History Main / NightVisionGoggles

*** Also, human bodies appear to be the same temperature, a completely uniform white, until they are killed, at which point the body loses all heat and becomes black as the background.

* ''{{Halo}}'' featured a fairly realistic starlight scope on the sniper rifle. Notably, it ''wasn't'' part of Master Chief's HUD, and didn't show up any place else.
** ''HaloReach'' later introduced a helmet-equipped night vision, which interestingly was tinted purple instead of green for the Covenant. ''Halo3ODST'' also had the [=VISR=], which could function as a sort of night vision.
* The ''SplinterCell'' series gets the starlight-scope 'night vision' mode bang on, but rolls out the false colour images for the 'infra-red' mode. The latter is also strangely inconsistent: it can see through thin walls but windows, objects and sufficient quantities of ''air'' are (realistically) opaque. Also, it combines both systems in a single visor, but this can be excused as AcceptableBreaksFromReality.
** Developer commentary indicates that they knew the starlight and infrared scope being put in the same device was not possible by current technological standards, but decided to do it to avoid having Fisher switching goggles all the time. They were invented about 2 years after the games release. In addition, later games in the series introduce electromagnetic and movement detection scopes.
** SplinterCell Double Agent gave players who complete all side objectives a enhanced night vision that can see in color. The technology didn't exist at the time (they were invented about 5 and a half months after the game was released).

* ''CallOfDuty 4 ModernWarfare'' averts this trope by getting both the starlight and infrared types of night vision right. The former as standard night vision goggles and the latter as the sole vision mode when you play as a gunner on a AC-130 gunship.
** The infra-red returns in ModernWarfare 2 in the form of the thermal scope, which is available for all the primary weapons. It's typically used for seeing through smoke screens and picking off snipers.

* ''MetroidPrime'' has the Thermal Visor, which apparently works like an infrared camera using a false-color version of the black-white spectrum (purple is the default ambient color, frozen objects and Ice Beam shots appear black, hot objects show up red through white). It can also see through thin walls and platforms, and unlike the ''Alien Vs. Predator'' example above, it actually responds to lava and hot rooms by overloading. The display will stay white until you turn it off for a while.

* GhostReconAdvancedWarfighter features ENVG like the several examples above, which include a separate thermal imaging mode (can't see through walls). As its name suggests, it's set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture.
** The original ''GhostRecon'' series used standard starlight vision.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/HalfLife1 Opposing Force''. When using night vision, the environment has a green hue and poor resolution, but none of the enemies glow or are rendered in unusual colors.
** That's because the so called "night vision" is actually a regular flashlight with a green filter and poorer resolution, this can be seen in the co-op online mode.
* Eating [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Cateye Catseye pills]] in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' ups the gamma and turns everything a pleasing shade of aqua. Oddly, even though you are walking around in what should be a blinding desert, you actually see ''better'' in the daytime if you take Catseye, since the game reduces all of the [[RealIsBrown bloom.]] The Friend of the Night perk gives night vision without the blue tint or risk of addiction, and the Riot Gear helmets from ''Lonesome Road'' have "Sneak Sight" vision when crouched, which is grayscale outdoors and sepiatone indoors. One of the Varmint Rifle's [[GunAccessories add-on parts]] is a starlight sniper scope.
** This is another effect reused from ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' in this case [[http://uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Night-Eye the night eye effect]]

* Eating [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Cateye Catseye pills]] in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' ups the gamma and turns everything a pleasing shade of aqua. Oddly, even though you are walking around in what should be a blinding desert, you actually see ''better'' in the daytime if you take Catseye, since the game reduces all of the [[RealIsBrown bloom.]] The Friend of the Night perk gives night vision without the blue tint or risk of addiction, and the Riot Gear helmets from ''Lonesome Road'' have "Sneak Sight" vision when crouched, which is grayscale outdoors and sepiatone indoors. One of the Varmint Rifle's add-on parts is a starlight sniper scope.

* Eating [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Cateye Catseye pills]] in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' ups the gamma and turns everything a pleasing shade of aqua. Oddly, even though you are walking around in what should be a blinding desert, you actually see ''better'' in the daytime if you take Catseye, since the game reduces all of the [[RealIsBrown bloom.]] The Friend of the Night perk gives night vision without the blue tint or risk of addiction, and the Riot Gear helmets from ''Lonesome Road'' have "Sneak Sight" vision when crouched, which is grayscale outdoors and sepiatone indoors.

