How to see infrared light

I came across an interesting phenomenon related to infrared light (IR) while I was making my previous video and thought I could share it with you. I was recording the video and wanted to stop, so I took my camera remote control and pressed the "Stop" button. I noticed blinking on the camera screen, which turned out to be infrared light. I checked all other remotes I had at home and all cameras I could put my hands on - it worked in all cases.
If you understand this phenomenon and can explain it, please leave a comment below.
I used my smartphone on a tripod to record this video. If you're curious how I mounted it on a tripod, go to my previous video: • How to make a smartpho...
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Video, edit by Chris Lorkowski
Music by Jason Shaw - Clattertrap
www.audionautix.com

[@diveshnair100]

Thanks for this. My son wanted to see infrared light and your video helped!

[@CarlStreet]

Very well done and very useful -- Thank you!

[@ElectronFunCom]

Thomas T your thorough explanation really adds valuable and interesting details, thanks for sharing :)

[@leannewhitford8807]

Wow that was wonderful n now it makes me want to learn more and more about it

[@yourface2616]

Watched it randomly. Learned something new

[@theconsciousmovement9669]

Do all cameras show infared light?

[@Haydy5040]

IR is invisible in most cases except special cases such as the dot from an infrared laser on a piece of paper or a looking into a pulsed laser. you can actually see it through only up to around a certain wavelength. I've seen it before in an 810 nm laser on a tissue it just looks a dim red but knowing what it is is pretty cool. I could link you to a few papers on the subject if you want though one you need to request.

[@j.ballsdeep420]

810 can still hit visible indirectly as you stated. Try 850-940nm and report back

[@ajsmusic723]

Lol your dumb, you can see it in the dark, not in the light

[@MountainMan1204]

So am I supposed to be able to see it in the IR diode in a remote without the camera?

[@Narcolepsykid]

What does it look with the lights off

[@titaniumfeather5000]

That mall music that Zach plays is stuck in my head for weeks

[@BlenderBurst]

Cool thanks!

[@escapefelicity2913]

good explanation

[@ElectronFunCom]

Thank you so much :)

[@apxpandy4965]

Great - tyanks! Our neighbour has installed a cctv that is illuminating us with IT - now we can prove it! Many Thanks!

[@TheMyguitarisblue]

Who cares? Infrared isn't harmful in any way. Unless you're just concerned about the camera itself, there's nothing to worry about.

[@apxpandy4965]

Well, you try living out your life with a camera motion-detecting you, every time you set foot outside. I care. That's who cares!

[@jhe9521]

filmed remote with phone camera ~ worked a treat ❀

[@timothydegandi]

Man have i told you about how have fun with people that use light spectrum technology ❤

[@iwantitpaintedblack]

hello, i haven't tried it yet but i think it doesnt work with every camera because some cameras have IR filter in them

[@ElectronFunCom]

iwantitpaintedblack Hi, you may be right, but all cameras I had at home were not equipped with the filter and recorded IR light.

[@iwantitpaintedblack]

wait let me go and test that :D , btw i also saw a video somewhere where a guy replaced IR filter in a webcam with a cut-out piece of a floppy disk to make an IR- only cam which blocked everything except IR to make a nightvision cam

[@ElectronFunCom]

iwantitpaintedblack It seems a nice idea. Could you post a link to that video?

[@bhull242]

So, the thing is that the sensors used for most digital cameras can detect some IR light. Not all of it is visible, though, like the infrared light emitted by all warm-blooded animals and most other sources of heat that don’t emit light in the visible light spectrum, which is why they don’t work as heat sensor, but the higher end of the infrared light spectrum that is used for most infrared lasers or infrared LEDs like for night-vision cameras, remote controls, old Japanese cell phones, Wii sensor bars, etc. are visible. This is true for color cameras and black-and-white cameras. The thing with color cameras is that they basically have three of these sensors, each with a filter called a Bayer filter that blocks all visible light outside a certain range of red, green, or blue that is comparable to how the cones in our eyes work. None of these are great at blocking out infrared light, however, so all three sensors react somewhat to infrared light. This makes high-frequency infrared light appear whiteish in images taken from most consumer-grade color cameras. They _do_ make cameras that don’t detect much-if any-infrared light by adding a very strong filter to the sensors that blocks essentially all infrared light but no visible light. I’d imagine part of the reason why the light sensors detect infrared light at all is to make it easier to use essentially the same sensors for night-vision cameras, which work by having an infrared light illuminate the surroundings (most objects, including most animals and most plants except the petals, are opaque to this higher-frequency infrared light, and it’s undetectable by humans and many animals) and then being picked up by light sensors like in any camera which may or may not have Bayer filters depending on the use-case. However, it’s also the case that our rods can actually detect some of the really high-frequency infrared light that our cones cannot (though not all the frequencies of infrared light that cameras can), and some infrared light emitters in consumer electronics (though not night-vision cameras) actually emit light that is completely invisible to us in bright conditions but may be visible in dark conditions. If you have a camera with the really strong filter that blocks effectively all infrared light in front of all sensors in a camera, things that are visible to us in dark or really poorly lit conditions would not be detected by the camera.

