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{{trope}}
They never seem to work right, do they? Fizzing, popping, static, wobbly image....you'll be lucky if you get proper colour! Would have thought they'd check these things at the factory, wouldn't you? But no, it seems like every last one of them has some sort of glitch. It's a wonder people put up with the things.
Related to [[Rule of Perception]]: A hologram has to look unreal, so the audience can see that it's a hologram; it's a visual equivalent of the [[Radio Voice]]. Also related to [[Holodeck Malfunction]], and may suggest [[The Tape Knew You Would Say That]] if the protagonists are unaware they're talking to a hologram. Subtrope of [[Projected Man]]. However, it must be distinct enough that it's not simply mistaken for poorly implemented special effects. A poorly matched lighting or color for the surrounding environment on a [[Projected Man]] would not be inform the audience that he was a hologram, the assumption would be that it's an incompetent [[Chroma Key]] shot.
'''Aversions - Holograms that work perfectly:''' One circumstance where this trope is commonly averted is when a [[Projected Man]] or other hologram is a regular fixture on the show, and for budgetary reasons it's easier to film them as actually physically present, with only very, very, occasional glitches on special occasions to remind viewers what they are.▼
'''Note:''' To prevent us simply listing ''every'' hologram in fiction, be wary of adding too many examples of holograms that suffer minor blips during start-up or shut-down. Ensure that the example is intense enough to look like a real malfunction or interference of some kind.
----
=== Aversions - Holograms that work perfectly: ===▼
▲One circumstance where this trope is commonly averted is when a [[Projected Man]] or other hologram is a regular fixture on the show, and for budgetary reasons it's easier to film them as actually physically present, with only very, very, occasional glitches on special occasions to remind viewers what they are.
== Film ==▼
* In [[G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra]], there are instances when what looks like in-person conversations really are comunications using holograms.▼
* Played with in ''[[Superman II]]'', in which Lex Luthor escapes prison by sticking a hologram of himself in his cell. The hologram itself is flawless, and the guard is tipped off only when {{spoiler|he steps in front of the projector}}.▼
* ''[[Star Wars]]''.▼
** ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]''▼
*** When the commander of the Imperial Walkers talks to a hologram of Darth Vader, the hologram works fine.▼
*** Likewise, when Darth Vader talks to the Emperor, the Emperor's hologram works O.K. (there's some minor flickering but it's not blatant).▼
== Literature ==▼
* Most of the time in ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'', except for a couple of occasions.▼
* Conspicuously averted in ''[[The Naked Sun]]''. Elijah was surprised to find out he was talking to a hologram because the Earth holograms did have [[Hologram Projection Imperfection]]. (The planet he was on was still settled by humans; This wasn't an alien technology thing.)▼
* Holograms in ''Dream Park'' are so realistic that Gamers who allow themselves to step out-of-character still can't guess when real actors and animatronic models are switched out for holographic ones. The one time a holo's response is delayed by a couple of seconds, the Game Master chews out his technicians for the lapse.▼
== Live-Action TV ==▼
* ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]'': Rimmer is one of the only fully-functional holograms in fiction. Shame about the man himself!▼
* ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation]]'': The holodeck. Even when it malfunctioned, as it so often did, it usually ''looked'' real, without scan lines or flickers.▼
* ''[[Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'': For a little while Starfleet experimented with holographic communicators, where it looked like the other character was actually in the same room with Sisko et al. (because the actors were); but Starfleet stopped using it.▼
* ''[[Star Trek Voyager]]'': The Doctor almost always worked perfectly, even while using his mobile emitter.▼
* ''[[Quantum Leap]]'': Al.▼
== Video Games ==▼
* In ''[[Deus Ex Human Revolution (Video Game)|Deus Ex Human Revolution]]'', holograms are almost perfect when they're working properly, which becomes a plot point when {{spoiler|it turns out Eliza Cassan is a holographic projection made by an AI}}.▼
{{examples}}
== Straight examples - Holograms that show imperfections: ==
=== Anime and Manga ===
* In one episode of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', a hologram of Asuka appears out of her [[Humongous Mecha]], and it flickers when it [[Armor-Piercing Slap|slaps]] Shinji, who [[Crowning Moment of Funny|evidently feels it]].
=== [[Film]] ===
* ''[[Total Recall]]''.
** While Lori is practicing with a hologram designed to teach proper tennis serves, the hologram blurs a couple of times. Watch it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILqe_mmtBrE#t=1m38s here].
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** [[Fridge Logic|A greater puzzle]], why does Artoo (an astromech droid, basically a self-mobile starship repairman and navigator) have a hologram projector, while Threepio (a protocol droid, and thus a professional translator and messenger) does not?
** Holograms in the prequel trilogy frequently cut out as well, even though it's supposed to be the [[Crystal Spires and Togas|"more civilized age"]] of the galaxy.
* In ''[[I, Robot (
* ''[[Minority Report]]'' has a good example of not-great hologram tech, though it may be justified, being set [[Twenty Minutes in The Future]] instead of a far-future [[Space Opera]].
* There's a hologram of Sinestro communicating in the ''[[Green Lantern (
* In the ''[[Ghost in
* ''[[The Time Machine]]'' also has a justified example, because the AI in question has been sitting around for many
* ''[[Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow]]''. As the protagonists are walking up to Dr Totenkopf's office a Tesla-type generator creates a [[Huge Holographic Head]] image of Totenkopf that explains his motives and warns them to get out or die. Both the image and voice are distorted when powering up, highlighting the more primitive 1930's [[Zeerust]] technology of the film.
