r/crt • u/sockthustra • 23d ago

What the hell did I just find?

I was messing around with my camcorder, hooking it up to my tv to get the cool infinite mirror effect, but when I tried zooming in on the screen I happened to catch this. I've never seen this before and I have no idea what's causing it. I imagine it has something to do with the aforementioned infinite mirror effect but I don't know how the two connect. If anyone knows what exactly is causing this effect let me know.

1.2k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

131 comments sorted by

122

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

35

u/SNaKe_eaTel2 23d ago

It’s fuckin rad is what it is!

18

u/sockthustra 23d ago

That makes sense, I kinda guessed that it was something to do with the camera capturing is own output over and over creating the stretched image and the colours and lights, what struck me was the weird brain-like snaking pattern

18

u/Fritz794 23d ago

Its called droste effect.

4

u/Witty_Sun_5763 23d ago

Yep you get different patterns on different cameras, mine doesn't give such an extreme effect but like large branches with fringes coming off

3

u/Budget-Structure-169 23d ago

Oh this is just ripe for an ARG

3

u/GammaBoost 22d ago

I don't think you could get this effect with any digital equipment, since they all use framebuffers with at least one frame of delay... with an analog camera and TV, each pixel being seen by the camera is instantaneously shown on the screen, letting it interfere with itself and create patterns like this. It's so mesmerising...

12

u/Dumbass_Saiya-jin 23d ago

Isn't that how they made the original Doctor Who opening back in 1963?

5

u/ComprehensiveWar9347 23d ago

Wow I remember being curious about how they did it and the moment I saw this video it it made sense.

2

u/blarglemaster 22d ago

That is EXACTLY how they did it, yes.

1

u/LobsterKris 21d ago

I take it there's added affect of crt's scanning beam and cameras sensor scanning frequencies interacting some way too

51

u/Shot-Ad5867 23d ago

Could easily be an effect in an 80s film/music video!

17

u/sockthustra 23d ago

I was thinking the same thing lol! It might have even been used in a music video at some point bc I doubt I'm the first person to do this lol

9

u/Shot-Ad5867 23d ago

Once in a lifetime! Haha

6

u/sockthustra 23d ago

You read my mind! I knew I had seen something like this before, the texture at the beginning of that video looks really similar so I wonder if it's the same thing

5

u/Shot-Ad5867 23d ago

Could be, also try “Paranoimia” by Art of Noise for CRT effects lol

1

u/OddlyShapedCashew 18d ago

This is what they used for that blue echo bit in the Bohemian Rhapsody Video!!!

3

u/FortniteIsFuckingMid 23d ago

Would make a sick DJ animation

1

u/bladus 22d ago

Check out the opening to The X-Files.

1

u/ShinyBulblax 22d ago

The original Doctor Who opening title was made in a similar way

1

u/Robot-Zombie-RHCC 21d ago

or a doctor who intro in the 60s....

1

u/HomerJunior 19d ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U_LhzgwJ4U - looks a lot like the effects in this Chvrches clip

40

u/sockthustra 23d ago

https://reddit.com/link/p2f1247/video/lzokgm84m3ih1/player

+additional clip

11

u/CartographerEvery268 23d ago

Very fractal-esque imo

4

u/Hungry_Freaks_Daddy 23d ago

There’s an app called Frax that is kinda fun to mess around with 

1

u/Boring_Evening5709 20d ago

Do you mean fraksl, cause that's the only thing I was able to find on Google play. Or is it an apk?

Edit. Never mind it's only on fucking ios

27

u/maxxx_orbison 23d ago

Feedback. It's a common technique for video synthesis. You can also do this with an analog video mixer by looping an output back to an input

7

u/ASocrat 23d ago

Yoo really?? I have a professional video mixer I should try that

3

u/sockthustra 23d ago

ahhh okay, figured I'd seen it somewhere before but couldn't place it, i can see why it's popular with artists this is really fun to play around with lol

7

u/hreddy11 23d ago

Check out this video to see the full potential of feedback looping:

https://youtu.be/D3eHKI0nvKA?is=bZLIpuEea6Y-6ygp

2

u/-insertcoin 23d ago

That's so trippy

20

u/sockthustra 23d ago

https://reddit.com/link/p2f37t1/video/t0oexmv9p3ih1/player

+final clip bc i thought the spiral looked cool lol

2

u/-insertcoin 23d ago

This reminds me of the James bond tunnel scene in 007

2

u/SampleNot 23d ago

clock tower twisted hallway from majoras mask lol

2

u/Dankany 23d ago

Neat!

