Thermal vs. Night Vision Imaging

Let's go straight forward.

CIGMAN will show you how the images perform?

How to judge their quality and application?

We use a lot of real photos to illustrate our points.

You're sure to gain something from reading this blog!

Written by CIGMAN 
Published on August 22 2025

What Do Thermal Images And Night Vision Images Look Like?

Firstly, thermal imaging devices generally look like the first image, while night vision devices typically look like the other three images:

Thermal imagers generally offer four to five modes to choose from. The design principles for these modes are the same, like white hot, black hot, glimmer, iron and rainbow; only the naming may differ slightly.

Digital night vision devices can be used both day and night. During the day, using a night vision device will give you image quality similar to that of a CCD point-and-shoot camera.

To test as many brands, price ranges, features, and time periods as possible, we carried a professional camera, a CCD camera, binoculars for night vision, and a smartphone, and conducted tests at different times of day.

From left to right, photos were taken with a Nikon camera, a Sony CCD camera, binoculars for night vision, and an Android smartphone. Incidentally, the photos were taken from left to right in the afternoon, late afternoon, evening, and dusk.

Looking at the four comparison images above, we can see that the most expensive traditional optical cameras produce the best image quality in daylight. I've also taken similar photos with Sony, Fujifilm, and Ricoh cameras, and the style of the photos varies greatly depending on the camera brand and focal length, resulting in significantly different image quality.

The difference between CCD and night vision cameras lies in their more advanced technology. Higher-end night vision equipment can reproduce colors even in low light conditions at dusk; this technology is called low-light full-color. The degree of color reproduction depends on the equipment's level and price; more advanced equipment can reproduce richer colors in even lower light conditions.

However, in complete darkness, the above functions are generally not the most suitable.
The most suitable mode is IR mode, which produces black and white photos.

More pictures and videos taken with night vision goggles can be found in this blog post: Best Digital Night Vision Binoculars Under $300

And most suitable for hunting, is a monocular thermal night vision device, a combination of thermal imaging and night vision technology.

To give you a more intuitive understanding, my cat Far and I conducted a "comparative experiment" using four different devices: a thermal imager, binocular night vision devices, a thermal imaging camera, and a thermal IR camera. I placed Far on an outdoor chair and an empty table.

In a simple indoor environment, we kept the location as fixed as possible, and at the same time for as long as possible, taking photos and recording videos under dim and complete darkness.

First, consider an indoor distance of approximately 5 meters, with the indoor lights on.

The following are the results captured using the thermal camera:

I used five color modes: black, cool, iron, spectrum, and white.

In all of them, the highest temperature was clearly visible on the cat's face, cheeks, and limbs near its belly, averaging around 37°C.

The highest temperature in the hottest areas was 37.4°C, and the lowest was 36.5°C. The ambient temperature was around 27.5°C, and the lowest temperature on the cat was around 30.5°C.

In this simple environment (only a table and a wall), I found the cool and spectrum modes to be the most intuitive. They clearly showed the boundary between the cat and the table, and the highest and lowest temperatures were clearly distinguishable from the ambient colors, making them easy to identify at a glance.

Comparatively, I think the iron mode is the least suitable for indoor daytime conditions. The ambient temperature is close to the cat's, causing the colors of the environment to be very similar to the lowest temperature color on the cat, making them appear blurred to the naked eye.

The following is the result of shooting with a thermal imager from a well-known brand:

This is how the camping chair looks when photographed with a mobile phone:

I used four modes on this device: black-white, color, white-black, and glimmer. As you can see, Far was grooming himself on an outdoor camping chair, and I captured only subtle, relatively still movements.

Compared to a thermal imager, the thermal imager is more streamlined and closer to the concept of a camera. We no longer see real-time temperature data for focus; only a single crosshair indicates the focus point.

At the same time, the image quality is clearer. I can see the direction of the fur on the cat's body, and if you look closely, the details of the fur also show temperature variations. The fur closer to the body is noticeably lighter in color, or in other words, the image is brighter, representing a higher temperature.

