HOW TO CHOOSE A THERMAL SIGHT THAT FITS YOUR PURPOSE THE BEST AND IS NOT OVERPRICED

by Basic Precision April 14, 2023

SIMPLE AND EASY EXPLANATION OF HOW A THERMAL SIGHT WORKS. Any object is radiating reflected light, which we see in a daytime as a visual representation of the object. Likewise, any object has its own temperature and radiates certain amounts of heat accordingly. A Germanium lens of a thermal sight captures thermal radiation of objects and focuses it in the same way a glass lens of a day optic sight focuses regular images. Human eyes cannot see thermal radiation directly. Therefore, a thermal scope uses a converter called Thermal Core, which electronically converts thermal images, focused by the Germanium lens, to an image which is displayed on the screen. The screen also overlays reticles above the image. In other words, we aim into the picture on the display, which represents a thermal image of the target.

SIMPLE AND EASY EXPLANATION OF WHAT IS INFLUENSING A THERMAL SIGHT IMAGE QUALITY.
- Objective Lens: All thermal sights we sell are made with superb-quality Germanium lenses, ensuring the highest quality of the initial collection of thermal images. The larger the lens, the better the initial thermal image is at the same magnification (50 mm lens is better than 35 mm lens)
- Thermal Core (thermal-to-visual converter): Thermal Cores are not the same and the image quality depends on combination of all parameters.
- 1. There are several Thermal Core manufacturing technologies. Modern detectors are usually made of three different materials: Amorphous Silicon (A-Si), Vanadium Oxide (VOx) or Barium Strontium Titanate (BST). The VOx technologies was developed in 1978-79 and it was controlled by the US military at that time. The A-Si technology was developed in the mid 90's in Europe as an affordable less thermal sensitive alternative. VOx detectors are more sensitive, and they can "see" the smaller differences of temperature apart, which is important in thermal imaging. The VOx detectors have higher current running through them with the same voltage as A-Si, which is lowering the "thermal noise". Besides, all components are conventionally categorized as commercial, industrial or Mil-Spec. Click HERE for more technical details.
  2. All thermal sights we sell are producing high quality thermal-to-visual image conversion because they are all made with the Vanadium Oxide thermal cores which are the industry-best for today using higher grade industrial and Mil-Spec components. A lower grade thermal core will produce a lower quality image. The image below is taken from this video review and illustrates the above information.
  3. A Thermal Core ‘takes’ a picture of thermal image from the lens and converts it to a displayable picture of X-number of pixels horizontally by Y-number of pixels vertically. This is called Thermal Core Resolution. The higher the Thermal Core Resolution, the better the image quality when the digital magnification is applied (640 x 480 is better than 384 x 288). However, thermal sights with higher native magnification won’t need as much digital magnification and 384 x 288 resolution cores will provide a high-quality image.
  4. Thermal Core Pixel Pitch is one of the factors influencing the native magnification of the scope. The pixels of visible image produced by a thermal core are located at certain distance from each other, which is called Thermal Core Pixel Pitch. The closer the pixels are to each other (the smaller the Pitch), the higher the native magnification of the thermal sight could be (thermal sights based on 12 µm pitch cores can have higher native magnification than the sights based on 17 µm pitch cores).

Display: A signal from a thermal core is transmitted to a display, which we see via an eyepiece. The Display Resolution is recommended to be higher than the thermal core resolution. Then, on native magnification, each pixel produced by the thermal core is represented by several pixels on the display. Why is it important?
1. When digital zoom (magnification) is used, higher resolution display provides better quality images (1024x768 display resolution is adequate for 640x480 thermal core resolution and lower).
2. A reticle in thermal scopes is a crosshair displayed on the screen. When we are zeroing a thermal scope, the crosshair may be moved not less than one pixel up/ down or left/right. With the same size display, the higher the display resolution is, the tighter the pixels are to each other and every move of a crosshair by one pixel on the display causes a smaller shift of the point of bullet impact (similar to a smaller value of one click on a day optics), which allows more precise zeroing.

CONSIDER THE WEIGHT. The weight of your thermal sight is a very important factor which may directly influence your hunting experience. The weight may not matter that much if you live in an ideal world and always shoot from prone position or from a steady tripod. It is completely different when you are shooting from standing position, immediately after a good fast walk, which you made in an attempt to get closer to the game from a wind-favorable side. Try not to get yourself punished by an extra pound, which you have to stabilize on your hands after carrying it for a several hundred yards. Bering Optics pays particular attention to the size and weight of their thermal devices. All Hogster-family thermal sights, weighing around 1 pound and the Super Yoter weighting just about 3 oz more, deliver one of the industry-best performances, while being one of the industry-lightest for their class. This takes extremely precise engineering solutions and more advanced smaller high-tech parts. We encourage you to consider the weight.

WHAT ADDITIONAL FEATURES ON-BOARD OF THERMAL SCOPES TO CONSIDER. Every thermal sight we sell is loaded with a bold kit of features designed to enhance your hunting experience and we encourage you to take a look at the specifications comparison to pick a scope with the features you will enjoy the most. Majority of the features in the specifications are self-explanatory. Here we want to ‘feature some features’:

Photo and Video Recording of what you see through your thermal sight while hunting may be an especially useful feature for people who love keeping their memories about exciting moments and sharing them later with the family and friends. Hogster Stimulus VR, Hogster Vibe, Super Hogster, Super Yoter lines of the thermal sights we sell have an on-board video recorder, photo camera and 16 Gb or 32 Gb of memory, allowing for taking pictures or starting and stopping video recording by a click of a button.
Live Wi-Fi video streaming of what you see through your thermal sight is displayed on a phone or a tablet, extending your hunting experience above and beyond, allowing live sharing of exciting moments with a hunting buddy near you or with a group you lead as a hunting guide.
On-Board Inclinometer with canting and uphill / downhill indicator ensures perfect positioning of your rifle for each shot, which becomes more important when shooting longer distances.
Picture-in-Picture function displays 2X zoomed image in a small frame on the top of the screen of your thermal sight. This is a very convenient way to get more details of your potential target without losing concentration on the reticle.

