Nice to see this release go public today. I've heard good things.



PANOBRIDGE™ dual AN/PVS-14 night vision monocular bridge mount, which includes two industry-changing features: a total weight of only 1.5 oz / 42 g — or approximately 70% less weight than one of most popular competing AN/PVS-14 bridge mounts — and a proprietary mechanism that permits users to selectively adjust the goggle’s field of view from 40 to approximately 75 degrees by laterally rotating (or “panning”) each individual monocular outward to create a split image, which is then automatically merged in the user’s brain to form one cohesive, super-wide, panoramic image. By exploiting this new AFOV — or Adjustable Field of View — concept, the Panobridge eliminates the so-called tube effect experienced by night vision users and provides enhanced situational awareness. Whenever desired, the AFOV mechanism permits the tubes to be quickly pointed straight ahead, as currently provided with conventional binocular night vision goggles.

From: https://soldiersystems.net/2021/05/14/noisefighters-and-development-partner-nightline-inc-introduce-panobridge/

More info:
https://noisefighters.com/collections/nightvision/products/panobridge
http://store.nightline-inc.com/panobridge

That's a feature? On my last bridge mount that was a bug.

Would this not cause a bunch of shadow with the tubes not being aligned with the eye, similar to scope shadow when being off center? If I angle my PVS14 that much it looks like garbage.

2. When both monoculars are rotated fully outboard, there is a loss in visual resolution in the center of view where the two images overlap due to the nature of night vision optics.

OK but I find it interesting that their picture does not show the loss of resolution. Maybe it is just me but it seems like a little gimmicky, but it will be interesting to hear someone here give an actual review.

It seems as though you’d have to rotate them up and then inboard to make them line up. Then lower the bridge to accommodate for that.

I just can’t wait to see some more photos of folks wearing them in their wide configuration. I’m sure Nick will have some fun ones in his Friday Night Lights post later today.

I had thought about doing this to a lesser extent. Also using this concept to have e one forward facing tube and one outward. Sure you'd only have peripheral vision on one side, but your A-driver could have his set up for the other side.

I figured its kinda a novelty and not worth it. But I sure would be interested in trying them out! And I may be interested in it just as a lightweight bridge option too!

ETA: Thanks for the thread JW!

If the retail price really is $700 like their website says ($500 showing as an intro sale for this first small production run) I think it’s a tough buy. Hopefully the fit and finish and maybe some of the hardware as seen in the T&E units are getting dialed in for production, but the polymer additive stuff guys are doing in this space lately is pretty impressive. It’s the NV world though, so I can see the limited numbers and consumers willing to fork out bigger bucks driving it up a bit. A bit skeptical that the production costs are very high on parts like that, but that’s obviously only one small part of the retail pricing game. Some interesting discussions over in IG comments with the Nocturn guy adding some thoughts.

Nick's review is live https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/05/14/noisefighters-panobridge-mk1/

Attached File


... possible side effects

In the old days we just held two monoculars to our eyes in a wall-eyed manner

This worked so well that I wondered if someone would make a wall-eyed bridge and here we are.

As usual everything Augee says is spot on. This works as advertised but the wider you go the worse things become.

The part of the article that shows L3 trying this same thing with pvs-31s, custom angled pods, and 55degree FOV lenses sure is interesting.

Brings a couple questions to my mind.

1. Would this panobridge benefit from the 51degree FOV pvs-14 lens kits?

2. Is L3 going to offer wide FOV pvs-14s or pvs-31s?

That was a great video (as all of Will’s are) and has me looking at these as a lightweight option.  

I wonder how “durable” these are though?  I’d love to see an alloy version of some type, but sure that would negate the weight savings of the polymer.

I’d at least like to see an aluminum dovetail.  My 2 cents ...

I like the concept. Having the option is nice.

However, I would like to see a more stable mount for the monocular. The single screw, unbraced, doesn't instill confidence. I don't want to reef down on my housing, nor use thread locker, as I still want to be able to separate out my monoculars for individual use.

Innovation is good, and it costs. $700 ($500 on sale right now) is steep for me for a 3D printed device. That's not to say it isn't quality or 3D printing isn't a viable form of manufacture, just that the balance of factors makes it a no go for me right now.

For anyone wanting to try the concept, here's a 3d printed version. It doesn't mimic the design, but it does provide the same pano function.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4877426

FWIW, I tried it and do not like it one bit. The 'middle of a ven diagram' effect is huge, and you get a weird double vision thing going in the middle with items at arm's length.  You can bring them closer together to mitigate the effect, but I still vastly prefer both tubes pointing in the same direction.

Both tubes are decently matched OMNI VII PVS-14s if that makes a difference.

"Who let this guy design night vision accessories?!"

"I did sir, he's my cousin."

I got mine a few days ago, but haven't had time to try it out yet. Might bring it to work tonight to play with on lunch

I have about 20hrs using the Panobridge with two TNVC Unfilmed PVS-14s. One is very clean cosmetically, the other has two small pepperflakes on the inner zone 2 (this is important later). They are both high spec ~34SNR / 72res. I have used RNVG, DTNVS, and BNVD-SG dedicated binocular units and have a Mod Armory LW bridge.

General Performance

I absolutely hate the full 75deg mode of the panobridge. It just degraded performance too much and haven’t found a useful application. However, ~60degs seems perfect for fast movement and ~50deg is a noticeable improvement over standard 40deg for slower tasks. 60 degrees gives 3 equally sized ellipses (~20deg wide x 40deg tall). The two outer ellipses provide peripheral vision and the central one is just big enough to provide a nice area for binocular vision.

75deg relies on zone 3 too much (more distortion / loss of resolution) and eye relief seemed unworkable.

