History Main / HologramProjectionImperfection

* ''Film/BicentennialMan'': Andrew's robot head has the ability to project holographic recordings. The first time we see it is when he explains the [[ThreeLawsCompliant Three Laws of Robotics]], and the second time is showing the father-daughter dance after Little Miss is married. Both times there's slight wobbling and lines in the video, and the second video is sepia-toned as well as translucent.

* ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. When the hologram of the female scientist on the planet [[spoiler:Miranda]] plays, there are occasional shifts in the picture.

* The holographic security recording in the prologue of ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' is flawless, except for a bit of odd lighting -- it only becomes clear that it's a hologram when the Operative walks through it. The [[ApocalypticLog Miranda Recording]] later in the film is also unusually luminescent but otherwise free of artifacts.

** ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. When Luke's message to Jabba (stored in R2-D2) plays, it starts off with a burst of static and ends with one too. Possibly justified as Lucas, et al, decided that since the signal had been bouncing halfway across the galaxy it'd be unbelievable for it not to have picked up some interference along the way. Though that doesn't explain why the recordings R2 carried, made by people standing right in front of him, suffered the same problem.

* The ''Literature/RedDwarf'' novels are typically as much of an aversion as the TV series in the aversion examples above. In ''Better Than Life'', however, Rimmer's holographic image exhibited problems on one occasion. Severe time dilation caused by a black hole resulted in drastically different flows of time between where he was projected and where the computer that simulated him was located. As a result, he would flash, lose colour and even go two dimensional. The novel also mentioned in passing glitches that had happened in the past such as transparency, turning a shade of blue and even having his legs separating from his body and wandering aimlessly [[RuleOfFunny which completely violates the established principle on which he is projected]]. The last one is a MythologyGag to the episode "Queeg", which also had him acquire the personalities of other crewmembers (including Lister and, for some reason, the Cat. When the Cat's personality was added to the hologram files is not explained.)

* During the BarBrawl in ''Cosmic Sin'' someone disrupts the holographic projector on the jukebox, causing the band player to change from a cowboy-themed singer to a punk rocker with an electric guitar.

* In ''Series/VoltesVLegacy'', Richard Smith's hologram always stays perfect all the time, with some occasional glitches.

* ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'': The BeachEpisode has a room presented to most of the cast as the latest technology to have photoshoots in. While it works out in the beginning (Beach, Poolside, Pleasure Boat), the room suddenly turns on the cast as it cycles thru several undesirable scenes for [[FanService the swimsuit wearing characters]] (Snowy mountain, desert, boat in the middle of a storm, & the surface of the moon). Fortunately, the system is stopped at a scene (Campsite) that allows the girls to take a break without being uncomfortable.

* In the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series the Dr. Light holograms flicker and have a blue hue. Quite odd seeing as the hologram projector used in ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'''s final boss works perfectly, though it could be argued that age is a factor, since the ''X'' series is set a century after the ''Classic'' series.
* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' Dead Money add-on, the holograms scattered around the Sierra Madre are a uniform color, rather fuzzy and have prominent lines all over their figures. Oh yeah, and they shoot lasers. Granted this is two hundred year old equipment, though the Cloud was supposed to protect most of the Old World artefacts in the area. And lasers are cool. The fact that they can change colors suggests someone just wasn't willing to put in the work (humorously, ''Old World Blues'' has log entries which pretty much give this exact excuse; the designers were programmers, not artists).

* In ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', when a hologram appears, not only is the picture glitchy, but the first thing the hologram "says" is always "ffffffffffff... ffffffff..."
* ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'': Holograms are frequently imperfect, with horizontal strobing blue lines, higher end holograms are better quality.
** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' can be mistaken for normal people, except at close range. Possibly as a side effect of the game having better graphics.
*** In-universe, this can probably be justified by the agencies from the first game trying to cut corners on budgets, especially when they've got much more important computer projects to spend money on.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': In one episode, a hologram of Asuka appears out of her HumongousMecha, and it flickers when it [[ArmorPiercingSlap slaps]] Shinji, who evidently feels it.

* There's a hologram of Sinestro communicating in the ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' movie, which is in perfect color, but it has a couple of jumps, and breaks. The implication was, though, that because [[spoiler: Abin Sur's ship had been badly damaged, and the alien himself was badly wounded, the escape pod's functions were all working on getting him to safety and keeping him alive, so the hologram had limited transmit/receive power comparatively speaking]].

* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': ''The Time Paradox'', Holly uses an old holographic communication device to talk to Julius. It works out to her advantage as it hides the fact that she's de-aged, [[spoiler: and her tears]]. Subverted in that the hologram shows all this accurately and Holly writes it all off as this trope, which Julius is willing to buy. (She also blames the old technology malfunctioning on it displaying her location, around the world from where she's supposed to be, "inaccurately".)

** A hologram of Londo Molari in one episode which appears slightly blueish and blurry. In this case, as it is a pre-recorded message, and Londo paces quite a bit, the hologram ends up walking through another character, facing the wrong direction (at one point, you can see the message's recipient smirking as Londo just barely manages to miss pointing accusingly at him.) [[spoiler: Londo's hologram does manage to end the message facing Lord Refa and bidding him farewell, before the message ends and the gathered group of Narn witnesses beat Refa to death.]]

** It is, however, used once to "prove" that an Asgard shown by a CEO attempting to reveal the secret was a hologram. The reporter interviewing Sam tells her she doesn't believe it, as she has seen the alien with her own eyes. The alien is, in fact, a mindless clone (as opposed to the clones with minds that all the Asgard are).

* ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' features a variety of holographic projections used for long-distance communication, allowing two people to share the room and walk around each other during a discussion. The holograms are still transparent and have a digital grainy quality, with various distortions presumably caused by interference. [[spoiler: When USS ''Europa'' is rammed by a Klingon warship, Admiral Anderson's hologram starts skipping and spazzing before [[DisconnectedByDeath being cut off suddenly]].]]

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', there is one example. In the Burning Crusade expansion, the draenei and blood elf races were introduced. There is one [[http://wow.gamepedia.com/Quest:The_Emitter quest]] in the draenei starting zone where you help Technician Zhanaa fix a hologram so you can contact Technician Dyvuun. When you complete the quest, it becomes pretty clear the device has its fair share of damage from the [[spoiler: ship crashing into Ammen Vale]].

* The Mofangs' holographic force-field generators in ''VideoGame/{{Obduction}}'' project images that are interspersed with red sparkles that make them easy to spot. This is justified: the devices were originally designed for Mofang use, and they have a different visual range, so from their perspective the images look fine. [[spoiler: This is evidenced by Fauxsef, an enemy Mofang who disguises himself as the Mayor. His disguise is full of visual errors, but he doesn't seem to notice.]]

* Subverted in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': the holograms look perfect, but Coulson mentions that due to the lag, people using them cannot react as fast to whatever is happening on the receiving end as they would in person. [[spoiler: This is a plot point when Coulson and Lincoln are looking for the leader of the Watchdogs - Coulson realizes that Agent Blake they are talking to is a hologram, and next scene reveals the real Blake being in a wheelchair.]]

** In ''ComicBook/TheKillersOfKrypton'', [[Franchise/GreenLantern Appa Ali Apsa]]'s hologram fizzle and flickers as talking to ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}.

* The ''Series/LoisAndClark'' episode "Top Copy" used a hologram which somehow convinced people that Clark and Superman were side-by-side despite the fact that it was flickering. The glitches were Justified in that it was only built by a farmer's wife... but then that just [[VoodooShark raises other questions]].

* In contrast to Imperial holograms (see above), Tau holography in the Literature/CiaphasCain series is always portrayed as lifelike and in perfect focus at all times. This is, naturally, [[UncannyValley rather unsettling]] to anyone used to the fuzzier, more "analog" Imperial systems.

* ''Series/BabylonFive''

* ''Series/BabylonFive'':

* ''Series/BabylonFive'':'

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* ''Series/BabylonFive''

* Several examples on ''Series/BabylonFive'', particularly a hologram of Londo Molari in one episode which appears slightly blueish and blurry. In this case, as it is a pre-recorded message, and Londo paces quite a bit, the hologram ends up walking through another character, facing the wrong direction (at one point, you can see the message's recipient smirking as Londo just barely manages to miss pointing accusingly at him.) [[spoiler: Londo's hologram does manage to end the message facing Lord Refa and bidding him farewell, before the message ends and the gathered group of Narn witnesses beat Refa to death.]]