With the development and application of infrared (IR) imaging technology, the IR imaging simulation and its validation methods have been paid more and more attention. The existing validation methods of IR imaging simulation model rarely take the impact of human vision into account, which will lead to the serious consequences. In order to solve this problem, the validation method of IR imaging simulation model based on the recognition range was proposed. With the recognition range as the accuracy evaluation factor of IR imaging simulation model, the comprehensive differences of various aspects such as gray level distribution, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) , resolution, imaging size and human vision between the simulated image and the measured image could be evaluated.