Is there a binocular out there that is a Swiss Army knife of binoculars? Is there a binocular out there that not only gives the user a binocular, but also a laser rangefinder, a digital camera, image stabilization, night vision, GPS, thermal imaging, a radio, mp3 player and more? Where can you buy that cool binocular with all those different functions; the one you saw your movie hero using in the latest Hollywood adventure?
The answer is you cannot buy such a binocular, unless you can manage to get that Hollywood prop and that’s all it would be: a prop. There is no such thing as a binocular with all that technology, simply because you can only cram so much instrumentation inside a binocular housing and even if you could incorporate more, the price of such a do everything binocular would likely be prohibitive. Then, too, should you drop or damage such a multi-purpose binocular you risk losing all those instruments in one fell swoop. That's why the military avoids such an approach. The usual limit for a binocular that is more than just a binocular is a binocular with one added technology. Attempts to offer binoculars with more than one extra technology have not met with any commercial success.
Binoculars with one added technology, though, have been successful. Thus we have digital camera binoculars – a cheap digital camera mounted on a binocular, laser rangefinder binoculars, night vision binoculars, image stabilized binoculars and even thermal imaging binoculars. Now and then, you will see manufacturers even add a radio or mp3 player to a binocular, though these arte more gimmicks than serious tools.