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Get this question on the phone daily.
"Is white phosphor better than green phosphor?"
When something is new or newer in this case, folks are often tempted to think new equals better. When your discussing something like night vision tubes this isn't an easy answer. Because every single tube is different, it's impossible to paint with a broad brush and say one color is "better" than another.
Here's a little food for thought-
If you had two tubes with absolute identical specifications on their data sheets- something that would never happen in real life- and one tube of these absolutely identical brothers was green and the other was white your brain would kind of perceive that the white phosphor was brighter even though it necessarily may not be. This is due to the white background kind of tricking your brain.
Here are some pros and cons of each color-
White Phosphor
IN GENERAL, remember EVERY single tube is different but as a general statement now a days, you will tend to see slightly better overall specification numbers in white phosphor. However the downside to White phosphor is that the small cosmetic blemishes found in every tube are easier to see/spot against a white background. In the same manner as if you took a clean white sheet of typing paper and put a pencil mark on the paper- your brain would focus on the pencil mark and ignore the 99.9% of the page that is absolutely clean.
Those same small blemishes against a green screen aren't as noticeable.
For those that are photo sensitive, with most of the new 3rd Gen and even the Photonis White Phosphor tubes, you will find in most conditions the tube's brightness will begin to affect you after an hour or so under NODs. This is one of the many reasons why having manual gain control -even in a dual tube set- is critical. You will want to be able to "turn down" the brightness in your tube. This will help allow you to stay under NODs for longer periods of time. Manual gain control allows that in the same manner as you would turn down the brightness of your phone while looking at it at night in bed, etc.
Night vision devices with White Phosphor also known as P45 tubes will in general have a better resale value than green phosphor as well.
Expect to pay a little more for White Phosphor tubes as they cost more than green phosphor tubes and have a much higher demand.
Green Phosphor
Green phosphor also known as P43 is the old standard and it's been said that green was originally picked as the color for NV because the color green was the easiest for your brain to work with.
When viewing a tube with cosmetic issues (which they all have if you look hard enough) such as tiny black spots, little areas of shading, etc. sometimes a green phosphor tube will "hide" these to some extent. A lot of this depends on lighting conditions and the users eyesight however.
In general for the same grade of tubes, expect to see specifications numbers on average being slightly less than a similarly sized batch of the same tube grade in White phosphor. That doesn't mean you can't find a green phosphor unit with good specifications, it's just that very high specifications is going to be harder to find in green phosphor than white phosphor.
Green phosphor tubes will in general sell for slightly less as they cost the builder slightly less. They will also have a lower resale value if you sell your set years later. Of course probably the #1 factor in re-sale value of a night vision device is having the data sheet. So be sure to put the data sheets for your NODs someplace safe you won't lose them. In your gun safe for example.
The final upside to green phosphor is that during times of shortages and massive runs on products- as has been happening with Night Vision for over 2 years now- green phosphor tubes will -IN GENERAL- be easier to obtain than white phosphor tubes. Demand is smaller on green phosphor than white phosphor.
"Is white phosphor better than green phosphor?"
When something is new or newer in this case, folks are often tempted to think new equals better. When your discussing something like night vision tubes this isn't an easy answer. Because every single tube is different, it's impossible to paint with a broad brush and say one color is "better" than another.
Here's a little food for thought-
If you had two tubes with absolute identical specifications on their data sheets- something that would never happen in real life- and one tube of these absolutely identical brothers was green and the other was white your brain would kind of perceive that the white phosphor was brighter even though it necessarily may not be. This is due to the white background kind of tricking your brain.
Here are some pros and cons of each color-
White Phosphor
IN GENERAL, remember EVERY single tube is different but as a general statement now a days, you will tend to see slightly better overall specification numbers in white phosphor. However the downside to White phosphor is that the small cosmetic blemishes found in every tube are easier to see/spot against a white background. In the same manner as if you took a clean white sheet of typing paper and put a pencil mark on the paper- your brain would focus on the pencil mark and ignore the 99.9% of the page that is absolutely clean.
Those same small blemishes against a green screen aren't as noticeable.
For those that are photo sensitive, with most of the new 3rd Gen and even the Photonis White Phosphor tubes, you will find in most conditions the tube's brightness will begin to affect you after an hour or so under NODs. This is one of the many reasons why having manual gain control -even in a dual tube set- is critical. You will want to be able to "turn down" the brightness in your tube. This will help allow you to stay under NODs for longer periods of time. Manual gain control allows that in the same manner as you would turn down the brightness of your phone while looking at it at night in bed, etc.
Night vision devices with White Phosphor also known as P45 tubes will in general have a better resale value than green phosphor as well.
Expect to pay a little more for White Phosphor tubes as they cost more than green phosphor tubes and have a much higher demand.
Green Phosphor
Green phosphor also known as P43 is the old standard and it's been said that green was originally picked as the color for NV because the color green was the easiest for your brain to work with.
When viewing a tube with cosmetic issues (which they all have if you look hard enough) such as tiny black spots, little areas of shading, etc. sometimes a green phosphor tube will "hide" these to some extent. A lot of this depends on lighting conditions and the users eyesight however.
In general for the same grade of tubes, expect to see specifications numbers on average being slightly less than a similarly sized batch of the same tube grade in White phosphor. That doesn't mean you can't find a green phosphor unit with good specifications, it's just that very high specifications is going to be harder to find in green phosphor than white phosphor.
Green phosphor tubes will in general sell for slightly less as they cost the builder slightly less. They will also have a lower resale value if you sell your set years later. Of course probably the #1 factor in re-sale value of a night vision device is having the data sheet. So be sure to put the data sheets for your NODs someplace safe you won't lose them. In your gun safe for example.
The final upside to green phosphor is that during times of shortages and massive runs on products- as has been happening with Night Vision for over 2 years now- green phosphor tubes will -IN GENERAL- be easier to obtain than white phosphor tubes. Demand is smaller on green phosphor than white phosphor.
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