* ''[[Screamers]]''. The protagonists have to report a cease fire proposed by the enemy forces. A pair of doors slide open and their superior walks through and starts talking to
* ''[[The Last Starfighter]]''. During Zur's transmission into the Starfighter base, his holographic head glitches several times.
* In ''[[WALL-E]]'', the earth is covered with holographic billboards which fizzle and static frequently. Justified, since they haven't been maintained for centuries.
=== Literature ===
* Holos are ''always'' like this in [[Ciaphas Cain]], requiring [[Percussive Maintenance]] to work properly.
* In ''[[
* The Chee holograms in ''[[Animorphs (TV series)|Animorphs]]'' are normally an aversion, but when the Yeerks screw with the ship that powers them, the holgrams begin to fizzle, fade and fail.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* The ''[[
* The ''[[Lois and Clark]]'' 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 raises other questions.
* SELMA from ''[[Time Trax]]''; despite being a 22nd century, self aware, supercomputer her holographic "visual mode" suffered this trope. In one episode she managed to make herself appear perfectly for a brief time but implied it was too much of a strain on her power systems to maintain this for long.
* ''[[The Middleman]]'' communicates with an alien representative via hologram in "The Clotharian Contamination Protocol," and the image is blue and staticky. What makes this more amusing is that at one point, when the alien representative quotes [[Die Hard
* In ''[[Stargate SG
=== Video Games ===
* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' mostly averts this trope as the holos look rather good. The audio, however, is a little tinny in the case of Dodanna and Vandar. Amusingly, if you turn down the graphics settings, the holograms will look physical.
* In the ''[[
* In ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' 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).
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' also has an example with Vigil. The hologram doesn't even really show up you just get this weird jumble. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] since the VI in question has been sitting around for tens of thousands of years, you're lucky it was still functional to begin with {{spoiler|and in fact it shuts down soon after your group talks to it}}.
* In ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', the holograms of Shepard and The Illusive Man are wavery and have horizontal lines going through them like they are on a screen instead of a 3-D projection.
* In ''[[Disgaea]]'', when a hologram appears, not only is the picture glitchy, but the first thing the hologram "says" is always "ffffffffffff... ffffffff..."
* [[Deus Ex: Invisible War
** ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution
=== Western Animation ===▼
* ''[[Arthur (
* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'': Vlad Masters has some AI programmed holograms of Maddie Fenton, all designed to be madly in love with him. But they display the usual translucency and dither problems of fictional holograms, as well as being a bit....temperamental.
* ''[[The Fairly
* Played with in ''[[Futurama]]'': [[Technology Marches On|Although it is presumed that hologram movies in the year 3000 are suitably higher quality]], they started out rather like a silent film, with grainy, black and white video and no audio other than a soundtrack. For some reason they were also made on [
▲=== Film ===
▲* In [[G.I. Joe:
▲* Played with in ''[[Superman II]]'', in which Lex Luthor escapes prison by sticking a hologram of himself in his cell. The hologram itself is flawless, and the guard is tipped off only when {{spoiler|he steps in front of the projector}}.
▲* ''[[Star Wars]]''.
▲** ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]''
▲*** When the commander of the Imperial Walkers talks to a hologram of Darth Vader, the hologram works fine.
▲*** Likewise, when Darth Vader talks to the Emperor, the Emperor's hologram works O.K. (there's some minor flickering but it's not blatant).
▲=== Literature ===
▲* Conspicuously averted in ''[[The Naked Sun]]''. Elijah was surprised to find out he was talking to a hologram because the Earth holograms did have
▲* Holograms in ''Dream Park'' are so realistic that Gamers who allow themselves to step out-of-character still can't guess when real actors and animatronic models are switched out for holographic ones. The one time a holo's response is delayed by a couple of seconds, the Game Master chews out his technicians for the lapse.
▲=== Live-Action TV ===
▲* ''[[
▲* ''[[Star Trek:
▲* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'': For a little while Starfleet experimented with holographic communicators, where it looked like the other character was actually in the same room with Sisko et al. (because the actors were); but Starfleet stopped using it.
▲* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'': The Doctor almost always worked perfectly, even while using his mobile emitter.
▲* ''[[Quantum Leap]]'': Al.
▲=== Video Games ===
▲* In ''[[Deus Ex
▲== Western Animation ==
▲* ''[[Arthur (Animation)|Arthur]]'' has one in ''Meet Binky'', due to Arthur mistaking a CPU case for a trash can.
▲* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'': Vlad Masters has some AI programmed holograms of Maddie Fenton, all designed to be madly in love with him. But they display the usual translucency and dither problems of fictional holograms, as well as being a bit....temperamental.
▲* ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'': They've done riffs on [[Star Wars]], so those holograms are the trope played straight. But when [[Jimmy Neutron]] shows up for the Jimmy/Timmy Power Hour, Jimmy is convinced the fairies are just really good holograms.
▲* Played with in ''[[Futurama]]'': [[Technology Marches On|Although it is presumed that hologram movies in the year 3000 are suitably higher quality]], they started out rather like a silent film, with grainy, black and white video and no audio other than a soundtrack. For some reason they were also made on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc Laserdiscs].
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Sublime Rhyme]]
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