Will the NES Zapper light gun work on a CRT HDTV?

Question

The NES zapper doesn't work on LCD TVs, but my friend has a Samsung CRT HDTV and was wondering if it would work on that type of TV. Does anyone know?

ultrasawblade · Accepted Answer

The NES must do the following to "read" the zapper:

Wait until next frame starts
Make the screen black, except for a small area where a target is
Read the zapper to see if it's detecting light
Wait until next frame starts
Make the screen completely black
Read the zapper to see if it's not detecting light

If it detected light in both step 2 and 5, the zapper is not pointed at the TV set and the program should count it as a miss.  However, if light was detected in step 2 but not step 5, then the program should count it as a hit.  This is why the screen flickers in Duck Hunt, and the duck sprite is replaced with a solid white sprite for 1/60th of a second, when you pull the Zapper trigger.

TL;DR: It should work on any TV if the contrast and response time of the display are good enough.

Jason Sperske · Answer

I can confirm that on a 32" Sony Wega Trinitron CRT HDTV (with DVI inputs and everything, back then called HD Ready) a grey and an orange NES Zapper/Light gun did not work. I messed with various contrast and brightness settings and I confirmed the guns still worked on an even older CRT. By that point in history the technical requirements of the light guns and the technical specifications of the TVs had already parted ways.

Answered by Jason Sperske on June 10, 2021

anima · Answer

No, the NES Zapper will not work on a CRT HDTV, it will only work on a standard definition CRT (the most common type of tube TVs).
The Zapper works with a very strict timer to check if you shot the target, you might have noticed a black screen with white squares in Duck Hunt. That screen lets the Zapper know if the player hit the duck.
HDTVs have a lot of video lag compared to regular SDCRTs because they need to process the signal, apply whatever filter they need to, and send the image to the screen. SDCRTs, on the other hand, are dumb, they send the signal pretty much exactly how it's supposed to be, so they don't have as much lag.

Will the NES Zapper light gun work on a CRT HDTV?

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