On the other hand, high-end, third-party remote controls use radio frequencies (RF) instead of IR light.

In addition, TV remote controls that rely on infrared radiation shoot out pulses of IR energy from a light-emitting diode (LED) to an IR receiver in the TV, according to How Stuff Works. These binary codes correspond to commands, such as power on/off, volume adjustments, and the like. As explained in Explain That Stuff, the remote “generates a systematic series of on/off Infrared pulses that signal a binary code,” which is a way of representing any information using only zeros and ones.

In most remote control transmission systems, only small data rates are required to transmit home electronic devices’ control functions. Hence, for an infrared signal to be detected, there must be a direct line of sight between the transmitter (remote) and the receiver (receiving device). IR remotes work by sending and receiving commands over infrared light to transmit data from one device to another. Infrared communication is identified as a standard, inexpensive, and easy-to-use wireless communication technology.

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