Squarize

This is the operating manual for Squarize.

Squarize is a tool that allows you to take your 4:3 Standard Definition video feed as input and send out Standard Definition widescreen 16:9 with your original feed centered in the middle of the screen. This is useful for when you want to use your standard definition feed in a 16:9 environment such as a TV or projector or to correct your output geometry without having to repatch your video signal.

Operation

Squarize has an interface consisting of a single rotary encoder with a button input, three physical buttons - A, B, and C. It has an HDMI input and an HDMI output.

Button A

Geometry

Pressing the A buttons will advance through the available outer geometry options or modes.

• Black bars (default)
• Coloured bars - rotating the knob will change the hue of the bars through the hue wheel by 360 degrees.
• Coloured bars cycling - The same as the previous option but it cycles through 360 degrees automatically.
• Blurred bars - the bars contain a scaled version of the main content and the knob can be used to change the blur level. Think of how the news show social media vertical video.
• Sine wave distortion bars - The texture at the edges of the centred content stretches to the edges of the screen and bars are filled with swirling patterns. Rotating the knob will change the amount at which the bars move. Holding B and rotating the knob will change the speed at which the bars move - rotate right for faster, left for slower. Even further left will invert the speed direction.

Sometimes you may want to adjust the video that will be centered in your screen: ie: your sourse is a recording of a VHS or late-night cable show and has black bars or doesn't quite meet the edges of the actual canvas. You can do so by pressing the A button and rotating the knob to adjust the video feed horizontally, pressing B will rotate it vertically. Pressing C will scale the video. A double press on any of these buttons will reset the position or size back to the default.