* In a possibly accidental example, in ''{{Thief}} 3'', the protagonist's mechanical eye sees in black and white (despite being in colour in the previous game), which incidentally makes seeing in the dark easier without making anything brighter.

To give you an idea of the numbers: The visible range of light is 400-700nm, which works out as temperatures from roughly 500° to infinity, with peak visibility at at around 6000°C. "Infrared" ranges from those 700nm to 300'000nm, where microwaves start. The range of "Near-infrared" that CCD are most sensitive in is 700-1000nm (~350-450°). Thermal imaging usually operates at 9000-14000nm because this is the peak radiation spectrum of the human body at 37°C.

* Eating [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Cateye Catseye pills]] in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' ups the gamma and turns everything a pleasing shade of aqua. Oddly, even though you are walking around in what should be a blinding desert, you actually see ''better'' in the daytime if you take Catseye, since the game reduces all of the [[RealIsBrown bloom.]] The Friend of the Night perk gives night vision without the blue tint or risk of addiction, and the Riot Gear helmets from ''Lonesome Road'' have grayscale "Sneak Sight" vision when crouched.

* Eating [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Cateye Catseye pills]] in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' ups the gamma and turns everything a pleasing shade of aqua. Oddly, even though you are walking around in what should be a blinding desert, you actually see ''better'' in the daytime if you take Catseye, since the game reduces all of the [[RealIsBrown bloom.]] The Friend of the Night perk gives night vision without the blue tint or risk of addiction, and the Riot Gear helmets from ''Lonesome Road'' have grayscale "Sneak Sight" vision.

* Eating [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Cateye Catseye pills]] in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' ups the gamma and turns everything a pleasing shade of aqua. Oddly, even though you are walking around in what should be a blinding desert, you actually see ''better'' in the daytime if you take Catseye, since the game reduces all of the [[RealIsBrown bloom.]]

* The night vision in the ''SyphonFilter'' games is starlight green with brightly glowing people, although the glowing is reduced in later games.

* [[SerialKiller Buffalo Bill]] uses these to stalk his victims in TheMovieOfTheBook ''SilenceOfTheLambs''. In an early scene, as he's using them to watch a woman pull into a parking lot, her headlights briefly scan across his face. Not only should this have ruined the goggles, but also ''blinded him quite painfully'', yet he just stands there. (Modern [=NVGs=] are designed to filter this sort of thing, but the goggles available in the era in which the movie is set would not be likely have that feature.)

** That last one is pretty common in computer games, among other things. Want to add nightvision to your product? Simply cut the red and blue color channels and, voila. Instant nightvision! You still can't see anything because it's just as dark (or worse, ''even darker'') with it on? Oh well.

* The night vision in the ''SyphonFilter'' games is starlight green with brightly glowing people.

* The season 3 premier of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' shows [[CloudCuckoolander Pinkie]] wearing a pair of "night vision goggles"[[hottip:*:glass and metal steampunk spectacles with no electronics]]... [[SunglassesAtNight during the day]]. She quickly crashes into a light post.

* Averted in ''[[HalfLife Half Life: Opposing Force]].'' When using night vision, the environment has a green hue and poor resolution, but none of the enemies glow or are rendered in unusual colors.

See Franchise/{{Predator}} for the titular alien's [[InnateNightVision mode of vision]]. [[InfraredXrayCamera Can't see through stuff, either]].

* Elite power armour in {{FEAR}} 2 feature a fairly realistic thermal imaging mode, which while not amazingly useful is at least interesting to look at.

* [[SerialKiller Buffalo Bill]] uses these to stalk his victims in TheMovieOfTheBook ''SilenceOfTheLambs''. In an early scene, as he's using them to watch a woman pull into a parking lot, her headlights briefly scan across his face. Not only should this have ruined the goggles, but also ''blinded him quite painfully'', yet he just stands there. (Modern NVGs are designed to filter this sort of thing, but the goggles available in the era in which the movie is set would not be likely have that feature.)

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/goats_with_glasses_9744.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m0VnzPFxew "We can see you, Carl!" "We can totally see you."-] ]]

See Franchise/{{Predator}} for the titular alien's mode of vision. [[InfraredXrayCamera Can't see through stuff, either]].

[-[[caption-width-right:300:"We can see you, Carl!" "We can totally see you."]]-]

[[caption-width-right:300:"We can see you, Carl!" "We can totally see you."]]