent draft for the 2025 US Army NEXT proposal for NODS doesn't use the word "Generation" when it comes to night vision image intensifier tubes.

    • @coldharboursupply
      @coldharboursupply  Před 6 hodinami

      Thanks for the insightful comments as always. Love to see what you guys are cooking as you guys bring some true innovation to the IIT world.

  • @PewDieRy
    @PewDieRy Před měsícem +1

    Fantastic video! Keep up the excellent work-you're doing a great job educating and entertaining!

  • @Mr_Glenn
    @Mr_Glenn Před měsícem +1

    This is awesome! There's never enough NV content!

  • @jimmybranks8359
    @jimmybranks8359 Před měsícem +1

    Those streaks in the elbit tubes actually go away immediately if you flip an ir illuminator on at your feet or on the ceiling we're you make it autogate.

  • @wyldechild7122
    @wyldechild7122 Před 29 dny

    Thanks for another very informative well illustrated video

  • @nightvisionseller
    @nightvisionseller Před měsícem +1

    Good video!

  • @kingofshrimp
    @kingofshrimp Před měsícem +1

    excellent video. I own an elbit g3 with 69k gain and photonics echo wp with 11k gain. indoor performance is actually similar. where the elbit shines is how it renders my laser aiming and ir illuminator past 200 meters. much crisper image with the elbit. i’d love to get one of the hg photo is in wp someday.

  • @danielthulstrup1979
    @danielthulstrup1979 Před 29 dny

    Gonna be getting 4G high gain for airsoft and hiking can’t wait please make more videos on them

  • @realjaklap
    @realjaklap Před měsícem

    Fantastic video. Is it true NNVT tubes are similar to Photonis as far as burn-in resilience?

  • @ilovethefederalgovernment
    @ilovethefederalgovernment Před měsícem +5

    Yeah I'm thinking this one is COOKED at 1500 degrees Fahrenheit!

  • @michaelyi5794
    @michaelyi5794 Před měsícem +3

    Out of curiosity, what are the Jerry-31s gain value? Whats the cd/m^2/lx?
    Is it similar compared to the Echo around 4000 on the Hoffman machine?

    • @coldharboursupply
      @coldharboursupply  Před měsícem +3

      They are around 10k on average as well. However because of the glass on the hoffman they read a little lower, on average. Usually around 3.5k gain. Echos usually range from 4-5K on average.

    • @michaelyi5794
      @michaelyi5794 Před měsícem

      @@coldharboursupply Thank you! Great videos per usual 💪🏼

  • @dmaraschky1
    @dmaraschky1 Před měsícem +1

    I was a little bummed when the high gain tubes were announced, I had just got my Echo+ tubes in February but after seeing wooded part of the video I am pretty content especially with FOM for both tubes just barely being under 2500. Haven't seen WP Photonis high gain in America yet, so far just green.

    • @JohnZ556
      @JohnZ556 Před měsícem

      Basically ~half-moon and a clear sky (if no clouds covering the moon) is not a challenging environment. It would be interesting to see how they actually compare should any one or more of those factors become unfavorable.

    • @coldharboursupply
      @coldharboursupply  Před měsícem +1

      @@JohnZ556 The hoffman shows the more extreme low light perfomance in a much more objective way, as well as the indoor test.

    • @JohnZ556
      @JohnZ556 Před měsícem +1

      ​@@coldharboursupply@coldharboursupply Your indoor test is already very good. I can see it's already borderline useable.
      I don't imagine most would go somewhere darker than a warehouse with only 2 marker glowsticks, let alone not using any illumination when any light is already a giveaway anyways.

  • @Mr_Glenn
    @Mr_Glenn Před měsícem +1

    I'd love a bino with 4G HG. I'd rather have the 4Gs over gen 3.

  • @stephanarizona9094
    @stephanarizona9094 Před 28 dny +1

    People are going to hate hearing this but I tired out both GEN2+ WP Duals and GEN3 WP Duals both were close in FOM's think 1800 vs 2200, but the GEN2+ were $4600 and the GEN3 was $8000, for me until GPNVGs are $8K I bought the GEN2+ WP Duals.

  • @DjAlonDevil
    @DjAlonDevil Před měsícem +1

    I would personally take a 4G+ HG with higher SNR and lower EBI. I think NNVT should release the NVT-8 and perhaps high gain options as well so I'm waiting.

    • @Tattlebot
      @Tattlebot Před měsícem

      NVT 4-7 are marketing terms not used by NNVT. They don't correspond to a tube designation. That's why many NVT vendors use A-B-C grade instead. So NNVT cannot release NVT8.

    • @DjAlonDevil
      @DjAlonDevil Před měsícem

      @@Tattlebot Huh? This doesn't make much sense. I know they don't call them NVT's though. But each "NVT" tube is different. NVT-7 uses HyMa and has a larger spectrum bandwith while NVT-6 doesn't. A-B-C aren't suppose to be grades if that specific tube? A being the highest FOM option while C the lowest. I looked on Alibaba and other Chinese vendors and what I said is what they use. Regardless, what I mean is a new tube from NNVT. They are probably going to release high gain and hopefully something new and with better specs.

