Pros and cons for ECHO when compared to high-end devices (Gen3 FOM 2100+, 4G etc)ConsECHO
is commercial grade, when 4G & higher FOM devices are considered to
be mil-grade. What does that mean? Mil-grade requirements does not
allow black-spots to be in the first nor second sector. Therefore, all
tubes that have black-spots in those sectors, are pushed to commercial
grade. As a result, rarely you can find an ECHO without blackspots,
because otherwise that tube would classified as mil-grade tube.
How
much does it affect you? The less light there is, the less visible
black spots are. You will be able to see those tiny dots, but when game
is on, those spots have never borthered me.
ProsSimilar
performance - The Gen3 we had in comparison costs about 60% more, but
delivers only slightly better performance than ECHO.
Faster
auto-gated - as you can see from video, the halo-size (size of bright
light) is smaller with Photonis tube. Thats due to much more efficient
autogating. So, in high light conditions ECHO/4G tube will outperform
Gen3 tubes.
ConclusionOne
might say that ECHO was filmed from closer range (guys moved around
when I changed devices). Still, we can say that both devices have pretty
similar performance – both devices had noise due to low-light, but the
noise on ECHO wasn’t worse compared to high-end / mil-grade Gen3.
When
buying commercial grade night-vision like ECHO, you shouldn’t expect
clean tubes. There will be black-spots. Otherwise, it would not be so
cheap compared to mil-grade tubes.
If your life does not
literally depend on it, buying ECHO will definitely save you some money
while giving similar level of performance.
Image Intensifier Tubes of Generation III = ECHO, SuperGen®, XD-4™, XR5™Gen.
III tubes differ from the Gen. II+ tubes by their construction of the
cathode. Gen. III tubes have a Gallium-Arsenide cathode (GaAs) with more
sensitivity for IR-light. The light amplification is around app. 30000
up to 55000 times, the photosensitivity of the cathode is around 900 –
1600 µA/Lm at 2850K and the resolution of the line pairs is 32 – 64
lp/mm (omnibus 1 and omnibus 2 where developed end of the 70s, omnibus 3
and omnibus 4 is a further development of the late 80s. Omnibus 7 is
currently* the most powerful Gen. III tube with a FOM value of app.
2300). The performance of Gen. III tubes may vary, depending on type and
specifications (omnibus 1 up to currently* 7 Pinnacle), by circa 300%.
The life expectancy is around 10000 up to 15000 hours, which is 3 – 4
times longer than the Gen. II tubes. Devices with Gen. III tubes are
operating excellent in extremely low ambient light (residual light). The
observation image is saturated, sharp, with excellent contrast and
recognition of also smallest details. ECHO, XD-4™ and XR5™ tubes with an
AUTO-GATING function are excellent suitable for operations in urban
area.
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