[@j.ballsdeep420]

So can your eye indirectly, similar concept but 700-850nm for example can be caught with naked eye.

[@ploppypoo525]

I see infra red light without a camera?

[@stevie_collects_cards5021]

Put the drugs down

[@Bradman175]

Funny how I knew this phenomenon way long time ago.

[@ElectronFunCom]

+Bradman175 There was a time I didn't know about it.

[@Bradman175]

+ElectronFun.com Same. I found this out by accidentally using a camera on a remote control since I played with electronics when I was young. One time I bought a photo transistor, connected to a speaker and a battery and pressed the remote control onto the phototransistor. Made cool noises!

[@ElectronFunCom]

+Bradman175 Cool, experiments and discovering new stuff is the best way to learn :)

[@j.ballsdeep420]

I use to use it for sub-850 IR urban exploring, technically trespassing in the US even without and mischief or theft. Idk why as most western countries look at it simply as trespassing but no harm no foul = no charge, but whatver. Use to make for easy entry seeing the direction cameras pointed using old versions of slow-mo on phones sweeping the field, playback, and see what angle the camera was focused: Got into some sweet spots idk if I could pull off today

[@mmganesh6087]

i saw the flicker from the a c remote through phone camera !!

[@ElectronFunCom]

Pretty much every camera should be good enough to see it.

[@idziokracja4186]

nice👍

[@ElectronFunCom]

Thanks :)

[@tintintin070]

my question is, since apparently phone cameras are capable of picking up infrared, why can it only see the infrared from remotes? i think infrared was closely related to heat, since those infrared cameras pick up heat ( i know when you see that its not ACTUAL infrared, its infrared thats been translated to visible light). To condense, why can Phone cameras only see remote signals but not bodyheat?

[@TheMyguitarisblue]

"Infrared" isn't anything more than a general term for a range of frequencies of light, in the same sense that "visible" light doesn't mean anything more than the range of frequencies that our eyes are able to respond to. It's sort of like having some sort of camera that can only see purple but no other colors. Technically it can see some visible light, but the spectrum is much larger than just what we identify as purple.

[@tintintin070]

@@TheMyguitarisblue your comment actually alleviated my confusion completely so thank you for that haha. great explanation

[@TheMyguitarisblue]

@@tintintin070 No problem! Although to be really technical, I should have said violet instead of purple. Violet is the term for the range of light we perceive, while purple is a mixture of red and blue ;) Also, the "visible light" spectrum is unbelievably small. Infrared alone contains billions of times more wavelengths than what we can see. The reason we see such a small and specific portion of light is because eyes developed inside of sea creatures, and "visible light" is the spectrum in which light is able to permeate water. So basically, the world looks the way it does because our eyes developed specifically to see through water!

[@THERESAPARTYINMYHEAD]

​@@TheMyguitarisblue Is it possible for different people to have different spectrums of visible light? There could be some people who have a freakishly large spectrum, what would they see>

[@TheMyguitarisblue]

@@THERESAPARTYINMYHEAD Well, that's a tough question to answer because anybody who had a different spectrum of light would most likely not be aware of it. In my opinion, everybody has a VERY slightly different spectrum that's visible to them, in the same way that all people differ slightly in different ways. But I don't believe that anybody can see very far into the infrared or ultraviolet wavelength for the same reason that nobody can hear dog whistles, or elephant calls, or have purple skin. There's a limit to how much our DNA can mutate and differ before it doesn't function and you die. Now, there are some special cases of seeing beyond normal human ability. For instance, Claude Monet was treated for cataracts and it's believed that this allowed him to see at least somewhat into the ultraviolet spectrum, thus making him paint with more blue-ish hues. Again I want to say that I'm not an eye specialist or any type of medical professional and this is only my personal speculation, but I hope it helps you come to your own conclusion. Thanks for asking, and sorry for the late response, I was on vacation for the last week ;)

[@austinmacneil9947]

So why can I see a red light blinking on my remote and IR peq box

[@rykensnow]

that’s to show that it works. infrared isn’t actually red😂😂😂

[@tylerrichter6760]

weirdly my eyes picked up more info than my camera

[@MishaOpstal]

wait, you're saying that you can't see the remote light flicker when you press a button without a camera? Because if that's the case then there is somethings seriously wrong with me

[@LMde20]

Don't freak out, there's no need to worry. There is nothing wrong with you. Think of it as a super power, lol. If you are still worried, please read my reply to FullFledged2010 above. Who knows, it may help.

[@UnTamedMustang]

850nm wavelength can be seen glowing red. 940nm is invisible without camera .

[@LordOfNothingham]

I dream in infrared

[@SomeUsernameSomeoneElseTookIt]

I can see some red flickering on some remotes, I dunno if that's just me though. It could just be the remote. Does anyone else have this?

