The NVG’s we fly with are light intensifiers and do not have IR spotlights as you described. The clarity of the picture depends on how much ambient light there is coming from the ground or from the moon/stars. On a moonless night with an overcast, you don’t really see much on the ground unless there is a lot of cultural lighting in the area (i.e. a town/city). A clear night with a full moon will allow you to see a lot on the ground from higher altitudes.
With the NVG’s on, any IR illumination can be seen so on dark nights IR flares can be dropped from aircraft or shot from Arty/Mortars in order to “light up” the sky for NVG users. Also, some FLIR’s have IR pointers to allow pilots/WSO’s to “point” at a target with the IR pointer and other aircraft (and guys on the ground) with NVG’s can see where they are pointing. A sudden bright light, such as a missile launch or somebody putting out flares, will wash your goggles out for a couple seconds…basically blinding your NVGs until it can adjust for the bright light.
As for the cockpit interior- NVG’s sit an inch or so from your eyes which allows you to look down to see your systems. Above the canopy rail (outside) = you look through your NVG’s, below the canopy rail (inside) = you look underneath your NVG’s. At least in the Hornet, you have to turn the HUD brightness pretty high up in order to read it through your NVG’s. One of the reasons for NVG lighting is it allows for a lower light level in your cockpit so it doesn’t affect your actual eyes night-vision.
one thing to note is on a clear night with no moon, looking up at the stars with NVGs on = amazing view.