On older CRT TVs with more than one input, they used signal to noise ratio to detect which input to switch to.

Under normal circumstances this works as you’d expect. Turn the VCR or Cable box on, and it will automatically switch to that input.

When Psycho Mantis shouts “Blackout!” a plain black image is displayed let’s call this signal *low* and the word HIDEO is displayed in the top right in a key system colour, green. Let’s call this signal *high*.

I know you’ve probably guessed what’s about to happen. But hold on, there’s more to it than you think.

So you’re probably thinking that the PlayStation output messes with the input switcher, and yes, it can. Which is pretty cool on its own.

But Kojima and his team went a step further.

CRT displays use a cathode ray and both vertical and horizontal oscillators to ‘paint’ the image onto the phosphor canvas we call the ‘screen’ to make images visible. Let’s call these VSYNC (you’ve probably heard this before!) and HSYNC. Without this precisely timed oscillators you wouldn’t be able to see anything but a tiny dot in the middle of the screen (remember how older CRTs used to pinch to a point when you turned them off?).

Now, it entirely depends on which model PlayStation you had, and from which region. But typically the PlayStation could output from 256x224 to 512x512 (very rare).

The PAL consoles are typically considered superior to NTSC ones in terms of image quality, but this was never really taken advantage of, and PAL ran at only 50Hz.

Metal Gear Solid, however, was special. It offered one of the highest resolutions on the system, but at only 25fps. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as the version to play, though.

So what am I getting at?

Well, even though the PS1 was released well before any widely available widescreen CRT, it was more than capable of producing a widescreen capable image.

How? Well, how do we achieve most things? Fuckery.

Metal Gear Solid, did NOT support widescreen resolutions. But that didn’t mean it didn’t produce one at certain points in the game… like this exact time.

How? In two ways… Well the widescreen PS1 games weren’t actually widescreen, they squashed an image into 4:3 which would then be stretched onto a 16:9 (or similar) display. Have a fairly grainy horizontal quality, but it worked.

Second would be to ‘pulse’ the horizontal oscillator by messing with the HSYNC clock power.

But the PS1 couldn’t output a command signal or other signal metadata like modern video. So how did they manage THIS?!

You guessed it. More fuckery.

Wellll remember I started with the *low* and *high* signals earlier on?

That’s how. That, and resolution switching.

There’s a third signal that you probably didn’t notice. An audio tone. It’s a very specific frequency. Not noticeable enough for the ordinary player to be bothered by it, but loud enough to saturate the signal to the TV.

And here comes a bit more science. All electrical signals have resonant frequencies that accompany them. Even digital ones. Sometimes you want them or some of them (think music production) other times you probably don’t, like medical equipment, radio communication, or video.

So between the high signal, low signal, and a mid range audio tone (technically lower frequency than video) you have a wide spread of high signal to noise ratio, without much happening on the screen or speakers. Subjecting the display to rapid signal spikes is a good way to ‘wobble’ the oscillators. Remember how powering on your TV often had a weird shaky effect when turning it on? Oscillator spike + cathode ray warm up. Similar effects can be achieved with a Degauss mode, making the ray ‘over paint’ the bounds of the phosphor display.

Bear with me, we’re going to start putting the pieces together.

Here goes!

So! Mantis hits you with the “Blackout!”.

1. You get the basic high/low and audio signal at the lowest resolution. All other audio stops.

2. The text HIDEO appears top right. A reference to Hideo Kojima’s name, BUT more importantly, this is a Sony PlayStation. On Sony CRTs of the time, the word VIDEO would appear on this input typically when you switched to it. Kojima used the exact font and colour that Sony did on their on screen displays. In many cases you’d see the two words overlaid, making the reference even more subtle, and slightly creepy.

3. After a few seconds the resolution switches to the maximum possible. And HIDEO becomes smaller. This timing is key, as VIDEO lettering from the TV should disappear by the time this happens. Making it seem like the word has morphed. On many displays the resolution change causes a screen flicker.

4. And this is the big one. Depending on your TV setup, one of three things is about to happen. And all can happen at different times, to the same TV depending on another factor I’ll touch on in a moment.

First your channel selector may switch to another channel.

Could be TV, VHS, Cable etc. In some setups with a decent high-fi stack, this might mean the reciever has a 12v relay signal output which remotely turns on your audio equipment, maybe even plays a CD…