HOW TO CHOSE THE THERMAL SIGHT YOU WILL BE HAPPY WITH? We encourage you not to spend extra money for something you do not need, which would be an overkill for the way you hunt, for your shooting skills, for the level of your acceptance of certain high-tech features vs. old-school practices. Please be reasonable! But even more, we encourage you not to compromise on the specs and the features you need. Our thermal scopes are exceptionally reliable and dependable tools, which will serve you for many years. And if you compromise now, then it is not a question of ‘IF’, it is a question of ‘WHEN’ you would regret not having enough magnification or better picture quality or ability to share a video of a perfect shot. With all this said, we are sure that every scope we sell provides an adequate quality for a purpose. Please spend some time on consideration of how each particular thermal scope model can satisfy your needs:
- Pick Bering Optics HOGSTER Stimulus VR 2.3-4.6x 19mm if you want to be within your budget, stalk hogs or shoot them from blinds, hunt predators or defend yourself. You will get a very decent thermal image, which is achieved with high native magnification and the industry-best 12µm pixel pitch of the thermal core. Great set of features on-board including Inclinometer with canting and uphill / downhill indicator, photo & video recording and Wi-Fi live video streaming to a phone or a tablet as a bonus for the money!
- Bering Optics HOGSTER Vibe 1.4-5.6x 25mm is a perfect choice for stalking hogs or rabbits. This scope is all about a very crisp thermal image, which is achieved with decent-size objective lens and thermal core resolution, and with the industry-standard 17µm pixel pitch. For a person with an average shooting skill this thermal scope’s 1.4x native magnification is more than adequate for a rabbit headshot at 30 yards or for putting down a hog within 150 - 200 yards with wide choice of standard and ballistic reticles, on-board photo and video recording, 16 Gb of internal memory and Wi-Fi live video streaming to a phone or a tablet.
- Bering Optics SUPER YOTER 1.5 -6.0x 25 mm lens serves the same hunting purposes as Hogster Vibe with a 25 mm lens. This high-end model features the industry-best 640 x 480 pixel resolution in combination with the industry-best 12µm pixel pitch. This scope provides the utmost image quality and crispiness which is especially significant on larger magnifications. Being more advanced in almost every department this scope allows for extending the practical night hunting range to 300 yards keeping the same great field of view for shooting fast-moving targets at shorter distances. This thermal sight has all the media features of Hogster Vibe (photo and video recording, direct Wi-Fi streaming to phones and tablets) with upgraded 32 Gb of memory on board.
- Pick Bering Optics HOGSTER Vibe 2.0-8.0x 35mm for stalking hogs or for shooting coyotes at a bit longer distance or anything in between. Very crisp thermal image is achieved with the larger objective lens and better thermal core resolution with the industry-standard 17µm pixel pitch. Higher native magnification in combination with up to 8.0x native+digital zoom option allows hunters to be more confident at longer distances. This scope features a wide choice of standard and ballistic reticles and 16 Gb of internal memory for on-board photo and video recording. Wi-Fi live video streaming to a phone or a tablet, allows live sharing of exciting moments with a hunting buddy near you or creating memories for the future.
- Bering Optics SUPER YOTER 2.0 -8.0x 35 mm lens serves the same hunting purposes as Hogster Vibe with a 35 mm lens. This high-end model features the industry-best 640 x 480 pixel resolution in combination with the industry-best 12µm pixel pitch. This scope provides the utmost image quality and crispiness which is especially significant on larger magnifications. Being more advanced in almost every department this scope allows for extended practical night hunting ranges. This thermal sight is equipped with all the great media features of Hogster Vibe (photo and video recording, direct Wi-Fi streaming to phones and tablets) with upgraded 32 Gb of memory on board
- Bering Optics SUPER HOGSTER R 2.9-11.6x 35mm and SUPER YOTER R 3.0-12.0x 50mm are the flagships of Bering Optics thermal scopes family. Whether you hunt hogs or coyotes, whether you stalk or shoot at longer distances - Super Hogster and Super Yoter providing the crispiest thermal images are the tools of choice for the most demanding hunters. Both scopes are built with the industry-best 12µm pixel pitch thermal core. Super Hogster is 3 oz lighter, but Super Yoter, having the highest native and digital magnification, the largest objective lens and the industry-best 640x480 core resolution, provides even higher quality image at larger magnification for superior predator control at longer distances. Both scopes feature the widest choice of standard and ballistic reticles and on-board inclinometer with rifle canting and uphill / downhill indicator allowing the most precise shots. On-board photo and video recording and Wi-Fi live video streaming to a phone or a tablet, allow live sharing of exciting moments with a hunting buddy near you or creating memories for the future. All these features are gathered in ultra-lightweight devices (17 oz for Super Hogster & 20 oz for Super Yoter). Whether you are a demanding hunter, a hunting guide or a hunting video content maker – the specs and the features of SUPER HOGSTER and SUPER YOTER will provide you with the unmatched ultimate hunting experience.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any additional questions you may have.