

The confusion comes from the fact that "infrared" is also the spectral range used by thermal imaging. This means that normal night vision binoculars will display "infrared" as if it was visible light, and many of them also have an "infrared" lamp fitted, which produces visible light to the wearer of the glasses, but not to the unaugmented human eye. CCD sensors are however highly sensitive to near-visible infrared radiation. Modern night vision goggles merely amplify light from wide spectrum with a CCD-based optical sensor. Night vision goggles on TV and in movies are seldom shown correctly.
