Are glass optics becoming obsolete?

[boscoebrea]

Me friends a optical physicist,he tells his company is working on a lens that can help blind people see,they have the lens,but it is how to hook it up to the brain is the problem. Anyhow,that is what a number one optical company is working on.
Cane poles have their place,when using a bobber.

 

[delooper]

Competitive shooters would never accept degradation of resolution from glass. As a result the shooters that follow what the competition shooters use will also never accept that.

Pack 1280x1280 in 30mm or 34mm
1.6million pixels

Sure, but I don't see these hybrid scopes as being for competition shooters. The people buying them are hunters and the "tacticool".

 

[Ratzy]

Sure, but I don't see these hybrid scopes as being for competition shooters. The people buying them are hunters and the "tacticool".

1280x1280 would be zero magnification. 4x would be 320x320 unless you do it with glass up front.

 

[delooper]

1280x1280 would be zero magnification. 4x would be 320x320 unless you do it with glass up front.

It doesn't have to be that way. My IRay RICO RH50 has a 3x optical magnification in front of the 640x480 sensor.

"Digital magnification" gets you to 6x and 9x, i.e. lower resolution.

 

[Ratzy]

"Unless you do it with glass up front"
IE optical magnification.

 

[JungleShooter]

➊ One of the current drawbacks of digital scopes is the lack of rapid adjustment of elevation and windage.
Sure, it's not problema if you have one with a range finder, or if you want to use holdover. But I'm a die-hard dialer, so... — gimme some turrets!
➠ This would be a very easy fix.


➋ Another current drawback for me is the long time it takes to power up the unit. For rapid shots when stalking this is just too slow.
➠ But no doubt, this will improve drastically soon.


➌ I expect that these 2 hurdles to digital replacing glass will be overcome soon.
However, hurdle number 3 is the image quality for long range shots and for seeing small kill zones.
And that's a much bigger technological challenge, and one that might take a whoooole lot longer to overcome.

➠ I will continue to trust in glass, all the while using digital when needed.
Glass at least has no malfunctioning or discontinued apps.

Matthias

 

[Hateful McNasty]

I forgot i had this for a meme

 

[Ratzy]

➊ One of the current drawbacks of digital scopes is the lack of rapid adjustment of elevation and windage.
Sure, it's not problema if you have one with a range finder, or if you want to use holdover. But I'm a die-hard dialer, so... — gimme some turrets!
➠ This would be a very easy fix.


➋ Another current drawback for me is the long time it takes to power up the unit. For rapid shots when stalking this is just too slow.
➠ But no doubt, this will improve drastically soon.


➌ I expect that these 2 hurdles to digital replacing glass will be overcome soon.
However, hurdle number 3 is the image quality for long range shots and for seeing small kill zones.
And that's a much bigger technological challenge, and one that might take a whoooole lot longer to overcome.

➠ I will continue to trust in glass, all the while using digital when needed.
Glass at least has no malfunctioning or discontinued apps.

Matthias

Your #3 currently can only be addressed by adding glass up front. Otherwise as you increase magnification the number of pixels decreases and pixel size increases. Resolution then suffers. Which makes digital a non-starter for anything requiring magnification.

Then there is the need to concentrate the image to a limited view for our minds to process properly. Current display technology does not have anywhere near the pixel size and density that would be required.

Adding glass up front why bother with digital?

 

[MongooseV8]

Get back to me when digital optics can do this:

 

[delooper]

➊ One of the current drawbacks of digital scopes is the lack of rapid adjustment of elevation and windage.
Sure, it's not problema if you have one with a range finder, or if you want to use holdover. But I'm a die-hard dialer, so... — gimme some turrets!
➠ This would be a very easy fix.

I think the direction this will mostly go is automatically removing the elevation and windage from the process.

Newer (optical-)digital scopes will tell you where to aim if you want to make a specific shot, like the Burris XTR PS.

 

[Ratzy]

I think the direction this will mostly go is automatically removing the elevation and windage from the process.

Newer (optical-)digital scopes will tell you where to aim if you want to make a specific shot, like the Burris XTR PS.

Next up Offset Aiming, look at clear target X to shoot less clear target Y.

 

[dan_house]

First thing that has to happen is we have to change our "perception" of what a scope looks like. As in, no more round tubes approximating .current scope footprints.

It will happen, wont be cheap at first, but look at how much the current offerings have come down since we first started seeing these units.

 

[Ratzy]

First thing that has to happen is we have to change our "perception" of what a scope looks like. As in, no more round tubes approximating .current scope footprints.

