I assume that a timing light functions by some kind of inductive pickup and the signal is amplified by power from the battery and turned into a flash at the bulb.
But I was wondering, is it picking up the strength of the current in the wire, or the voltage, and will the strength of the flash vary according to the strength of the power in the wire? I read that you can detect misfires by looking directly into the timing light. I happen to be fairly certain that I've got a misfire on a particular cylinder when I rev the engine, and noticed that the strength of the flashes got noticeably weaker when revving.
So I'm just trying to understand all what's going on here.