The heart and soul of the M5® is its advanced thermal imaging system coupled with a crystal clear coated thermal optic train that produces a crisp thermal video of your surroundings 24/7 and in any lighting condition. The real advantage of the system lies in its ability to show you what cant be seen with the naked eye. Thermal imagers are a true passive technology that images the infrared energy that is emitted from every object in the universe. This is very different from cheap infrared light cameras (aka "parking lot cameras") that shine an invisible light a few feet away and then image the light that bounces back. The M5® senses the long wavelength infrared energy that is always emitted from everything around you. A finely tuned optical train focuses this energy onto the M5® thermal sensor chip which provides you with a thermal video image of your surroundings. This is true "see in the dark technology" with NO LIGHT shinning out of the system to give away the position of the cameras. The M5® thermal chip doesnt even "see" light so it cant be fooled or blinded by light sources such as daylight or oncoming car headlights. In a vehicle scenario the M5 not only gives you true 360 degree situational awareness but can also be an aid in driving seeing farther down the road than either your headlights or IR cameras can. 24 hours a day 7 days a week, the M5® vehicle multi-sensor thermal technology will see everything.