Why do remote controls use infrared light instead of other wavelengths?
In: Technology
All those IR remote controls use an LED (light-emitting diode) as the light. As it turns out, the first LEDs created were red LEDs, followed by yellow, green and only much more recently blue. So the original choices were really only red or infra-red. Of the two, infra-red has the advantage that it looks more magical: you press a button, can’t see what’s going on, and shazam! your TV changes channel.
At this point, infra-red has the advantage that it’s cheap and well-understood: you can buy essentially “kits” for your product to make your remote.
TL/DR: infra-red was available and cheap. Other colors, not so much.
Latest Answers