Common questions about TBCs, HDMI to composite workflows, sync issues, re-scanning, and more.
There are two main approaches:
Re-scanning (CRT method)
Point a DSLR or phone camera at a CRT showing your glitch output.
This bypasses sync issues entirely and adds characteristic grain and glow.
To avoid flicker and banding, use 1/50 shutter speed on PAL systems and 1/60 on NTSC systems.
If your camera supports it, a 360 degree shutter angle is ideal.
Direct Capture
Composite video out to a capture card. An 8-bit Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle works if the TBC signal is clean. Cheaper devices like an Ezcap USB capture card may look less pristine but are often more tolerant of glitched sync signals.
Not always. Glitch hardware introduces timing errors that make modern LCD capture cards and projectors lose lock and go to a blue or black screen, but older CRT screens will almost always display the signal.
A TBC regenerates clean sync and color burst so downstream devices see a stable signal while the image itself stays broken. Rack-mount broadcast TBCs are best, but a Panasonic ES10 or ES15 DVD recorder in passthrough mode costs about EUR 50 and works almost as well.
Another option is a video mixer like the Panasonic AVE-5, which will provide a stable signal to the display or projector and help avoid the dreaded no-signal screen, even if the image still freezes or breaks when the sync is too distorted.
Yes. There are many inexpensive HDMI to AV adapters under USD 10 that let you use a computer as an analog video source. Just make sure the converter is HDMI to AV and not vice versa.
Orders typically ship in about 2 weeks. Each unit is made to order in small batches, so assembly takes a little time, but turnaround is still fairly quick.