Before using a thermal imaging device, seeing images like these might make me think they are some kind of artwork.

The white-black mode was the most intuitive for me. It preserved the details of the image, clearly defining the boundaries between the cat and its environment, and immediately showed where the highest temperature was. You know how vibrant and prominent red is in black, white, and gray.

If the goal is simply to take nice photos of pets, black and white images are the purest and my favorite type. As for color and glimmer, they are a bit too much for me, but they are indeed quite cool.

The following are the shooting results using a niche brand's thermal infrared camera at 35mm:

I used four modes on this device: black-and-hot, white-and-hot, glimmer, iron, and rainbow. This thermal imaging camera is indeed more like a thermal imager than a thermal camera, and more like a thermal camera than a thermal imager, which is a combination of both.

Compared to a thermal camera, it achieves clearer separation between the cat and its environment, and the image is sharper.

Compared to a thermal imager, its image isn't as comfortable to look at, but it has a stronger sense of structure and shows more detail; you can even see the cat's various seemingly unrelated boundaries.

It can also record time, battery level, and magnification in the photo. These UI elements could probably be removed. It can record video, which a thermal imager cannot.

Furthermore, I felt that each mode was more intuitive than the two types of devices mentioned above, but the most intuitive were the black-and-hot, white-and-hot, and rainbow modes.

Therefore, I speculate that the rainbow/spectrum mode is likely the standard mode for thermal imaging devices.

What about the outdoor scenery and the distant views?

We did indeed take and record photos outdoors. Outdoors means a more complex environment and more measurement parameters, so the differences are more apparent outdoors than indoors.

First, I used a thermal camera to shoot scenes of people walking outdoors in open spaces and under the blazing sun:

The first scene was shot in an empty, spacious office building. The windows show the space is large and not enclosed. The photographer used Iron mode, and there are three people in the frame. We can clearly see their location, posture, and what they are doing.

Compared to cats, which have lower body temperatures and smaller sizes, human temperature and volume are very prominent in the image, making it very intuitive even in Iron mode.

But don't forget, this was a semi-indoor scene. Now we move to the outdoor scene, which is the second video. This time, the time on this device is accurate, at 11:11 AM. The person being filmed slowly climbs the stairs near the photographer outdoors.

Again, using Iron mode, this time, we feel it's not as intuitive as indoors. This is because the model not only has their own body temperature but also receives sunlight and ambient light reflection in a light breeze.

This reflects a principle of thermal imaging: temperature difference. It also exposed its drawbacks, namely that in outdoor environments with small temperature differences, the measured temperature is not so accurate, and the displayed images are also "blurred" in comparison.

Therefore, it is especially unsuitable for observing people or objects with the same temperature difference as the air temperature.

However, it's still very useful for circuit monitoring or car engine temperature measurement, helping you make repair decisions in special circumstances. The two photos above were taken in black and spectrum modes respectively, both at the same time and location. The temperature, structure, and boundaries are all clearly visible.

Next up is a thermal imager from a well-known brand,
showing streetlights photographed from inside a car and along the roadside:

When shooting distant scenes, the image sharpness noticeably decreases; the picture remains soft as always, but it's not as clear.

In the left image, the hottest part is the bulb of a working streetlight; in the right image, the hottest parts are the car engine, its cooling radiator, and the four tires.

Neither of these photos were taken under direct sunlight. If you like this feel, owning one would be nice; printing it out as an illustrated display piece would be really cool.

Unfortunately, the outdoor photoshoot for that niche brand was terrible, with serious tearing.

Speaking of tearing, what is tearing? And why does it form?

Tearing typically occurs because frames are not perfectly synchronized, causing different image content to appear on the screen at different points in time. Simply put, it's like blinking as pressing a shutter button; the first second forms half the image, the second second forms the other half, as shown in the top left image. The top right image, however, appears as if three blinks were performed.

If you still don't understand, please see the following four images:

In the image above, the horizontal stripes on My Cat Far's face (some devices show vertical stripes or both) are noticeably misaligned. This is frame misalignment, creating the tearing effect.

