The car night vision system. It's alternative.

Let's understand whether this function is useful or it is not worth our attention. First, we need to figure out what the night vision devices are. These are special photoelectronic devices that provide visibility at night. They transform indistinguishable in the darkness images into visible ones, amplifying the light and giving them brightness and contrast.

The car night vision system was designed to increase the range of the driver's visibility in bad weather or in the dark time of a day.

I think many people understand that it wouldn't hurt to have a car night vision system because of security reason. It helps to estimate the on-road situation at night, where the darkness or bad weather conditions will not obstruct the view. These devices help to see more clearly the objects at a far distance, which gives the driver extra time for maneuver.

Such systems consist of:

- Infrared radiation camera, located in headlamps;

- Ordinary video camera;

- Controlling unit;

- Monitor to display the information.

The night vision system comes in two types: active and passive. The ideal solution is to combine two types of systems in one device. An active night vision systems use an additional light source, located in the car. In passive systems the infrared sensor is absent. The principle of their action is based on the work of the thermal imager, which fixes the radiation of on-coming objects. The Dynamic Light Spot night vision system from BMW is an excellent example of a passive night vision system. The system determines the living being location and notifies the driver about them with a sound signal, and rotary diode headlights illuminating.

Rotary diode headlights in use:

It's surely a good feature for the car. So why is it so poorly distributed for the moment? It's all about cost, unfortunately, not everyone can afford it. Only premium cars are equipping with it.

An alternative to such a device can be an electronic dashboard with a night view function, but the price of such devices also bites and you need to pick it up for a specific car. The DVR equipped with a powerful light-sensitive chip will be a chipper alternative, that provides a good picture and excellent vision of objects in the poor lighting conditions. Yes, the level of night vision at such devices is much lower, but the price is more democratic. Some of these devices can be connected to the SMARTY Trend head unit via USB. The video will be displayed on the head unit's screen and you wouldn't need to buy some additional tools.

For those who are technical experts, for the most darings, there is another alternative - to create this device by yourself. To do this, you will need

- infrared emitter;
- viewfinder;
- night vision camera;
- screen - in this case, you can also use the head unit screen.

Technologies grow with great speed, it is no doubt, that night vision system will be soon applied in every car, and this will make driving at night more secure.  Meanwhile, we can take care of our own safety, even now.