X-Ray Scans: How They Work and Frequently Asked Questions
by Simon Larocca·August 21, 2025
Grading a title involves several stages.
The Games Market makes available a valuable service, which in fact represents the heart of the process: it is the low-intensity X-Ray Scanning, an operation that uses technology capable of verifying the presence and integrity of the internal contents without opening the package.
[Example of a NEO GEO card scan]
La X-ray scan is the ideal tool for those who wish to obtain information on the internal contents of sealed titles, or of material that for various reasons cannot be opened manually.
The one by The Games Market is the first video game grading that uses a technology normally employed in the medical and aerospace sectors: unlike the high-intensity technologies used for industrial inspections, the X-ray machine used for grading titles is specially calibrated for the collecting sector.
Using such a state-of-the-art computed tomography machine, in terms of both flexibility and speed as well as detection quality, millimetric precision is guaranteed, making it possible to detect the presence of manuals, serial numbers, card codes, disks, or hidden inserts.
Exposure to X-rays during the title scanning procedure is absolutely harmless; this applies to all types of electronic components and memory media included. Today, in fact, X-rays are one of the standard tools for non-destructive quality control of electronic boards found in many items, including everyday ones, from household appliances to computers. Consequently, there is no risk of exposure to harmful radiation for the operation of the media.
Anche because during the checks for certifications, the operators of the TGM technical team keep the X-ray intensity very low and each check involves at most a few minutes of exposure.
È importante sottolineare che there is no interference with the labels, inks and seals applied to the video game, nor is there any alteration to the plastic or paper materials: the photons of the X-rays that can be produced with the tomograph used for the certification procedure do not have the power necessary to alter the physical characteristics of the item to be graded, such as the color of the plastic or paper.
Performing an X-ray scan, therefore, is not only a safe procedure for the video game in question, whose integrity is fully preserved, but it also allows a high level of precision for certifying the title.
In simple terms, to be visible to X-rays, a material must have a density sufficient to reduce the energy of the photons passing through it, a difference that is captured by a panel through a grayscale image (a principle very similar to that of a digital camera).
Some materials, such as metals, are very dense and therefore highly visible, just think of electronic components, for example; others, on the contrary, are less dense but still easily visible, such as the plastic of the cover of the title, or so thin as to be difficult to see or completely transparent, like the paper in the booklets.
Per conclude, it is good to know that images obtained with X-rays usually have a resolution between 20 and 50 microns, which correspond to 2-5 hundredths of a millimeter.
Decidedly high resolution, just enough to allow viewing and analyzing all the parameters necessary for the final certification of the video game.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
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![[Example of a NEO GEO card scan]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.thegamesmarket.com%2Fapi%2Fv1%2Ffile%2Fproxy%3Fkey%3Dstaging%252Fmagazine%252Fcontent%252Fraggi-x-come-funzionano-e-domande-frequenti-img-0.png&w=3840&q=75)
