If you’re buying from a well known brand such as Pulsar, there’s no question: Whatever you purchase will be of high quality. But do you simply pick the newest product line added to the market? Or do you consider how a specific item is relevant to you?
Here’s the truth: You can have the latest in modern technology, but your device can have features unrelated to your specific application. That means you’re wasting your money. Let’s prevent that in your next thermal imaging scope purchase. Below we’ll discuss two of Pulsar’s most impressive products:
What are the differences and which one is right for you? As you have heard before the answer depends. Lets start with an overview of Pulsar and their company.
About Pulsar:
First off, perhaps you’re considering to purchase from another brand. When you understand the company behind these products it becomes even more obvious why Pulsar’s products are often found on pro hunters’ shopping lists.
You also need to source your gear from established manufacturers. This makes it eaiser to obtain replacement parts and to effortlessly use your warranty if needed. The Pulsar brand has shown its value by being a market leader ever since it started in 1994.
At that time it was known under a different name ‘Yukon Advanced Optics Worldwide’. Their focus originally was day optical devices. However, in 1999 night vision was added to their product range. The company moved with the times, added products to their range as consumers found uses for them. They also explored new tech such as laser range finding, thermal imaging and more.
It was around 2008 that their new trademark ‘Pulsar’ line saw the light and they’ve been growing in leaps & bounds ever since. With activities in over 70 countries and almost 1,000 employees, this brand has turned into a world leader, delivering quality thermal imaging equipment.
Now, should one of these products from a trusted brand not be added to your gear?
XP vs XQ - Key Differences
1. Image Quality:
The main difference relates to image quality. Here the clear winner is the Pulsar XP. You get a resolution of 640x480, compared to the XQ’s 384x288. This represents the device’s ability to turn its thermal imaging data into a usable, sharp image. A 640x480 sensor gives also 3 times the amount of pixels on the screen. If you’re looking for improved image clarity, Pulsar XP comes out on top.
XP - A resolution of 640x480 equals to 307,200 pixels
XQ - A resolution of 384x288 equals to 110,592 pixels
2. Zoom:
To realize this aspect’s value to you, you must understand how every small adjustment you make, affects the overall feedback you get. Yes, you can digitally zoom with these thermal scopes. However, this zoom function will decrease the sharpness of your original image.
Although zooming with both these devices will slightly blur your picture, the XP once again comes out on top.
Your zoomed image will still be mostly clear, much more than on what you’ll see on the XQ display. The lower resolution obviously plays a role here.
3. Field of View:
The third area where the XP seems to cement its superiority, is in its field of view. When you’re scanning for your target you want to be able to see as much as possible, right?
With the XP38 model you’ll have 28.6 while the XQ38 only allows 21.8
This is an especially important aspect. You’ll already feel limited in your abilities because you’re looking at the world through a scope. In a hunting scenario you also want to be alert to any possible danger, as well as locating your target as soon as possible.
By giving you a larger field of view the XP model creates more comfortable and effective hunting.
These differences may hint at the XP being better, but you first have to view the extensive XP and XQ ranges before making your final decision.
Pulsar Product Line
Pulsar didn’t only create one scope in each category. The brand caters for all possible applications as well as budgets by offering you quite a long list of products. Pulsar allocates unique names to different ranges, as this more accurately describes what they’re used for.
Pulsar Thermion Riflescopes (Sights)
Pulsar also refers to its thermal scopes as ‘sights’. Your list of options include the following and we also list the detection range of each model in meters. This should give you an idea if (while keeping in mind the facts mentioned above) it’s appropriate for your application:
Model No. | Product Preview | Detection Range (m) |
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