Night Vision Devices have been around for more than 40 years. They are categorized by generation. Each substantial change in Night Vision Device technology establishes a new generation.

Major improvements in image-intensifier tubes resulted in Generation-2 Night Vision Devices. They offer improved resolution and performance over Generation-1 Night Vision Devices, and are considerably more reliable. The biggest gain in Generation 2 Night Vision Devices is the ability to see in extremely low light conditions, such as a moonless night. This increased sensitivity is due to the addition of the microchannel plate to the image-intensifier tube of Night Vision Devices. Since the MCP actually increases the number of electrons instead of just accelerating the original ones, the images are significantly less distorted and brighter than earlier-generation Night Vision Devices.