It will happen, wont be cheap at first, but look at how much the current offerings have come down since we first started seeing these units.

There is a secondary reason beyond the glass for scopes to be round. The human brain likes a round display. We automatically focus on the center of a circle. Any display that is not relatively small and round our brain tends to search the display for items of interest.

Size does matter

 

[JimD]

As they improve and the prices decrease digital scopes will gain market share. I've seen no data but I think their share is pretty small currently. But digital scopes will not near 100% market share in my lifetime, probably not my kids lifetime and possibly not my grandkids. I'm not saying I won't buy one. But most of my scopes will be optical and I think that will remain true for most of us for a very long time. I suspect there will always be things that optical scopes do better.

 

[3Crows]

I have not seen any "digital" scope at any price range that even begins to compare to a $100 optical scope from Walmart much less a precision optical scope costing several thousands. Just not going to happen, ever. .

 

[JimD]

I'm not willing to say never to anything based upon electronics. I almost had to use a slide rule in college because there were no reasonably priced scientific calculators. But then TI came out with one that sold for about $100 and could be duplicated today for less than $10. But it saved me from slide rule use. Later I had a Texas Instruments computer that hooked up to a TV as the monitor and used a cassette recorder as the storage device. Goofy little contraption by todays standards. This is where we were only about 50 years ago. I don't think it will take another 50 years for electronic scopes to have a significant share of the market. But I don't think God will keep me here another 50 years. Probably not another 20 years. Electronic scopes can easily be configured to range the target and adjust the aim point so no hold over or under. They likely can be programmed to adjust magnification based upon what is in the center of the viewfinder. Or record images so you can see the point of aim when the gun fired. Lots of things optical instruments are not going to do. But we may always have both from now on with market share drifting in the direction of electronics.

 

[HunterWhiteHead]

I too went from a slide rules to a TI-34, or was it a TI30?

Hunter

 

[BlackICE]

Slide rule to sr50 for about $150 in 1974

 

[JW.]

When I started flying FPV in 2014 the goggles were 600x480 analog, as the years progressed the lenses became better and better but the FPV cameras were always the limiting factor.

DJI had a digital link but it was always too slow for FPV.

Then DJI released a fast refresh rate digital FPV camera and goggle system, it is now into gen 3 or 4 and the latency is at or better than the analog equipment, range had also increased.

This technological jump meant you could not see almost everything, no more ghost branches to take you out.

Digital rifle scopes will only get better as they use better and better components.

I think the best combination will be an optical and digital zoom, optical for pure image quality and then some digital zoom for that additional punch (kind of like how 360 6k cameras drop down to 4k for zooming in on a specific area).

There needs to be a range finding non-night vision version...

 

[357cal]

I've always had glass optics, use to then use a lamp at night, then moves to rear addon and IR. However having recently got the Hikmicro Alpex 4k lite, currently on my HW100 and also tried it on my Anschutz. 22LR, i can see me using this more and just swapping it over to different guns, i am really seeing the appeal of digital scopes. Ok might not be as clear on targets, but im not really a target shooter. My local gunshop is seeing more traditional optics being traded in against digital optics. With constant improvements and extra features on digital scopes, will there still be a place for glass? Who has has changed over, from what to what? Curious to find out people's thoughts,?View attachment 579484ss

I have switched from an Athlon Talos BTR 4-14x44 and a Helos BTR gen 2 6-24x56 to DNT Zulus HD 5-20x with a range finder. I hunt coyote at night, can't see going back to reg glass.

Digital Precision vs. Traditional Optics​

Feature	ZULUS HD 5-20x LRF	Traditional Glass Scope
Day/Night Capability	Full-color daytime + digital night vision	Daylight only (unless paired with NV add-ons)
Laser Rangefinder	Built-in, accurate from 11 to 1100 yards	Requires separate device or manual estimation
Ballistic Calculator	Auto drop compensation based on range and profile	Manual holdover or turret dialing
Image Clarity	1920x1080 Micro-OLED display with STARVIS 2 sensor	Depends on glass quality and coatings
Recording & Playback	Recoil-activated video + manual capture	Requires external camera or phone adapter
Reticle Options	Multiple styles + color modes (white, yellow, green, etc.)	Fixed reticle, limited illumination options
Zeroing System	One-shot digital zeroing	Manual turret adjustment
Weatherproofing	IP67 waterproof, fogproof, shock-rated	Varies by brand; often less rugged
Size & Weight	Compact (under 8") and lightweight (17 oz)	Can be longer and heavier depending on magnification
Field Adaptability	App integration, detachable IR, customizable profiles	Static setup; no digital enhancements