hardware / profile
Sinden Lightgun Guide: Tracking, Recoil and Compatibility
How Sinden border tracking works, current models, setup requirements, recoil, multi-gun support and documented compatibility.
Last verified August 26, 2026 · Review every 3 months
About this guide
How Sinden border tracking works, current models, setup requirements, recoil, multi-gun support and documented compatibility.
1. Sinden Lightgun
Last verified: 2026-08-26
Availability: available from the official shop in recoil/non-recoil and two-gun configurations.
Official URL:
- OS support: the official shop lists Windows and Linux, including Raspberry Pi. The community-maintained Sinden wiki publishes setup packages/guides for those environments.
- Tracking and sensors: a forward-facing camera recognizes a software-generated high-contrast border around the image. No IR emitters or external sensor bar are required, but the complete border must remain visible and host processing/integration must be active.
- Recoil: a separate recoil model contains a USB-powered solenoid. Software/Batocera exposes strength and gun/machine-gun style modes. The non-recoil model remains available.
- Calibration: Batocera's documented global procedure is hold D-pad left for five seconds and shoot the center. Desktop setup also exposes camera exposure, brightness, contrast and border options. Individual arcade games/emulators may require their own calibration.
- Multi-gun: official two-gun packs and two-gun setup guides exist. No reliable general maximum was found. Batocera documents historical same-hub/camera issues and version-specific fixes, so USB topology and firmware still deserve checking.
- Displays: officially LCD, OLED, modern televisions and projectors. Overscan, zoom, cropping and an emulator that covers the border will break tracking.
- Documented emulators: first-party/community guides cover MAME, PCSX2, TeknoParrot, Dolphin, Model 2 Emulator, Supermodel, DuckStation and others; Batocera supports Sinden from v35.
Advantages
- Nothing has to be stuck to the display.
- Border tracking can accommodate a change in shooting position or angle.
- The documentation ecosystem is unusually broad and game-specific.
- Recoil does not require a separate power brick.
Limitations
- The visible border changes the presentation and consumes/overlays image area.
- Runtime tracking/integration and emulator-specific border handling add software complexity.
- Lighting, projector exposure and border visibility may require tuning.
- Multi-gun USB/firmware edge cases have existed; do not assume any hub will work.
Official claims vs independent observations
- Official: no IR bar; position/angle-independent aiming; Windows/Linux/Pi support; USB-powered recoil. Sources: official site, recoil two-pack listing, setup guides.
- Independent: Batocera rates Sinden 4/5 in its methodology, estimates about 1.5 screen-widths of distance, automatically renders the border, and documents overscan and historical multi-gun USB issues. Source: Batocera lightgun guide.