[@UnTamedMustang]

That means it is a 850 nanometer wavelength. The white glow in the video is a 950 nm wavelength .

[@SomeUsernameSomeoneElseTookIt]

@@UnTamedMustang Thanks

[@nepenthial2710]

But what about the people who can actually see that blinking light?

[@FuneFox]

people with sensitive eyes can see some infrared. people also can see it if the light is strong enough

[@lalodallas5354]

They have a gift tell them to join army asap!!!!! The future of our nation depends on him/her ....🧐

[@texaskidzuk]

I have a FOF(Friend or foe) light on my tactical helmet that I can see. It's very bright through night vision devices.

[@ryencetayam27]

They have megamin powers.

[@UnTamedMustang]

That would be the 850nanometer wavelength. Try the 940nm led .

[@NeilStar_]

I can see it through my naked eye... why is that?

[@FullFledged2010]

I can actualy see it with my naked eye in a dark room. Do i have some mutated eyes?

[@ElectronFunCom]

No, everything is fine with your eyes. It is absolutely normal - you can see IR light in a dark room if you stare at it.

[@NameisU]

I think that your just looking at the little bit of red light coming out of the controler... not the infrered part of the electromagnetic spectrum...

[@LMde20]

You may have an astigmatism, as I do. Mine is in the lens, not the cornea. I too can see a small part of the IR and UV spectrum. I think it may be because the different shape of the lens bends the light in a manner that makes these spectra visible to us. It could work similarly to the way a prism breaks light up. I don't know. Just a theory I've come up with since I discovered the ability. I've only been able to find a few others who could see this. They all had either 20/20 vision, or a fairly severe astigmatism.

[@rykensnow]

L M astigmatism does not mean that you can see electromagnetic waves. sorry to disappoint lmao

[@FullFledged2010]

@@rykensnow You do know that visible light are also electromagnetic waves right? 😉

[@rutujagaikwad2555]

You all can see this with a camera my father told that 😢

[@ElectronFunCom]

That's true, your father is right :)

[@fractalnomics]

It is IR light but we do not sense it as thermal radiation. That can't be. It must be something else.

[@marcdeckard7064]

Near infrared.

[@LuigiCotocea]

Im see infra red light

[@ElectronFunCom]

Yup, it works :)

[@suvetar]

I'm so late to the party here ... but let me have a go. Infrared radiation is *not* heat. If it was, then infrared cameras and googles would be useless until the target had changed its heat enough to contrast against background heat; it'd be pretty easy to fool such a system. This confused me a bit too, but it's yet another example of the explanations that we give to children, not necessarily being ... "true". More like, they're close enough to explain the concept, without having to be utterly confusing. Infrared radiation, or photons if that word is scary, is the wavelength of the photons emitted by some material, at a certain heat; it's not really seeing heat then but photons that are energised at a different level! If you consider that if it's a warm day, and you've just run for a long time, then it takes what feels like ages to cool down, and the opposite, in a cold area and you're not wearing the best clothing, it can take forever to start to feel warm, or you might never feel warm ... but the infrared camera can still see you instantly - so the Infrared light it detects is not a function of heat dissipation.

[@zoelife9421]

Does everyone see the red light without the camera?

[@drummergirl4239]

Thats actual red light that is used as an indicator to let you know its working, not infrared light

[@lightningfast6529]

Everyone says u cant see infared with the naked eye but i can I put it on everything in the universe that im not lying

[@MountainMan1204]

Should I be freaked out? I can see it without the camera and it looks pretty red… please get back to me on this

[@PraviLukijanJC]

No either you are a tetrachromat like me or your remote shines a red light too

[@MountainMan1204]

@@PraviLukijanJC it’s very faint when I see it but I can still see it good at the same time… it’s like I shouldn’t be able to see it

[@MountainMan1204]

@@PraviLukijanJC and it’s in every remote

[@PraviLukijanJC]

@FriendlyNeighborhoodPsycho then you are a tetrachromat like me which is were you can see over 100 million different colors and can see infrared and ultraviolet or you are just lucky

[@MountainMan1204]

@@PraviLukijanJC good to know

[@Caleb_Guffey]

I discovered this the other day If you hold your eye lid open and hold the inferred light really close to your eye in a dark room you can see the light with your own eye but you have to do perfectly right. Let me know if you have any similar experiences.

[@iplayksplol9974]

yep

[@JUSTWILLHERE77]

That’s why I saw my Face ID sensor flash, I also saw the lidar sensor do the same thing, I thought it was odd lmao

[@patrikforsberg6908]

yup, i tried it too. I just moved arround the ir light till you hit the perfect spot. Its faint but quiet visible.

[@santiagogibson8977]

How to go blind 101

[@Caleb_Guffey]

@@santiagogibson8977 well, the light is extremely dim, I mean dimmer than your phone screen, and barely visible to the human eye, so it doesn’t hurt your eyes at all.