Question about IR remote controls and volume level

wibago

For the technical/EE folks out there, I'm a layman who needs some help understanding how infrared (IR) remote controls work. So, I have an amp with an IR remote and sometimes, particularly with low volume listening, I find that it's difficult to adjust the volume in small enough increments. Even a short press of the volume button sometimes produces too much or too little adjustment in volume level. Researching this issue for my amp make and model, there are a few reports of other users having this same experience but no solutions and also it appears to be an intermittent issue. This got me into troubleshooting mode and I'm currently going through different music and sources combinations to really nail down the variables when this happens to Teddy

So, my question in, from an EE perspective, can the effect of a short volume press be modulated by the angle the IR remote is pointing at the IR receiver on the amp? Another way to ask is, if I'm pointing the remote directly at the amp, will a short button press have more effect than if I point the remote away from the amp? Yes, I know it's possible to try it and listen for myself (which I'm doing) but I'd like to know if there's even a engineering basis for why it would or would not work. Is IR functionality "all or nothing" or could the strength of the IR signal play a role in response by the receiver? Is that inherent to the way IR remotes work or would it be the IR implementation by the product engineer?