Kevin 'Kilo' Thomas
Calibration Process
Inspired by analog image and monitor calibration patterns, I experimented in Processing to create an animated montage blurring the intent and aesthetic.
As communications technology ironically makes interpersonal relations less personal, what started as an artistic ambition resulted in something of a social renaissance for me, as writing to family and old friends has unlocked a special kind of joy I didn’t realize I was missing. What follows is a brief account of my journey to-date.
Background
This personal project began at the confluence of several passions of mine—vintage computing, creative coding, visual design, and curiosity-driven experimentation. A longtime enthusiast for the history of communications technology, the chunky video output of an Apple ][ or Commodore 64 just doesn’t feel right being shown on a modern display and hence, this journey began with a search for a cheap CRT test pattern generator to help whip my aging tube TVs into shape. However, uncertain as to whether or not the old handheld device would even function (setting aside the dubious video quality of an RF modulated signal to begin with), I reckoned I could write a quick program to emulate the test pattern output.
Faithful Reproduction
Keeping in the spirit of a generating a test signal, instead of simply whipping up a few PNGs I turned to Processing and wrote a simple program to duplicate the output of this old Heathkit IG-5240. In building all the geometry and coloration programmatically I was able to make micro and macro adjustments on the fly, as well as leaving to door open to experiment with animation for each of the individual graphics elements later on. After coming up with a handful of color bars, dot grids, and crosshatches, the ‘creative’ side of this ‘creative technologist’ wanted to see the screens in motion and before long, this simple project began to evolve far beyond its original purview.
A Modern Take
Moving on from an analog testing tool, the brief became to use the inspiration I had gathered from monitor and image calibration tests and create something that felt more 'sci fi'. Long believing that ambiance is the key to immersion, and a constant scrutinizer of screens, panels, and displays in the background of movies and video games, I saw this as an opportunity to create my own little ambient accent.
I combined, tweaked, and reimagined the screens and patterns until I shaped them into something that felt familiar, but a bit alien as well—feeling both digitally liminal, as well as purposeful and a touch sinister. As a final touch, I experimented with some post-processing effects such as rolling scanlines and a bloom effect to capture that hybrid analog/digital feel—though I enjoy both the 'clean' and the filtered versions each for their own merits.
Conclusion
As an exercise to keep my OOP skills sharp and engage in some creative coding, this project was a satisfying one. Likely to remain an ongoing endeavor as no passion project is ever truly finished, I’ll keep the code on github in case anybody’s curious to see it for themselves: https://github.com/Kilofolio/LCD-Test-Pattern
Letterlocking
"Calligraphy" by Jane Sullivan
"The Lost Art of Handwriting" by Brenna Jordan
Maine.gov | Design Brief
Links & References
Processing
cansik | Processing Bloom Filter