How does a remote control talk to a TV?
Secret Light Messages
How does a remote control talk to a TV?
You're sitting on the couch, you press a button on the remote, and across the room the TV obeys. No wires connect them. So how does the remote tell the TV what to do?
Hidden at the front tip of your remote is a tiny lightbulb called an infrared LED. When you press a button, it blinks super fast — faster than your eye can see. Infrared light is invisible to us, but it's real light, like a flashlight beam we can't detect.
