your post makes no sense - if you recognize it as an effect (whether it is done cheaply or inaccurately doesn't matter) then you know why they do it - to acheive an effect. Obviously, seeing stuff thru his eyes lets the viewer know when he recognizes something familiar because it is colorized, and in the scenes in this episode, how else could they show a supposedly dark room as seen thru nightvision without mounting incredibly expensive equipment on the cameras? No, lighting and lens filters do the trick, cheaply, cheesily, but they create the desired effect.
Did you expect them to do the only other option, kill the set lights entirely and show a darkened screen for two minutes?
What I question is why another effect, the black light, wasn't used by a super smart hero at 2am when the puzzle was half done and would have revealed they could ignore half the puzzle and focus on the pieces with the message on it.
I don't mind cheap effects, but I hate fuzzy logic.   See 2 other replies