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The history of night vision goggles is an interesting one. NVD’s, or night vision devices as they are known, are able to capture the smallest amounts of light in near pitch black conditions. Typically used by both the military and law enforcement agencies, these powerful vision tools have also been available to the public for quite some time too. First used in World War 2, Vietnam also saw the heavy use of night vision goggle and other devices. As the night vision technology has progressed throughout the years numerous so called "generations" of night vision equipment have been used.

Used solely by US manufacturers of night vision goggles and other night vision apparel the different generations are categorised as follows. Generation 0 - the first devices for night vision typically used as sniperscopes by the US army in WW2 and the Korean War. Generation 1 (GEN I) was promoted during the Vietnam War, upgraded versions of GEN 0, these devices used ambient light rather than infra red light sources. Quite bulky, moonlight was vital for these GEN I devices to function. GEN II had improved image-intensification tubes that used a micro-channel plate (MCP) in conjunction with a S-25 photocathode. All round GEN II had far brighter images, even around the edges of the lens, resolution and reliability were also much improved upon. Moonlight was not essential too! GEN III was essentially the same as GEN II except for the fact that their photocathodes were now constructed from gallium arsenide for improved image resolution. Also, an ion barrier coats the MCP extending the life of the tube. Light amplification was increased from 30,000-50,000x. The most recent generation is known as Omnibus - VII. This generation of night vision goggles differs from GEN III by having a ability to adapt to altering light conditions due to automatic gated power supply systems controlling the photocathode voltages. Secondly, the ion barrier is much thinner producing less image noise and the ability of the NVD to operate at a much higher luminous sensitivity. The decrease in the ion barrier means that tube life is shortened somewhat from a theoretical mean of 20,000 operational hours to 15,000 hours.