What You’ll See In The Dark Using AKASO’s Sight-300

So in every movie where the good guys are making their way in the dark — how do they see what they see? The answer is to have a monocular device that “sees” the minuscule glimmer of light that exists.

Of course in movies things get exaggerated, but night vision devices really do exist. Those that are really good at their job usually are reserved for the military or cost well into the thousands of dollars — neither of which do anything for us common folks.

But being able to see in the dark can be really vital for a lot of reasons: for example, you’re camping or a wildlife observer deep in the woods and don’t want to disturb nocturnal animals; you keep hearing sounds in your backyard but can’t see what is causing them (turning on a light negating that); you’re a hunter spotting game during night hunts; you’re walking treacherous paths and trails in the dark.

So having night vision capabilities in a device that is both affordable and effective would be good. But what would be even better would be for that night vision device to give you COLOR night vision. Drum roll please for AKASO‘s Sight-300.

The Sight-300 is textured for easy gripping with one hand and being monocular that makes sense. The front lens rotates for focus and the rear eyepiece is a hard but not uncomfortable rubber for placement against one eye. Being monocular is actually superior in this person’s estimations as it is easier to hold up against one eye while wearing glasses. The view through the eyepiece consists of 60 degrees field of view, which coordinates well with the human eye. Meanwhile the actual image being captured consists of 120 degrees field-of-view which maximizes the surrounding area.

On the left side is a slot for a mini-SD card, with the USB-C charging port at that end also. Both beneath a rubber cover but keep in mind that the Sight-300 is not designed to handle getting wet. The top features a modest sized LCD status screen, with compass tabs below: handling selections of modes, IR selection, left right zoom.

Below is the bright red On/Off that is easily located, with a helmet mount slot for placing the whole unit onto compatible headgear/helmets. This does turn the unit upside down but obviously correcting for same is done through the menus. As mentioned earlier the rear eyepiece follows with a rubber slot hiding the battery compartment. As the battery is removable, that means spare batteries can be brought along to obviate running out of power just as things start to get good. Also as a nice touch, the rubber slot has tabs that must be pressed in so as to remove the slot, and contrary to others using a thin rubber string that will inevitably break off, a strap keeps the slot from getting lost. The battery is AKASO specific, btw, and hot swappable.

So what’s the difference between black and white and color as regards viewing. Besides the obvious, color provides greater contrast between objects and makes what is being seen more “understandable” to the mind. That’s because black and white imaging has a tendency to blur and smudge what is being looked at, while color causes a greater separation.

In this case the A.I. works on color to do a form of restoration and recreation of what is being viewed — think of it as real-time Photoshopping of the image. Because otherwise the color image would appear more blurred than if it was in black and white. It’s for this reason also that a person watching a low resolution video will seem sharper as compared to a still photo — the mind filling in gaps in real time (think moving pictures). All this being helped by the high resolution that the Sight-300 possesses as well.

There is an observation mode (maximum image clarity when stationary) and an action mode for use while moving. Observation mode provides the best image but you must remain unmoving, so it’s the action mode that will get the most use if you’re planning to move about. Unless you’ve a tripod, in which case the observation mode Is the one you will use.

It’s important to note that the Sight-300 expects there to be some illumination, even if the scene is near total darkness. The amount of ambient light, say put out by a partial Moon, for example, aids the sensor technology that enables an image to be formed. Personal experience shows that the Sight-300 reproduces imaging extremely well in these very low light situations, which is why its ability to provide a color image is not a “gimmick” but a useful option for use.

The AKASO Sight-300 has WiFi built in so as to use for live-viewing and remote control via the free smartphone app. This let you place it down and retreat but still use capturing features. It is water and dust resistant and comes seated in a zippered hard case that also contains its needed accessories — being an inside zippered pouch holding straps, a lanyard, a charger and cable, cleaning cloth, tripod screws and a quick-start guide (it does not include a mini-SD card, but they’re plentiful and AKASO makes a speedy 64GB).

A QR code leads to the full manual. For more details go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/akaso/sight-300-the-most-advanced-ai-night-vision?ref=26e6ad