After the VP Awards 2025, some people asked me how I did these glitches. Thinking it was pure photoshop, they were surprised it was not. Everything was purely made via hardware As some of you know, or do not, I am a fan of Rob Sheridan’s work (Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Sonic Mayhem etc) and old covers from bands like Front 242. So, those were ones of the biggest sources of inspiration.

Part I: The Needed Stuff

What do I need ?

• A CRT monitor or TV with video composite or SCART. PAL or NTSC. Absolutely no SECAM !!!!
• A PC/Laptop.
• An HDMI2AV convertor.
• An HDMI cable.
• A VCR (optional).
• A glitch module e.g. MisMatcher Petite.
• At least 2 composite cables.
• A digital camera that is able to do burst shooting.
• A sturdy tripod.
• USB power supply or portable battery / power bank.
• A remote shutter cable or anything that allows it.
• Video capture device (optional).

Where to find all this ?

• The CRT, VCR, composite cables should be easy to find. But again, it depends where you live and the availability in second hand. Prefer models from early 2000.
• Digital camera, PC etc, I don’t need to tell :-°
• A glitch module like the MisMatcher Petite as a starter is all you need. This is the one I have.
• HDMI2AV converter from online store or electronic stores.

How to connect ?

MisMatcher has a manual. BUT you will need to experiment yourself with multiple cabling. There is no magical process.
Connect the HDMI2AV and MisMatcher to your USB power supply or power bank.
HDMI from your PC/laptop to the HDMI2AV convertor.
HDMI2AV to MisMatcher via yellow composite cable.
MisMatcher to TV/Monitor via yellow composite cable (check manual).

Part II: It’s Glitching Time

Before you begin

First thing first, get familiar with the glitching module and experiment. It took me a few days to “master” it. The glitches will also depend on your pictures; some will be easy to do, some will be hell. This is because of the contrast and tonalities. Not everything can be glitched in a Thanos finger snap.

On the one I bought as a starter there are three knobs; Gain, Feedback 1, and Feedback 2. Power on your CRT and switch to AV1 or LINE1 depending on the model. Start with Gain, then Feedback 1 a bit, and finally Feedback 2 which can actually be applied a bit more than Feedback 1. Then the magic will start. Keep in mind that turning one knob a bit can lead to complete change in the image. It’s very sensitive to touch.

If you wish to get horizontal or vertical scrolling, you will need to remove connections from the sync separator. Again the manual explains everything. Read it carefully and experiment before starting. It’s time to start Once you get used to knowing how to use the module, set the camera on a tripod. I said a sturdy tripod because you will have to take the shots in burst. Yes, you read it well, the more the better. I took most of my shots at like 5 to 8 fps. And in JPEG! Don’t do RAW as they take more place and more time to be saved. This can lead to a buffer overflow and a slow down in the burst.

Back to the tripod, it MUST be sturdy or heavy to avoid camera movement while shooting. Be sure to have the camera set completely parallel to the TV. For this, you can use the alignment points on the TV that can be seen along each edge of the screen along with the virtual horizon on your camera’s display.

To focus on the image being displayed, disable the camera’s auto focus and manually focus on the CRT grid. Remember that the image is not a 3D scene, so you are essentially trying to focus on the CRT screen itself.

50Hz or 60Hz, I can’t help you with the shutter speed. You will need to try it yourself. I used 1/50 as I didn’t want to have a complete sweep. You can see it in some pictures in fact.

For the ISO, again, your choice. But go as low as possible. Same for the aperture. You will need to define it yourself. For info, I was around f3.6-4.0, ISO 400 and 1/50. Now that everything is set up, shut the light off, press the remote shutter and lock it then use the module with your 2 hands. Happy glitching!

Part III: Processing Time. I Need Coffee, A Lot of Coffee

This is the painful point if you end up with a lot of images from one single shot. All the glitches are different and sometimes you will be torn apart because one shot has a better distortion than the other but lacks a bit of visibility while that shot is the way around etc. To give you an idea, at 8fps for 30 seconds or more, you can end up with like 280 to 320 images.

Again, it’s up to you to decide, but the more annoying point is with the curved TV, you WILL at some point end up with the CRT grid misaligned. If you do not care and say ‘it is what it is’, don’t read further.

But if you do, you will need to adjust everything manually. In Lr, do it with the transform tool. Depending how you framed your picture and the screen corner, you will probably have to crop your images. Use the crop tool to adjust the 3:2 from the camera to the 4:3 from the CRT.

The other way

I marked the video capture device as optional. You can use it to capture the glitches but be aware that you will end up with some low resolution pictures (480p or 576p). You will not have the CRT grid either.