Quoted:
question on thermal VS regular NV:
is there a life expectancy on a thermal sight? And is there a way to hurt a thermal sight like you would by exposing NV to bright light?
impending purchase from TVNC for a PVS14 so it doesn't really matter. well that, and 5 figures would be a painful cut into the budget.
Just trying to educate myself
yes and yes. Sort of.
Everything has a life expectancy. Just light light bulbs do. Thermal can suffer electronic failure, or mechanical failure ( chopper wheels, heat pumps etc ) or damage, but it does last a long time.
And you can damage some of them by looking directly at the sun, while others are designed to be able to look directly at the sun indefinitely and without any lasting effects ( especially in the case of fixed cameras )
But generally you can use thermals day or night and for most purposes without worrying about them too much - just like camcorders for example.
But they only see heat, so if the background is the same temperature as your target, you won't see it. This happens about twice a day in some environments.
Regards
David.