Color palettes don’t change what a thermal device sees. They change how you see it.

Spend some time using a thermal scanner, you start noticing it. Some nights everything jumps off the screen. Other nights, it doesn’t. Same spot. Same scanner. Different result.

On a cold night, animals can stand out clearly no matter the palette. On warmer nights, when the ground, brush, and trees are still holding heat, things get trickier. Add a lot of humidity in the air, and details can get easier to miss.

That’s where changing thermal color palettes can help.

Veil^™ 400 gives you multiple thermal color palette options, each emphasizing heat a little differently. Some make animals stand out faster. Some make shapes easier to read. And some are simply easier to look at when you’ve been scanning for a while. Here’s how each palette tends to work in the field.

WHITE HOT

Hot objects appear bright against darker backgrounds. Can reduce eye fatigue during long viewing sessions and provides clean contrast in cold or snowy conditions.

White Hot is where most people start. And often, where they stay. In cold weather, snow, or open ground, it’s clean and predictable. Animals appear glowing white. The background stays darker with the coldest objects showing up black. That simplicity makes it easy to use for long periods without your eyes getting tired.

If heat separation is good and conditions aren’t fighting you, White Hot delivers a clear, comfortable thermal image that’s easy to interpret at a glance.

BLACK HOT

Hot objects appear dark with strong edges. Makes body shapes easier to see when the ground, brush, and trees are also warm and the cover is cluttered.

Black Hot flips the image and for some that just works better. When the ground, brush, and trees are still holding heat, brightness alone doesn’t help much. When everything’s warm, everything glows. That’s when edges and shape can matter more than intensity.

Black Hot makes animals appear darker and more defined. Edges sharpen up. Body shapes can become easier to read, especially near cover. If you spend a lot of time scanning for animals around brush or over warm ground, this palette can make the difference between quickly spotting an animal and writing it off as background heat.

RED HOT

Highlights the hottest parts of the scene in red. Good for fast detection when scanning large areas or spotting animals against cooler backgrounds.

Red Hot is about detection speed. By highlighting the hottest part of the image in red, it draws your eye immediately to the strong heat sources. That can be useful when scanning big, open areas or covering ground quickly.

It’s not always the most detailed view, and not everyone’s favorite for long sessions. But for fast detection, it can do the job. Some people love it. Others only use it briefly. Either way, it’s another way to make heat stand out when you need it to.

MULTICOLOR

Uses multiple colors to show subtle temperature differences. Helps separate game from warm ground, brush, or humidity. Useful in low-contrast conditions.

Multicolor comes into its own on tough nights. Warm ground. Thick brush. Humid air. Situations where everything looks close to the same temperature no matter what palette you’re using.

By spreading heat across multiple colors, this palette can reveal small differences that would otherwise get lost in black-and-white views. The tradeoff? It can feel busy. But in low-contrast conditions, that extra color can sometimes help you see what would otherwise blend in.

WHICH COLOR PALETTE SHOULD YOU USE?

There’s no single best answer. Some palettes may work better in certain conditions. Some can reduce eye strain. And a lot of it comes down to personal preference: what your eyes pick up fastest or what feels easiest to interpret in the moment.

That’s why Veil^™ 400 Thermal Monocular lets you switch palettes quickly. So you can adjust as conditions change or just use what you feel helps you spot game with the least effort.

Want to learn more about the Veil^™ 400 Thermal Monocular or dig deeper into how to set it up and use it in the field?

Start with the Veil^™ 400 Thermal Monocular Product Overview to see the full list of core features.

For a step-by-step look into how to use thermal Viewing Modes to spot game better in any conditions, read How to Customize the Veil^™ 400 Viewing Modes.

And, finally, take a listen to Vortex Nation^™ Podcast episode “5 Reasons You Need a Thermal That May Surprise You” to hear all the ways thermal has become a bigger part of modern hunting.