# How to light guns work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-light-guns-work/168777>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 15, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-light-guns-work/168777 "2003-04-15T00:59:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Apex\_Rogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@Apex\_Rogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apex_Rogers)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-light-guns-work/168777/1 "2003-04-15T00:59:36Z")

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I’m talking about old school sega and NES light guns and also arcade games where you point the device at the TV and it somehow registers where you were pointing the gun. Can anyone explain or point me to a reference explaining how these devices work? Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-light-guns-work/168777/2 "2003-04-15T01:04:01Z")

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[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010511.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010511.html)]Cecil Speaks

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**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-light-guns-work/168777/3 "2003-04-15T01:05:12Z")

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Ahh fucksickle! Sorry for the crummy coding. [Try this one](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010511.html)

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**Author:** ![Apex\_Rogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@Apex\_Rogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apex_Rogers)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-light-guns-work/168777/4 "2003-04-15T02:19:52Z")

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thanks for the reply. the guns have a limited scope in where they can see I assume, so that they only view a small portion of the tv at a time. a sort of tunnel vision if you will. I’ve always wondered about how those guns work.