Even the best thermal spotter in the world IMHO, the new IRD Patrol XR which is da bomb at $8495 (https://tnvc.com/shop/ir-patrol-xr-extended-range-thermal-monocular/), does not hold a candle to a good Gen 3 NV rifle scope in regards to PID...Not even close for seeing true image details of a target.
I mean when I can see a human being's nose and facial features at 100 yards with no issue and this is a crappy still pic, is a good clue how much detail is seen with normal NV stuff. I can still facial ID at 200 with a good I^2 NV scope.
I get it what thermal can do, I own so many pieces but as I mentioned, when it comes down to detailed clarity for ID'ing, NV is still king.
I wish I could find a pic from many years ago I took when a hawk landed on the 200 yard steel target you see in the background. Yes I could easily distinguish it was an actual hawk. There's NOT a commercial non cooled array thermal that can do this. Notta one. Just saying... 