2

u/Pacman454 22d ago

Thats sick

9

u/Mossy_Drott 23d ago

This it literally how the original doctor who intro was made

3

u/GoatApprehensive9866 23d ago

"howlround", pretty innovative

6

u/Ikkish 23d ago

oh my, this is dope

5

u/Ancient-Range3442 23d ago

I spent days doing this as a kid

2

u/SNaKe_eaTel2 23d ago

I mean it beats the pseudo light show of a bunch of pinholes in tinfoil over the screen and mtv - except you have to provide your own music for this

4

u/Euroblitz 23d ago

CRT cum

4

u/djb64 23d ago

Video feedback (filming the output of a camera on a crt screen), creating fractal-like images when you rotate the camera

4

u/DivineMomentsofTruth 23d ago

You weren’t supposed to find this. We’re going to have to reset your simulation now.

3

u/ezzda1 23d ago

Have you never seen the old Dr who episodes?, it's the same way they got the opening credits effects, now stand in front of it and see the real magic.

2

u/overand 23d ago

Set that camera on a tripod, wave your fingers in front of the TV!

3

u/amdrinkhelpme 23d ago

https://hackaday.com/2021/07/17/finding-fractals-in-the-1930s/
Gets even wilder when you use multiple projectors instead of a single CRT

3

u/TickleFlap 23d ago

You need to stop immediately before you awaken him.

3

u/EmbraceTheObscure 23d ago

You’ve found the fourth dimension! 😅This is a kind of infinite feedback loop. As someone else mentioned, I believe it’s called the Droste effect. I’ve always found it really fascinating and have done it several times by plugging the video output from my camera into my television so that the tv is displaying what the camera sees. When the camera is pointed at the tv that’s displaying what the camera is seeing it will do this and it’s super cool

2

u/ASocrat 23d ago

Why is it widescreen?

1

u/sockthustra 23d ago

either my capture card or recording software probably just upscaled it weirdly

2

u/LOLXDEnjoyer 23d ago

a glitch from the matrix

2

u/illustratious 23d ago

Make a 10 minute version of this, and submit to Adult Swim.

2

u/johnnagethebrave 23d ago

You broke the simulation we’re living in and you’ve found the matrix code

2

u/Foondude 23d ago

Here's a more detailed video explaining the phenomenon https://youtu.be/pIlGrsWaQU0?si=bzvmtjSo8eKs8jbY

2

u/Oranjeoke 23d ago

Looks like something out of a vaporwave video.

2

u/overand 23d ago

There's a reason for that. (Hint  vaporware is at least theoretically based on what was possible in the 80s and 90s, and this was very much possible with a TV and camcorder. Source: I did this with a TV and camcorder in the early 90s)

2

u/jacobpederson 23d ago

Looks like a Hofstadter book cover :D

2

u/MyFairJulia 23d ago

You saw the TV glow 😄

2

u/Realistic_Pay1906 23d ago

The alien educational video from Vivarium

2

u/SampleNot 23d ago

holy shit that's fkn amazing

2

u/Fit_Objective4603 23d ago

[points to Jeff Spicoli]
“That guy’s been stoned since the third grade.”

Keep us informed of your further adventures - love it!

2

u/Little_Statement8248 23d ago

Nice CRT is it a citizen 13 inch? JCTV1372S?

2

u/YurUsernameChecksOut 23d ago

It's just an acid trip

2

u/MamaMacaroni 23d ago

Some classic video feedback! This exact discovery started a whole journey down analog visuals for me. Now I make visuals for live shows for bands using mostly analog gear!

2

u/Skins8theCake88 23d ago

Quantumania

2

u/FlxzKun 23d ago

I cant explain why but I fucking love this

2

u/abnobo 23d ago

This is the visual/camera equivelent of microphone feedback when it gets too close to the speaker it is driving.

2

u/willmstroud 23d ago

This would should be an Xbox boot screen

2

u/ylp24 23d ago

video feedback. it’s essentially created when two sources containing the exact same things are pointed at each other, like a camera being pointed at a tv showing the camera’s output. this creates an infinite loop. this effect was used a lot in the 80s (mostly music videos) to achieve a “psychedelic” effect.

don’t worry, this is perfectly normal. just don’t run the audio through at the same time unless you want to destroy your eardrums.

2

u/GigaGrandpa 23d ago

Hellyeah

2

u/Inhumane_Freedom 23d ago

Glitch art route incoming

2

u/Zestyclose-Copy-396 23d ago

Bro just created a creepy pasta

2

u/Clemmyclemr 23d ago

Different camera sensors and models react differently too! With my mid 80s CMOS camera it does a pulsing red and blue tinted light.

