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Real Start Up Time of Thermal Devices

Real start-up time is the time that elapses between the press of the on/off button and the display of the observed scene on the device’s screen.

In this article, we also list ready-to-use time. This is the time that elapses between the press of the on/off button and the point where the device starts to respond to the user’s actions. In some cases, real start-up time and ready-to-use time are the same, but that’s usually not the case.

Many thermal device manufacturers do not list these, and the information of those that do is sometimes misleading. For this reason, we have decided to put the thermal devices to the test ourselves. The real start-up time and ready-to-use time of each device are displayed in the table below. All the devices were tested under the same circumstances.

ProductPerformanceStart Up Time (s)Ready to Use (s)Video
Hikmicro LYNX Pro LH-257.43628.57
Hikmicro OWL-OH256.43829.552
Night Pearl Fox 35 Elite11.55222.472
Pulsar Helion 2 XQ50F4.7364.736
InfiRay Xclip CH50 V28.2988.298
Burris BTC508.3348.334
Hikmicro LYNX Pro LE107.21417.112
Hikvision OWL 1512.36433.394
Burris BTH3515.81418.556
Hikmicro Thunder Pro TE19C8.43415.746
Guide TA4507.6328.766
Hikmicro Gryphon GH25L5.55427.526
Leica Calonox Sight11.95815.522
Hikmicro Gryphon GH35L6.00816.716
Hikmicro Gryphon GQ35L6.18214.912
Leica Calonox View11.09616.502
Pulsar Accolade 2 LRF XP50 Pro8.0288.028
Pulsar Helion 2 XQ38F4.6084.608
Pulsar Helion 2 XP50 Pro3.4623.462
Pulsar Proton XQ305.425.42
InfiRay CML256.5088.29
Burris BTH5016.79419.876
Pulsar Krypton XG507.0847.084
InfiRay ZH3815.42616.686
Hikmicro LYNX PRO-LH197.36628.546
InfiRay Finder FL25R11.48814.632
Pulsar Helion 2 XP508.0748.074
Pulsar Axion Key XM304.4144.414
Kahles Helia TI 357.10828.546
Pulsar Axion XM30S2.9082.908
Pulsar Axion Key XM224.404.40
Pulsar Core FXQ507.9747.974
Steiner Nighthunter H3515.86818.462
Hikmicro Thunder TH35C6.17230.714
Nitehog Viper7.1788.44
Pulsar Axion 2 XQ35 LRF4.4724.472
Liemke Keiler-25 LRF11.48814.632
ATN OTS-XLT 160 2-8x8.05825.924
Nitehog Chameleon X-core TIR-M356.28812.514
Night Pearl Scops 25 ELITE10.40615.162
Pulsar Axion 2 XQ354.4324.432
Pulsar Axion XM30 F3.4023.402
Hikmicro LYNX LC067.21211.484
Hikmicro LYNX Pro LH-158.15816.47
InfiRay CTP1311.09611.096
Liemke Luchs-16.1126.112
Steiner Nighthunter C3514.51816.398
Swarovski tM 352.4462.446
Pulsar Axion 2 XG353.8323.832
Pulsar Axion 2 XG35 LRF4.0264.026

If you wish to learn more about how the device performed, click Read More. The article will be regularly updated with new models.

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Test procedure

Each device was turned on 8-16 times in a row. We compared the results to see if there’s any considerable outlier in terms of results and what to do with it.  To portray the most accurate results we chose 5 different testings which varied in their start up and ready to use time (the ones with the longest start-up and ready-to-use time, and the ones with the shortest). The results of start up time and ready to use time are shown at the end of this video.

Every device is powered off completely (not in standby mode) before we start the stopwatch.

We tested each device before filming to make sure we were stating the times correctly. While doing so, we realized that the best way to show you the real Ready to Use time was by pressing the Zoom Button (if available). When the device responded, we immediately stopped the timer. To make sure we didn’t slow down the ready to use time, we pressed the button less frequently until stopping completely – in order to ensure objectivity of results.

GoPro Stand

GoPro Stand

GoPro

Please note that the flickering and double vision are the result of filming with the GoPro, and not due to the thermal device. The primary focus was demonstrating a real start up and ready to use time, therefore the image quality was not optimal.

Temperature

Please take into consideration that the start up time might vary at different temperatures. You can see the temperature at which this was filmed in the bottom right corner of the digital watch.

Batteries

Each device that we tested was fully charged. The battery status can be seen on the display of thermal imagers. For the devices with generic insertable batteries, we used the Panasonic brand. Please note that the results might vary using different batteries.

Panasonic Batteries

Panasonic Batteries

Panasonic Batteries

 

Device Settings

Each device was tested with the default settings, at it comes out of the box.

Probability risk

No testing can account for 1/n probability that a device may take longer to respond on every nth try. We did our best to exclude such happenstances by doing trial runs with every device.

Our observations

Our observations for each device are also listed (particularities when it comes to turning the device on, the buttons, batteries, etc.), which you can also find in individual blog posts posted per every device.

Summary
Article Name
Real Start-Up Time
Description
In this article, you can find information on the real start-up time and ready-to-use time of thermal devices that we tested.
Publisher Name
Optics Trade
Publisher Logo

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Summary
Article Name
Real Start-Up Time
Description
In this article, you can find information on the real start-up time and ready-to-use time of thermal devices that we tested.
Publisher Name
Optics Trade
Publisher Logo