• A capacitor stores energy and releases it to the light in bursts.Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
  
  Early strobe lights used a lamp that stayed lit while a fan blade or other object spun in front of the light, repeatedly blocking and unblocking it. Modern strobes generally use a lamp that flashes on and off quickly, but they differ from a regular light fixture on several levels. A successful strobe light must turn on and off at a precise pace without leaving any lingering illumination that would destroy the effect.
  
  

Lamp

• Light-emitting diodes and xenon lamps are good choices for a strobe light's lamp. Incandescent light bulbs take time to heat to full brightness and then cool to complete darkness, which would destroy the strobe effect. Both xenon and LED lamps provide a bright white light that does not rely on the relatively time-consuming resistance process to provide illumination. Many strobe units also use reflectors to direct as much of the light as possible to a concentrated area.
  
  

Capacitor and Potentiometer

• A capacitor stores energy, and then releases it as needed. In a strobe light, the capacitor allows the strobe to get continuous power from the outlet, but releases that power to the lamp only in short bursts. The capacitor may release energy when it charges to a certain capacity, which can be timed based on the capacitor's specifications. Some strobes offer a variable flash rate. This style uses a potentiometer to regulate the energy flow to the capacitor, speeding or slowing the rate it charges up fully to send power to the lamp.
  
  

Power Converter

• Strobe lights generally do not require the full 120 volts and 15 to 20 amps of power available in household circuits, especially if they use low-voltage LED lamps. A transformer may be attached to the strobe light's cable to reduce voltage. For fine-tuning the amount of power flowing into the unit toward the potentiometer and capacitor, the strobe light may contain a circuit board with a pattern of resistors that reduce the voltage as the power flows through them.