News reporter's eyes 'glitching' during live broadcast has people convinced about 'glitch in the matrix'
Live broadcast is no child’s play as it requires high amounts of technical efficiency, pre-planning, and swift problem-solving. While most primetime shows can be pre-recorded, news reporting is one of those that depend on live broadcast technology. Millions of viewers tune in to news channels to catch up on current affairs, say, in case of a global event or natural disaster. Imagine the pressure of data feed incoming on the channels and people working around to get everything running smoothly. The slightest error could yield something like the old CTV news broadcast that went viral after viewers spotted a wild glitch in the reporter’s eyes, as seen in a YouTube video shared by a channel (@Doctopie).
In an odd development, a news reporter’s eyes appeared to glitch during a live broadcast that tipped off dozens of conspiracy theories. The reporter, who remains unidentified, is seen firmly speaking into the camera when she blinks, and her eyes turn into a devil-like gaze. Even though the technical glitch appeared for a fraction of a second, thousands of viewers caught notice of the glitch, and clips of the news footage made rounds on the internet. As much as conspiracy theorists would like to explain it as a supernatural phenomenon, experts have said that there is a pretty straightforward explanation to it, called a “rolling screen repaint artifact”, according to Dimsum Daily.
The reporter blinking her eyes created an optical illusion resulting in the distorted imagery. Analysts have clarified that it is anything but a "glitch" in the footage as suggested by internet sleuths. Such glitches are common issues with old broadcast technology, like those used on antenna television, and occur due to signal degradation. The screen tries to update the image when the reporter moves her head but fails to synchronize with her movements. As a result, a temporary overlay of outdated data causes the eye glitch, visually unsettling, of course. These glitches are real-life examples of the complexity of live broadcasts and technical limitations in the field.
The reality check was not enough for some netizens who shared what they thought of the glitch in the comments. “After the report was over, she screeched and flew away into the night sky,” joked a person (@DaAsecas) while another (@cadianmm) recalled, “There are so many reporters’ eyes glitching it is unsettling.” “The shapeshifter conspiracy theories are starting to become more believable,” quipped someone else (@AlexNasvik). However, there was one person (@tamething1) who narrated a chilling story about a woman with weird eyes. “My skepticism about this sort of thing dropped considerably when, working as a retail cashier, I saw the pupils of a female customer - on two separate occasions - go into cat-like slits as I looked at her.”
The comment added that as the person looked at the woman’s face in shock, she averted her face and lowered her eyes. She was never seen again. With that stated, there are several challenges that come with live broadcasting. The issue of latency is one, which is explained as the delay between the time of video actually captured and the time it takes to be displayed on screen. It depends on the strength of the connection and the processing power of the device broadcasted on. Live television is also plagued with technical difficulties, for example, hardware failures, poor connectivity, and audio or video quality issues, per MimoLive6.