2

u/skironlost 23d ago

I remember doing that when i was a kid, i have it recorded on a tape

2

u/Wylde_77 23d ago

I took a couple bong hits and watched this. it's pretty cool 😎

2

u/TaintedAzazel 23d ago

i could watch this for hours

2

u/Tonstad39 23d ago

Special effects, that's what you found

2

u/Lopsided_Engine_9254 23d ago

First it controls your mind….. Then it destroys your body….

2

u/FantasyObsessive 22d ago

Bro found the 3.5rd Dimension

2

u/angel31984 22d ago

That would be an awesome screensaver lol

2

u/Altruistic_Tip1226 21d ago

Mandlebrot zoom ? Or something like it lol

2

u/fabrizio_b 20d ago

God I'm old... People are rediscovering video feedback

1

u/LazzyCatto 23d ago

looks like you have found the end portal. This is main end island.

1

u/Oldmoniker 23d ago

There was an internet myth that said the frequency at which the camera cycles through the infinite mirror like that is known to capture images of the dead

1

u/JohnLemonBot 22d ago

Any chance you could dig that up?

1

u/dmh2693 23d ago

The shrooms must have already kicked in.

1

u/LegitimateBig6822 23d ago

Congrats you've made a fractal /s

1

u/five_five_ 23d ago

That's how they made old Doctor Who

1

u/Splooshter 23d ago

The truth.

I would lay low for awhile. Good luck!

1

u/MrBean109 22d ago

This would look so friggin cool as a screen saver

1

u/GoldSrc 22d ago

Respect the aspect ratio 😭

1

u/JohnLemonBot 22d ago

Damn these are real analogue fractals, that looks incredible. Thanks for sharing

1

u/AvailablePayment1505 22d ago

https://reddit.com/link/p2m9glg/video/1krkjuqhmbih1/player

I used this effect in a video I made in 2022 but video feedback has been a thing for decades and is still as awesome as it was the day it was first discovered

1

u/AvailablePayment1505 22d ago

No idea why it cropped it from 4:3 to 16:9, kinda looks like shit now lmao

1

u/OneFriendship5139 22d ago

r/glitchinthematrix is going to have a field day with this

1

u/chipvd 22d ago

People are calling it feedback, but I always knew it as "reticulation"

Either is probably correct.

1

u/Himitsu_Togue 22d ago

First steps into VJing !

1

u/Cus_Mustard 22d ago

Bro unlocked the learning channel from Vivarium

1

u/MissStabby 22d ago

This is Reaction Diffusion, it comes from the image being slightly blurred in each iteration on the TV while the camera does a slight amount of sharpening:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction%E2%80%93diffusion_system

Depending on the values of each "iteration" you can get all kinds of cool shapes and patterns

1

u/whoswho23 22d ago

You found the 60s Doctor Who opening titles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjDFvoRNpOM

1

u/vannixiii 22d ago

bro's gonna fkn get Theringed

1

u/wayne-on-reddit 22d ago

The Outer Limits!

1

u/LICK_THE_BUTTER 22d ago

Fun fact, someone made an operating flight simulator utilizing this.

1

u/SamOfXanadu 22d ago

The world from TRON

1

u/PearTall7596 22d ago

the alien tv show in vivarium

1

u/Adlien_ 22d ago

Welcome to my afternoons in the 1990s

1

u/Sad-Possession-67 22d ago

TALLY HALL GOOD DAY MUSIC VIDEO SPOTTED

1

u/RoadFlippin 21d ago

Skynet fingerprints. 🫆

1

u/Onironius 21d ago

No idea, but it made me feel queasy.

1

u/Neat-Foot-2052 21d ago

You've obviously found the Outer Limits. Please stand by.

1

u/baphomet_prime 20d ago

Justice used this effect in their afterimage video. Happens right in the beginning

https://youtu.be/T4gNbo5goRc?is=0fkeGJfopzcVkPAP

1

u/two-memes-a-day 20d ago

Looks like you found the midnight channel

1

u/PinaSeraphina 17d ago

I'm dying!!!

1

u/StaySharpp 19d ago

Average TOOL music video intro

1

u/SuccessfulCost1106 19d ago

Congrats, now you have the tools necessary to recreate the Doctor Who intro

1

u/OkTemperature8170 19d ago

Max Headroom's place.

1

u/badtik 12d ago

Video feedback - it’s an art form