60deg is great for fast movement. This seems to be the sweet spot with zone 2 coverage from at least one tube for most of the center binocular ellipse. I felt it added performance running, bike riding, driving, and navigating a structure. I thought the additional performance easy offset the penalties when doing things fast, but keep in mind this was with two very good tubes that were specifically hand selected for cosmetics. I’m also cross-eyed dominant and used to eye fatigue by forcing my brain to use the non-dominant eye. I did notice I was scanning about 30-40% less for the same situational awareness most of the time which helped offset the neck fatigue of the dual 14s weight.

45-50deg was good for everything else. I noticed almost no degradation with slightly better field of view. I would not buy the panobridge for 50deg operation, but if you have it, the only advantage at 40deg seemed to be eye relief. When moving slower, fixed observation, or wanting a larger binocular area (navigating steep terrain) I would use it at 45-50deg

My one 14 has two small pepper flakes (<0.003 and not on spec sheet) on the outside of zone 2 but towards the center in bridge configuration. I never really noticed them in use until the pano bridge. 60deg pano mode places one directly in the center of the middle ellipse. Flipping 14s between sides just changes which of the 2 spots is in the center as the 14s get partially rotated when switching sides. This makes the offending spot very noticeable with passive aiming and illumination as it is just like a spot dead center of zone one with a traditional bridge. If this particular spot was any bigger, I would probably get a new tube if planning to use a panobridge regularly. Something to consider.

The Good

1. It’s really lightweight, noticeable difference when compared to the Mod Armory LW or modular D-14.

2. The pano mode is more than just a gimmick as mentioned above.

3. I had no issues with dovetail fit with the Gen 1, but the Gen 2 version is better.

4. Gen 2 Integrated retention point just makes sense.

Improvements/Negatives

1. I keep having to adjust rotational tension as it loosens. I’m hoping this is just it breaking in and it will start holding tension longer in use. [Edit 06/27 - Got back from a 6hr hike and for the first time found the tension roughly where it started. I think this issue is resolved.]

2. I wish the retention point was on the other end of dovetail. As it is now, my Wilcox retention clip has to go over the top and wrap underneath, it would be easier if it was just in front. Going under the bridge to the left eventually binds the G-24 raise/lower release and going under to the right binds the elevation tilt adjustment. This leaves over the top as the only option.

3. I normally use dual 14s with the g24 extended out as far as possible. Makes it easier to look around them and you can just rotate a single 14 out of the way as needed. Using pano mode requires the 14s to be positioned significantly closer to your eyes. For the 60deg setting the demists end up resting directly on my low profile safety glasses. I don’t think I could get any eyewear behind the 14s in the 75deg setting w/ demists installed. Being used this close to the eyes also prevents me from just rotating one of the monoculars up out of the way as they typically hit my bump helmet lip when adjusted for any pano mode.

4. Changing the pano field of view almost always requires an extension adjustment. Pano adjustments are not really an on the fly adjustment as it takes more time than traditionally rotating a pod.

5. Left PVS-14 does not fold flat against helmet when in the up position. My Mod Armory LW allows both 14s to be rotated back onto the helmet when stored upright for a very clean profile. The panobridge has too much interference on the left 14.

6. It just feels like it’s going to break due to the flex in the material used. I get that the flex is intentional to prevent breaking, but I’m also not totally sold on long term durability.

7. $500 - It’s not cheap, but nothing else does this functionality. Everything night vision is expensive. I think longterm $300-400 seems more reasonable, but you’re buying an idea not the material. At the current price, I would only take it over my Mod Armory LW bridge (Paid $295) for doing fast activities a lot as mentioned above.

Summary

I paid for this out of pocket, just a hobbyist, and I have no affiliation with any vendors here or Noisefighters. I bought it because it seemed like a good idea. It turns out an ~60deg mode works pretty well. I am still likely to go back to TNVC and get a hand select set of DTNVS, but this is definitely delaying that purchase as I experiment.

Thinking out loud, someone needs to make a light weight housing that supports this feature and possibly has detents at 60deg, 50deg, and 40deg.

What about trying them slightly “cross-eyed”?

I think it was a Mk1 upgraded to Mk2. I purchased the panobridge early June and installed the upgrade last week. That was what I meant by Gen1/Gen2.

I believe nocturn industries is working with noisefighters to do that exact thing

Fantastic summary of your thoughts. Was a very helpful rundown - thanks for taking the time. I’m looking forward to seeing the dedicated bino housing with the tilt feature built in.

The 3D printing process he is using looks to be either SLS or multijet fusion, which is an order of magnitude more expensive and stronger than your run of the mill Creality 3D printers.

It's neat, for sure, and likely the way most things will be made in the future.

I saw in my email that JRH had the mkII for sale, now.

I've tried handheld method both wall-eyed and cross-eyed. Cross-eyed worked much better but I don't know if the bridge can do it.

The dovetail J Arm is Nice!

Let me preface this with I'm genuinely not trying to aggravate anyone.  

$500 is a big pill to swallow, just to try something out.  If you have a 3D printer, or know someone who does, there's free plans out there for folks to make their own "retarded" version of the Panobridge.  If you know anything about 3D printing, how the real Panobridge is made, and the pressures/tensions involved to get the "hinges" to stay in place, I fully expect the homemade version to break after a couple adjustments.  It obviously won't be anywhere near the same quality, and won't work "just as good".  But it will let you try out the "pano" effect for a lot less.  I plan on building a set to (gently) try out the dual tube "pano" effect, and see if I want to drop $500 on a set that will actually hold up to real use.  I won't post the link, out of respect to NoiseFighters, but I think it could actually be useful for NoiseFighters.  It's an easy and cheap way to "demo" the bridge to folks.

I think that's fair and respectful. Good luck!