Night vision camcorder system

In order to obtain night vision device imagery, a portable lightweight night vision camcorder system has been designed. This system has the capability to record night vision imagery in confined quarters (e.g., cockpits) and other remote sites under various environmental conditions. The system is composed of a commercial third generation night vision monocular, a special optical coupler, and a consumer camcorder. Engineering drawings for the optical coupler are included as an appendix. Laboratory experiments were performed to determine the night vision camcorder system imaging characteristics. The results of these experiments indicate that the limiting resolution of recorded night vision video is about 30% to 40% of the limiting resolution of the third generation monocular, depending upon the type of video filming method used.