8 ms·

I have a very low voice and enjoy singing or humming along with the bass line in music some times. While I was singing along with a song, all of a sudden my mo

I have a very low voice and enjoy singing or humming along with the bass line in music some times. While I was singing along with a song, all of a sudden my monitor started to go a bit nuts and wave. When I stopped singing (or changed notes) it stopped. I turned to my roommate, "Can you see that?" "Nope." It turned out that if I sang a note at the same frequency as my monitor's refresh rate, the image on the screen would start to modulate up and down in a wavy sort of way. But to my eyes alone. Must have been something with the motion of my eyes or my head matching the refreshing of the screen.

bronson 15y ago
I think that's exactly right. Try chewing crackers or chips (the crunchier the better) while looking at an LED clock (like a microwave). Most work, depends on refresh rate. There's a good chance you'll see the same sort of waviness.
- user24 15y ago
  blowing a raspberry achieves the same effect.
  - scrrr 15y ago
    Or using an electric toothbrush.
  - burgerbrain 15y ago
    And now my screen has tiny specs of spit on it. Well played sir, well played.
    - user24 15y ago
      it really does work with things like alarm clocks.
      - burgerbrain 15y ago
        Yeah, it does. Tried it with my alarm clock and got it to work. Just thought I'd remind people to think before trying it on their computers. ;)
  - sciurus 15y ago
    This is actually a museum exhibit. http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/bronx_cheer/Bronx_Cheer.html http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/bronx_cheer/Bronx_Chee...
- StavrosK 15y ago
  It works with our oven's alarm clock if I hum, regardless of frequency, I seem to recall.
mentat 15y ago
You head is a resonating structure. If you make it resonate at a frequency that has an interesting relationship to your monitor it will shake your eyes (being part of your head) so that you can see the refresh. (Or at least that's my theory.)
bitwize 15y ago
Yep. It's called the "Dorito effect", after what happens when you crunch Doritos while looking at a microwave's fluorescent display.
- slipperyp 15y ago
  A well-documented phenomena of the wikiality.
JonnieCache 15y ago
Many times at notting hill carnival I have stood in front of a 20 foot tall wall of speakers and had my vision go blurry due to the 30Hz bass tone at 125db making my eyeballs oscillate in my skull. Ahhh, notting hill...
deleted 15y ago
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pjscott 15y ago
This is easy to try, incidentally. Just hum a very low note, then gradually increase the pitch until you can see the CRT start to look weird.
- nemetroid 15y ago
  You'd still need to have a pretty low voice for anything under 100 Hz, though.
mirkules 15y ago
If you have an electric toothbrush and a digital clock, it makes the numbers dance while brushing your teeth. Humming could work too

bronson 15y ago

I think that's exactly right. Try chewing crackers or chips (the crunchier the better) while looking at an LED clock (like a microwave). Most work, depends on refresh rate. There's a good chance you'll see the same sort of waviness.

user24 15y ago
blowing a raspberry achieves the same effect.
- scrrr 15y ago
  Or using an electric toothbrush.
- burgerbrain 15y ago
  And now my screen has tiny specs of spit on it. Well played sir, well played.
  - user24 15y ago
    it really does work with things like alarm clocks.
    - burgerbrain 15y ago
      Yeah, it does. Tried it with my alarm clock and got it to work. Just thought I'd remind people to think before trying it on their computers. ;)
- sciurus 15y ago
  This is actually a museum exhibit. http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/bronx_cheer/Bronx_Cheer.html http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/bronx_cheer/Bronx_Chee...
StavrosK 15y ago
It works with our oven's alarm clock if I hum, regardless of frequency, I seem to recall.

mentat 15y ago

You head is a resonating structure. If you make it resonate at a frequency that has an interesting relationship to your monitor it will shake your eyes (being part of your head) so that you can see the refresh. (Or at least that's my theory.)

bitwize 15y ago

Yep. It's called the "Dorito effect", after what happens when you crunch Doritos while looking at a microwave's fluorescent display.

slipperyp 15y ago
A well-documented phenomena of the wikiality.

JonnieCache 15y ago

Many times at notting hill carnival I have stood in front of a 20 foot tall wall of speakers and had my vision go blurry due to the 30Hz bass tone at 125db making my eyeballs oscillate in my skull. Ahhh, notting hill...

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

pjscott 15y ago

This is easy to try, incidentally. Just hum a very low note, then gradually increase the pitch until you can see the CRT start to look weird.

nemetroid 15y ago
You'd still need to have a pretty low voice for anything under 100 Hz, though.

mirkules 15y ago

If you have an electric toothbrush and a digital clock, it makes the numbers dance while brushing your teeth. Humming could work too