Will my night vision device have spots in the view?

The manufacturing of intensifier tubes is a complex process involving the creation of microchannel plates from thin glass strands and careful sealing of the tube layers.

This intricate production leads to unavoidable imperfections like dark spots and "pepper" (small, less noticeable spots). It's important for users to understand that these imperfections are common and don't affect the tube's performance.

Even the highest-quality tubes have these flaws within certain tolerances.

While it's natural to desire a flawless product, the reality is that all tubes, including top-tier ones, can have dark spots and pepper to varying degrees.
I like to think of them as birthmarks.

In practical use, these imperfections are often unnoticeable, much like the spots on a car's windshield that don't obstruct driving.

This is the chart that shows the allowable spot sizes and zones, where zone 1 is the center, zone 2 is in the periphery, and zone 3 is near the edge.

NVT-4 and NVT-5: Maximum number of spots in cathode zones: