bentbox
bentbox · output · schema v1A virtual CRT driven by a hand-bent analog composite line. The patched RGB image is resampled to a 240-line raster, converted to NTSC YIQ, given a modeled chroma-subcarrier phase, run through a triangle wavefolder + soft-clip on the composite "voltage", decoded back to RGB, blended with the previous frame (ping-pong feedback, max-blend trails), then painted through a CRT phosphor pipeline: scanline-gap mask (with odd/even field parity), RGB-triad subpixel mask, luma bloom, and RF grain. The result is timing-domain glitch (sync tearing, hue shimmer, ghosting, solarization) rather than pixel mosh. With nothing patched into IN it shows a dim blue idle field so you can see it is alive. Card layout: a resizable 4:3-letterboxed CRT screen over a 4x3 knob grid (timing / chroma+gain / feedback+destruction rows) plus two MIRROR toggle buttons. The image is always letterboxed at the live engine aspect (4:3 by default) and never stretched; the screen has DOM-only chrome (right-click for fullscreen, full-frame in-app expand, and present-on-second-display); OUT is a chainable video pass-through so you can stack BENTBOX into another video processor.
the faceplate
15 inputs · 1 outputs · 16 params
inputs
| id | cable | what it does |
|---|---|---|
in | video | Video input — the RGB image bent through the CRT/NTSC pipeline. Unpatched, the screen shows a dim blue idle field. RGB video stream |
hsync_drift_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates HS Drift — adds high-frequency per-scanline random horizontal jitter. control voltage (CV); modulates hsync_drift (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
hsync_loss_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates HS Loss — raises the chance a scanline loses lock entirely and tears far sideways. control voltage (CV); modulates hsync_loss (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
vsync_drift_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates VS Drift — the vertical roll/scroll speed of the picture over time. control voltage (CV); modulates vsync_drift (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
chroma_phase_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates Hue — rotates the whole image's color in the YIQ plane (bipolar). control voltage (CV); modulates chroma_phase (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
chroma_instability_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates Shimmer — per-line random chroma-phase wobble for unstable, shimmering color. control voltage (CV); modulates chroma_instability (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
feedback_gain_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates Feedback — how much of the previous frame is mixed back in (recursive trails). control voltage (CV); modulates feedback_gain (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
feedback_delay_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates Delay — the sub-frame line offset of the feedback tap, between line- and field-level recursion. control voltage (CV); modulates feedback_delay (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
wavefold_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates Solarize — the triangle-wavefold amount on the composite voltage (tonal reversal / ghost edges). control voltage (CV); modulates wavefold (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
scan_wobble_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates Wobble — the slow, swept low-frequency horizontal scanline waviness. control voltage (CV); modulates scan_wobble (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
bloom_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates Bloom — the brightness threshold glow on bright pixels. control voltage (CV); modulates bloom (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
noise_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates Noise — the RF/film grain added at the end of the chain. control voltage (CV); modulates noise (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
master_gain_cv | cv | CV (linear) modulates Gain — the composite signal level driving wavefold/soft-clip (overdrive into white smear). control voltage (CV); modulates master_gain (additive offset — ±1 CV sweeps the full range, centered on the knob) |
mirror_x_gate | cv | Gate input (edge / trigger): a rising edge TOGGLES Mirror X on/off. Reads as a rising edge, not a held level — a clock can flip the kaleidoscope rhythmically (hysteresis rise>0.6 / fall<0.4). control voltage (CV); modulates mirrorXGate (summed directly (the destination DSP scales it)) |
mirror_y_gate | cv | Gate input (edge / trigger): a rising edge TOGGLES Mirror Y on/off. Edge-triggered (hysteresis rise>0.6 / fall<0.4), not level-held. control voltage (CV); modulates mirrorYGate (summed directly (the destination DSP scales it)) |
outputs
| id | cable | what it does |
|---|---|---|
out | video | Video output — the rendered bent CRT field (after mirror fold, NTSC bend, feedback and phosphor pass), chainable into another video processor. RGB video stream |
params
| id | label | range | default | curve |
|---|---|---|---|---|
hsync_drift | HS Drift | 0..1 | — | linear |
hsync_loss | HS Loss | 0..1 | — | linear |
vsync_drift | VS Drift | 0..1 | — | linear |
scan_wobble | Wobble | 0..1 | — | linear |
chroma_phase | Hue | -1..1 | — | linear |
chroma_instability | Shimmer | 0..1 | — | linear |
feedback_gain | Feedback | 0..1 | — | linear |
feedback_delay | Delay | 0..1 | — | linear |
wavefold | Solarize | 0..1 | — | linear |
bloom | Bloom | 0..1 | — | linear |
noise | Noise | 0..1 | — | linear |
master_gain | Gain | 0..2 | — | linear |
mirrorX | Mirror X | 0..1 | — | linear |
mirrorY | Mirror Y | 0..1 | — | linear |
mirrorXGate | Mir X Gate | 0..1 | — | linear |
mirrorYGate | Mir Y Gate | 0..1 | — | linear |
controls
| control | what it does |
|---|---|
| Bloom | Bloom (0..1, default 0.4) — luma-weighted glow boost on bright pixels; CRTs always have some glow even at rest. |
| Shimmer | Shimmer (0..1) — per-line random chroma-phase noise for unstable, shimmering color. |
| Hue | Hue (-1..1) — constant rotation of color in the NTSC YIQ plane; a global hue shift (bipolar). |
| Delay | Delay (0..1) — sub-frame Y offset of the feedback tap, sliding between line-level and field-level recursion. |
| Feedback | Feedback (0..1) — amount of the previous frame blended back in (max-blend) for recursive image trails. |
| HS Drift | HS Drift (0..1) — high-frequency per-scanline random horizontal jitter; the beam wanders line to line. |
| HS Loss | HS Loss (0..1) — probability a scanline drops lock and tears hard sideways as a discrete glitch. |
| Gain | Gain (0..2, default 1) — composite signal level into the wavefold/soft-clip stage; higher overdrives into white smear. |
| Mirror X | Mirror X (0/1, default off; MIRROR X button) — kaleidoscope fold of the left half over the right. Also toggled by a rising edge on mirror_x_gate. |
| Mir X Gate | Hidden synthetic gate param written by the mirror_x_gate CV bridge (raw 0..1). No knob; the module edge-detects its rising edge to flip Mirror X. |
| Mirror Y | Mirror Y (0/1, default off; MIRROR Y button) — kaleidoscope fold of the top half over the bottom (both on = quadrant fold). Also toggled by a rising edge on mirror_y_gate. |
| Mir Y Gate | Hidden synthetic gate param written by the mirror_y_gate CV bridge (raw 0..1). No knob; the module edge-detects its rising edge to flip Mirror Y. |
| Noise | Noise (0..1, default 0.05) — RF/film grain added last so it doesn't self-reinforce through the feedback path. |
| Wobble | Wobble (0..1) — slow, swept low-frequency horizontal waviness across the scanlines. |
| VS Drift | VS Drift (0..1) — vertical roll/scroll of the whole picture, like a CRT losing vertical hold. |
| Solarize | Solarize (0..1; param id 'wavefold') — triangle wavefold of the composite voltage; reads on screen as tonal reversal/solarization and color tearing. |
source
bentbox.ts on GitHub.