What It Does
Bad TV recreates the look of faulty analog television equipment. The plugin generates vertical sync offsets that make footage jump like a TV losing picture lock, horizontal sync distortion that displaces scanlines, and authentic VCR tape artifacts. Everything works procedurally, so there’s no need to manually create displacement maps or work frame by frame.
It’s useful for retro title sequences, horror film effects, found footage aesthetics, or any project requiring degraded video quality. The range covers minor reception issues all the way to severe tape damage.
Key Features
Vertical sync offset. Produces the characteristic jump and roll effect of an analog TV losing signal. Keyframeable, so you can trigger it at specific moments rather than running it across the whole clip.
Scanline generator. Creates horizontal lines of adjustable thickness and spacing, matching the look of DV tape, broadcast video, or VHS transfers.
Horizontal sync distortion. Offsets or skews individual scanlines horizontally, adding the kind of edge tearing you’d see on a worn tape or a bad signal.
Manual time control. Keyframe when distortion kicks in and fades out. Useful for timed glitch hits rather than a constant effect.
Premiere Pro support. Works natively in Premiere Pro timelines, so you can apply it without round-tripping to After Effects. Runs on Apple Silicon as of version 2.7.1.
Who It’s For
Motion designers working on period pieces, horror films, or found footage projects will use this most. VFX artists integrating modern footage into retro aesthetics benefit from the real-time parameter control, which makes iterating on the look much faster than rendering displacement-map variations.
Editors who work directly in Premiere Pro can apply Bad TV without leaving their timeline, which matters when you’re making quick decisions during an edit session.
Pricing
Bad TV costs $39.99 for a perpetual license (currently discounted to $27.99). Covers one user on up to two machines, not simultaneously. A free trial is available before purchase.
Rowbyte also sells a TV Distortion Bundle for $99, which includes Bad TV alongside Data Glitch 2, TVPixel, Dot Pixels, and Separate RGB. Those five plugins cost $210 individually, so the bundle saves around $110 if you need more than one of them.