I did a quick video using photoshop and Nvidia freestyle to better show off what I mean using gen 1, 2, and 3.
video comparison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35wenAFz2RA
I think it shows my issue with it all and its just simply there not being visible pixels as if you were staring at a the screen itself which without those I feel that the resolutions are better than they actually are when in reality they are correct.
So it would be better for them to add in a post effect of some sort to show the pixels which would make the thermals in game just look better overall.
examples of what each would look like if they had pixels
better example to show that I was wrong but this is still not perfect because this is looking head on at the enemy instead of side on. definitely can see the pixel difference but with a side on view can still most likely ID it as a T series just not the exact one.
My screenshot was not side-on of that Tiger 1, it was rear aspect to the Tiger 1.
See, you couldn’t even identify the tank let alone which direction it was facing in-game.
The only reason I know it’s a Tiger 1 is because I had to travel 1.3km in that custom match away from it to get the range needed.
Either way, real-life thermal solutions use different displays which offer higher fidelity than LCD panels per pixel.
Partly because such displays have blending.
So in-game simulation of thermal solutions need to have double resolution to allow for 4 LCD pixels per “pixel” of thermals.
Ideally, it would be 3x so there is 9 LCD pixels per “pixel” of thermals to better simulate the displays in tanks.
As for finding images of generation 1 thermals, they still produce them. Not on tanks, but they are still produced for industry purposes due to their affordability over more advanced solutions.
Especially since gen 3 requires active cooling.
one thing that you seem to have glossed over is the fact that IRL many of these TVD systems were not screens but rather TVD incoprtated into a sight. something like how a gunner would look into a periscope and see the thermal version of what he would be seeing in his (seperate) day sight scope
and this is why the sight resolutions are so low irl
