Lost Signal VHS

Lost Signal VHS v1.8.1

CRITICAL UPDATE: v1.7 and v1.8 were packaged with Windows-style internal ZIP paths, so Iris could reject them as invalid. Redownload v1.8.1, which rebuilds the archive with standard portable paths while preserving every v1.8 shader feature.

Lost Signal VHS is a lightweight post-processing shader pack for Minecraft Java Edition. It keeps vanilla lighting intact while turning the final image into unstable analog found footage recorded and played back through a damaged VHS deck.

Backrooms & analog horror

Designed for Backrooms maps, Poolrooms, liminal spaces, horror modpacks, ARGs, machinima, and found-footage videos. Dedicated Backrooms, Poolrooms, Liminal Night, Found Footage, Rental Tape, Broken Signal, and Analog Fog presets recreate fluorescent color, humid haze, unstable exposure, tracking loss, and damaged-camcorder motion while keeping the scene playable.

▶ Backrooms VHS trailer: youtu.be/MWtnxr5Iu6Q

v1.8.1 critical packaging hotfix

• Rebuilt the archive with portable paths such as shaders/composite.fsh
• Fixed Iris rejecting the v1.7/v1.8 Windows-built archives as invalid
• Added deterministic validation for shader entry points, geometry fallbacks, localization files, unsafe paths, and separators
• Retains every v1.8 Analog Fog feature without shader-code changes
• Live verified on Minecraft 26.2 with Fabric Loader 0.19.3, Iris 1.11.2, Sodium 0.9.1, NVIDIA RTX 5070, and OpenGL

Analog Fog

• True scene-depth fog enters the signal before YIQ conversion and tape encoding
• Five selectable palettes with density, clear-start, falloff, and world-stable variation controls
• Dedicated Analog Fog preset
• Fog tuning for Backrooms, Poolrooms, and Liminal Night presets

Authentic signal features

• True NTSC/PAL interlaced field weaving through a persistent history buffer
• Smooth correlated time-base error and feathered tracking tears
• YIQ signal processing, chroma bandwidth loss, phase errors, color killer, and chroma persistence
• Tape generations, VHS SP/LP/SLP/VHS-C/rental formats, oxide wear, RF interference, tape chew, and frame-repeat stalls
• 1980s tube, 1990s VHS, and early-digital camcorder responses with optional REC/battery/timecode HUD
• Performance, Balanced, and Cinematic quality levels
• English and Russian settings menus

Compatibility

Minecraft Java · Recommended setup · Status
26.2 / 26.1.2 · Iris 1.11.2 + Sodium, OpenGL · Primary
1.21.11 · Iris 1.10.7 + Sodium · Primary
1.21.4 · Iris 1.8.8 + Sodium · Primary
1.21.1 · Iris 1.8.12 + Sodium · Primary
1.20.1 · Iris 1.7.6 + Sodium · Primary
1.21.10 / 1.21.8 / 1.21.5 · Compatible Iris + Sodium · Extended target
1.20.6 / 1.20.4 / 1.19.4 / 1.18.2 · Compatible Iris + Sodium · Extended target

Extended targets use conservative GLSL 1.20, depth-buffer, and composite interfaces, but have not all been live-tested across every loader, GPU, and driver combination. The pack follows the standard OptiFine shader-pack layout; v1.8.1 was live-verified on Iris.

Minecraft 26.x requires OpenGL. Do not use the experimental Vulkan backend.

Installation

1. Download Lost Signal VHS v1.8.1.
2. Place the ZIP directly in Minecraft's shaderpacks directory. Do not extract it.
3. Start Minecraft with Iris and OpenGL.
4. Open Options → Video Settings → Shader Packs.
5. Select Lost Signal VHS v1.8.1 and apply it.
6. Open Shader Pack Settings to choose a preset and quality level.

No resource pack, external texture, or compute-shader support is required.

GitHub release: github.com/AlexDarkStalker2002/lost-signal-vhs/…

Licensed under the MIT License. Source and issue tracker: github.com/AlexDarkStalker2002/lost-signal-vhs

SHA-256: B2F9FF25C701CFAED3A822DBDC2D2A3B4B7F51AC938B19AD715C75F18C35A4E3