Generally, the graphics card in an imaging device outputs images at a certain frame rate (usually 30 or 60 frames per second), while the monitor's refresh rate determines how many times the screen refreshes per second (usually 60Hz or higher). If the graphics card's frame rate and the monitor's refresh rate do not match, the image may be split into two or more parts on the monitor, producing a tearing effect. Simply put, this is caused by poor graphics card performance.

What is a frame, and what is a frame rate?

Video is essentially composed of many sets of photos. Each set of photos represents a still image in the video. These photos are played sequentially at certain time intervals, creating a continuous dynamic effect. These photos are frames, and the number of frames played per second is the video's frame rate.

Therefore, if the photos are delayed, the video will be delayed twice as much.

Speaking of Tearing,
How Effective Are These Thermal Imaging Devices
At Capturing Dynamic Images?

First is the thermal camera

As you can see, the video has no delay, but the image quality is not very clear. The colors are as rich as those in the photos, and the UI annotations are recorded in real time.

Next is the dynamic effect of that well-known brand, with the speed increasing from left to right:

The impact is minimal indoors and at close range.

What about the distant view outdoors?

Yes, the faster the movement, the greater the impact on image quality.

This blurring effect is completely different from the motion blur produced by rapid camera movement.

It represents a significant decrease in image quality, a deterioration in overall image quality, and a noticeable loss of sharpness and detail.

In other words, the overall image quality is significantly reduced, and it completely loses its aesthetic appeal.

Thermal Images At Night

We now understand the indoor and outdoor, static and dynamic thermal devices, and what tearing and motion blur or "ghosting" are. So how effective are these devices at night?

01 Thermal Camera Night Images

As expected, nothing changed.

02 Thermal Imager Night Images

Because the temperature difference increases at night, it is more noticeable in warmer areas.

03 Thermal Infrared Cam Night Images

Yes, regardless of which thermal device is used at night, the effect is stronger than during the day due to the greater temperature difference.

What Is The Difference
Between Thermal Devices And Night Vision Devices?

Traditional optical night vision devices cannot take photos or record videos.

So let's talk about the difference between the imaging effect of digital night vision and thermal night vision.

We'll show you the pictures directly, and you'll see the difference at a glance.

These were taken using CIGMAN CNVPRO night vision binoculars.

All four images above were taken indoors in complete darkness, using IR modes from 1 to 4.

It's clear that the night vision device's imaging is much closer to camera-like results than any of the thermal images mentioned above. We can see many details: fur, the pet's markings, even the cat's whiskers and webbed feet.

However, it completely lacks temperature measurement capabilities, and because it was taken at close range, the light source is relatively concentrated, making it easily detectable by Far and quite noticeable.

So what about video?

First, this was shot with some light. I drew the curtains, but light still filtered through, appearing to the human eye somewhere between gray and color. In this situation, CNVPRO's color mode performed quite well, showing clearer and more vibrant colors than what the naked eye sees. However, this mode is not suitable for complete darkness.

So, back in complete darkness, will there be any delay when shooting video using IR mode?

Clearly, there's no delay, and the effect is consistent with still photos. However, these photos are all close-up indoor shots; other angles are shown in the blog post I've repeatedly mentioned above, so I won't go into detail here.

Conclusion

In the next blog post, I will focus on the knowledge-based aspects, explaining thermal technology, its relationship with night vision technology, and ultimately, how to use and choose it correctly.

Why Choose CIGMAN
As Your First Night Vision Goggles Brand?

1. CIGMAN specializes in laser electrical measurement and night vision tools that help users solve problems quickly in both professional and daily settings.
2. CIGMAN's products are safe, compliant, eco-friendly, user-friendly, and meet international standards with patented designs.
3. CIGMAN's products have been sold to more than 30 countries with more than 10,000,000 products.
4. CIGMAN insists on providing customers with high-quality products and promise to provide customers with 36-month worry-free after-sales service.