    • @Tattlebot
      @Tattlebot Před měsícem

      @@DjAlonDevil There are different technology tubes, as can be seen with different PC sensitivity values and better figures. However if you're buying an NVT5 or NVT6 the seller can fulfill it with any tube that meets the offered minimum spec and format. Note that even honest dealers in China can be victim to fraudulent spec sheets.

  • @SleepytimeOasis
    @SleepytimeOasis Před měsícem

    What about using this tube in something like the MH-1 where it is manual gain? Are they auto gain only?

    • @coldharboursupply
      @coldharboursupply  Před měsícem +4

      Gain can be confusing, as it means a few things for a simple explanation:
      Gain or Luminance Gain: How much the tube intensifies light, this will be on the spec sheet and done by the tube manufacture
      System Gain: This should be provided by the builder and will be on the build report, this is a value of the ratio the tube intensifies the Hoffman machine source light as an overal system reading.
      The other "gain" uses are moreso for how the tube controls brightness. Brightness is a better work in this case than gain but we go with what the industry uses:
      Autogain (A better term woulf be: Auto-brightness) : The tube adjusting brightness based on ambient light conditions, all modern tubes will have a level of autogain to preserve the image and protect the tube
      Manual gain (A better term would be Manual Brightness Control): 3 pin and Pigtail tubes will have manual gain on TOP of auto-gain. This means that if the tube is installed into a housing with a manual gain knob or buttons you can control the brightness of the tube when the ambient conditions are dark enough to do so.

    • @SleepytimeOasis
      @SleepytimeOasis Před měsícem +1

      @@coldharboursupply I meant "autogated". I do appreciate the explanation on gain very informative. So the 4g would be able to have manual control in a housing like the new MH-1?

  • @musicman1eanda
    @musicman1eanda Před 26 dny

    I'm confused. Would you take the Elbit or 4G in extreme low light? At one point in the video, you said you would let the images speak for themselves, which seemed to imply you would choose the 4G? But then, near the end of the video, you said the gen 3 might take the lead.

    • @coldharboursupply
      @coldharboursupply  Před 26 dny +1

      We leave the choice up to the individual to look at. From our read theres a few things to consider:
      1. It's hard to get L3 and Elbit tubes from retailers outside the US if you are not in MIL/LE (we're in Canada)
      2. 4GHGs have great overall performance in all lighting conditions, whereas many gen 3 tubes suffer performance wise more in mixed lighting
      3. Gen 3 tubes perform well in extreme low light, but the 4G HGS perform very similar in our tests which were done in controlled environments, in reality most users will be hard pressed to tell the difference other than the slightly increased noise of the image from our examples.
      Being a dude in Canada, I would pick the 4G HG simply for warranty reasons, more mixed lighting performance, and comparable low light performance. In the US, where there are more options, you may need to weigh things out differently.

    • @musicman1eanda
      @musicman1eanda Před 26 dny

      @coldharboursupply Yeah, I'm in the US, and not I'm sure if I want to wait for the release of WP photonis high gain tubes to save money, or just get WP L3.

    • @dmaraschky1
      @dmaraschky1 Před 22 dny

      ​@@musicman1eanda I just spoke to a contact I have within Photonis defense and you can purchase WP high gains from them but only in their systems, so you would have to buy a vyper or PD PRO from Photonis direct to get the highgain WP, he said it may be 2-3 years before they put out the tubes by themselves

  • @StayProteus
    @StayProteus Před 23 dny

    1:48 so uh... We're just not gonna mention the catass?

  • @l.robertvandyke4398
    @l.robertvandyke4398 Před měsícem

    QUESTION....Is it true that gen 2 has half of the tube life of gen 3??

    • @Mr_Glenn
      @Mr_Glenn Před měsícem

      As far as I know this was the case but shouldn't be the case anymore with Photonis tubes.

    • @l.robertvandyke4398
      @l.robertvandyke4398 Před měsícem

      Thank you

  • @JJ_MTB_15
    @JJ_MTB_15 Před měsícem

    Great video. Love my Echo but it seems these fall right in line with L3's price wise so it would be tough not to go L3 if you can. I'd like to see these in the price bracket where Elbit's are and it would make the decision easier. The cleanliness of the tube/image and the autogating are nice features.

    • @coldharboursupply
      @coldharboursupply  Před měsícem +2

      We are located in Canada so thats a big caveat as to why these are competitive.

  • @tylerfrogley1227
    @tylerfrogley1227 Před měsícem

    As I’ve been told, the darker it gets the more likely you’ll need some illumination, so unless you goonin with full moon, maybe I’m naive, but you probably could get away with gen 2 tubes for larping

  • @qoqooq7456
    @qoqooq7456 Před měsícem

    4G high gain is GOD!! This tube almost makes my nnvt tube trash...