videobeaux/docs/programs/effects/recalled_sensor.md

recalled_sensor

Description

Simulates the look of a malfunctioning digital camera sensor that is defective, failing, or subject to an official recall.
This effect introduces corrupted rows, unstable color channels, dead-pixel clusters, exposure tearing, and chaotic image instability — mimicking catastrophic sensor failure.

Purpose

recalled_sensor is designed for creators who want:

• the aesthetics of a physically damaged or overheating sensor,
• horizontal tearing, line corruption, or rolling-shutter breakage,
• dead-pixel patterns, color-channel misalignment, or gritty digital decay,
• an aggressive technical-failure look appropriate for glitch, horror, sci-fi, or surveillance themes,
• unpredictable, chaotic motion artifacts that cannot be achieved through normal grading.

How It Works

1. Simulated Sensor Row Failure
   Horizontal lines may break, misalign, repeat, or shift.
2. Color-Channel Corruption
   Red, green, and blue channels may desynchronize or flicker independently.
3. Dead Pixel Noise Injection
   Bright or dark pixel speckles mimic sensor element burnouts.
4. Rolling-Shutter Breakdown
   Temporal distortions produce jittering horizontal bands or broken scanlines.
5. Encoding
   Output is encoded using global Videobeaux settings for codec, CRF, and pixel format.

Program Template

videobeaux -P recalled_sensor -i input.mp4 -o output.mp4

Arguments

• (No additional program-specific arguments; uses global videobeaux options only.)

Real World Example

videobeaux -P recalled_sensor \
  -i myvideo.mp4 \
  -o recalled_sensor_styled.mp4

Program Output

Program output video omitted due to size; see repository for reference clips.

Technical Notes

• High-motion scenes produce more dramatic tearing because of simulated rolling-shutter corruption.
• Bright surfaces intensify dead-pixel bloom and channel misalignment.
• Compression interacts strongly with corrupted scanlines — higher CRF will exaggerate the effect.
• Because the distortion emulates hardware malfunction rather than pure software effect, the results may appear chaotic and non-repetitive.
• Works with any resolution but is most convincing at HD or higher due to visible pixel-grid patterns.

Recommended Usage

• Horror, sci-fi, or techno-thriller sequences involving malfunctioning equipment.
• Glitch art and experimental cinema exploring digital decay.
• Surveillance or found-footage aesthetics that require broken-camera realism.
• Transitions where catastrophic failure is used as a visual punctuation.
• Layering beneath crossmosh or overexposed_stutter for extreme destruction.

Quality Tips

• Lower CRF if you want crisp corrupted lines; higher CRF if you prefer smearing and noise.
• Pair with bad_contrast for harsher tonal collapse.
• Combine with lsd_feedback or frame_delay_pro2 to create evolving sensor meltdown effects.
• If the clip is too bright, pre-process with gamma_fix to avoid overwhelming bloom in the corrupted channels.
• For realistic malfunction aesthetics, leave the effect unchained; for surreal results, chain with other distortive modules.