So if one was about to buy a gen III PVS14 would they be better off to wait for the WP to come out?
It will be a long wait. L3 has the ability to manufacturer WP '14 tubes but they are not in production and not currently available. From what I understand, most of the WP tubes are being made for the 31's, pano's and some aviation stuff. The good news is that several organizations are requesting PVS14 WP upgrades...
"White phosphor is the future." - very true statement and the future is here.
WP is not really new tech. Actually, they can make the tubes any phosphorous color you want.
Why were they green? The human eye can detect more shades of green than any other color.
So then, why is WP better? Image clarity and brightness is unbelievable and much better when comparing a high FOM filmless WP tube to an equiv GP one.
The gen2 WP tubes for sale on the commercial market are more than likely Photonics... In my experience, most folks look through something like these tubes and think they are great (they aren't). IMHO, I think it's just the novelty effect... If you had some L3 WP tubes and did a side by side comparison, well, there isn't any comparison.