Not 100% true in regards to new market Gen 3 always better than Photonis XD-4/XR-5/INTENS. There's a significant portion of Gen 3 made by Russians (Kato'd and Dipol), these have spec ranges which are inferior to Photonis. When it comes to American Gen 3, what Az said above is likely to be the case.

Forgot about soviet / russian NVG. Point taken. Thanks

EDIT:
IBSO FACTO
No American Gen 3 tube that is currently available would be inferior to a gen 2 HD tube.

Thanks for the information gents.

How important is autogating in terms of night games? My experience with night games is that shit ton of guys would dump strong light at the slightest hint of movement.

It makes good sense to buy an autogated Gen 2 vs a non autogated Russian Gen 3 tube, correct? Or have I gone down the wrong track for thinking the ABC function isn't sufficient to protect the tube?

From my research, auto-gating function costs another $400 (based on GSCI's MSRP). Back when I first began researching about I2 and airsoft, auto-gating was an extremely important feature I look for. Autogating is a must have for any I2 usage in dynamic lighting situations. If it comes to Russian Gen 3 vs Photonis Gen 2 at the same price, I would pick photonis as they have better resolution, SNR, and reliability.

For sake of airsoft these are features I think are important:
Manual gain ->Nice to have
Autogating -> Must have
Resolution >57lp/mm & SNR >20 -> Must have if your budget is over 2K (Photonis Gen 2 & Gen 3 will typically meet both)
Resolution >64/lpmm & SNR >25 -> nice to have but not needed (OMNI VI and on will meet this)
Black/white phosphorus screen -> matter of opinions
Dual tube -> really nice to have but a high spec monocular beats crappy binocular.

In terms of tube manufacturer... the grading goes something like this (IIRL)
Exelis/L-3 > Hamamatsu/ Harder Digital > Photonis > Kato'd/ Dipol

Katod Gen 3 rated worse than Photonis Gen 2?

http://i.imgur.com/wnIaRyJ.gif

Any eyesafe DBAL on the market? I know the g&p peq16 is about 10mW so that's a no go unless I want to be a dick who burns retinas.

I do have a m952v with a km3 but not sure whethet that's good enough to "guide" rounds in nv.

It's not technically a DBAL but if your looking for affordable IR laser then try Lasermax Uni-MAX. It's class1 eye safe and some decent prices on ebay.ca or amazon.

You can somewhat snap shoot in CQB with an IR light source like the m952v but once out to any distance it will become much more difficult.

According to whom? I've measured in 5 stock G&P DBAL's at only 3mW on high power
Which is still not 100% eye safe, [troll] but if you're in an area that allows 5mW red lasers, then I don't see any reason why they'd be all butt hurt over 3mW IR lasers. [/troll]

The newer FMA/Element Peq La5 upgraded versions have eye safe IR lasers in them.

http://airsoftcanada.com/showthread....46#post1757546

But yeah, any organiser with half of common sense and some understanding of health and safety and civil action would ban anything more than a class I laser.

Absolutely agree.
Not saying the stock IR laser is safe, but it's the red laser that's allegedly 10mW according to G&P.
I'm amazed some people still think those 5mW red lasers are okay to use, though.

Only noobs use lasers. We use thermal now.
Get on our level, nerds.

Fixed for truth :sad:

FDA "considered safe if handled carefully" in everyday life, and not at all safe when viewed through magnifying optics.