There’s a bit of info on this early LZX module here
https://web.archive.org/web/20130630205547/http://www.lzxindustries.net/?post_type=module&p=1144
For the few folks who might own this module, do you have any creative tips, ideas, etc. to make the most out of its functionality? Thx!
Module info mirrored here, for convenience:
Did you get one? We had a long thread about it on the FB group in November 2018 and lots of people shared tips. Here are some raw notes from it and other places I snagged back then.
8 stage video quantizer & sequencer
primary functions: amplitude classification, sequential multiplexing
8 stage video quantizer & sequencer is a complex key generation and high speed switching module. it consists of eight high speed analogue switches, only one of which is active at any time. each switch has an independent input and output, along with a bias control which is summed with the input. there is also a global sum input which feeds a signal to the inputs of all eight switches, and a global sum output which shows the output of the currently selected switch.
the quantizer takes whatever signal is input to the classify input and splits it into eight amplitude bands distributed evenly between upper and lower threshold points. the upper and lower threshold voltages also have control voltage inputs and attenuverting controls for modulation. the output of the quantizer is a number between 0 and 7.
the sequential clock also has eight steps from 0 to 7 and functions separately from the quantizer. when a clock pulse is received, the sequential clock counts upward by one. when a reset pulse is received, the clock resets to a value of 0.
the values of the quantizer and sequencer are summed together and wrapped around, the value of this sum determines which of the eight video switches is currently active. for example, if both the quantizer and sequencer have a current value of 0, then the selected switch is also 0 (0+0=0), which is the first switch. if the value of the quantizer is 2, and the value of the sequencer is 7, then the sum wraps around and the currently selected switch is the second switch (7+2=9, 9-8=1.)
if this sounds complicated, a starter patch will make things more clear. patch a video signal into the classify input. monitor the sum output. play with the bias controls on each switch channel, and the upper/lower threshold values. then press the clock button and see how the amplitude bands rotate their values cyclically.
specifications:
width: 18hp
mounting depth: 1.75 inches:
lzx sync cable required? no
Ryu, no this design is fully video-rate/pixel switching. Sequencing happens concurrently with classifying. So you can do an 8-stage colorizer and then shift the bands with a pattern input! The I/O structure can work as an 8-in 1-out, or a 1-in 8-out sequential switch, or a voltage sequencer, or any combination. You can do low frequency sequencing/switching with this module, but that may be the least interesting application! 
From FB
Plays well with a pair of Color Chords or the Mapper
Stick some ramps in there and step thru the various keys of it, that’s my go to.
That sum output is your friend
Yeah, off the top of my head the most non-obvious thing is with ramps fed into the sum or classifier input stick something video-rate into the top/bot CV. PrisRay errr wait staircase is nice, high freq vertical bars make for a melty corrugated plastic look.
I mean we should always stick video rate into CV ins everywhere, easy to forget tho
You can get wonky shapes by throwing ramps @ those CV ins too. Ellipses pouring out of circles n stuff like that. Make pulsating shapes by stacking lfo’s in there with whatever shapes you’re plopping in.
Usually I use an impulse from sensory translator to rotate through keys (clock in). Really nice with a clock div between the two. Can have nice synced movement @ the end of bars and whatnot. I’m all about having the main shapes morph throughout a track so that’s a nice way to do it.
I need more logicesque modulators, gate sequencing and whatnot… That’s m’jam
(imp) Works well triggering resets on things like Nav, PRay (as LFO), Cort Animation & Key Gen, PAG too. Can use them more like envelopes that way. I really like Navigator patched like that, looks right.
Yeah you nailed it with translator. Impulse is a gem… I mean it’s basically clock extractor so sequencing, gates, S&H’s, it belongs everywhere! Have like 6u of modulators planned pretty much around the imp as the kickoff to a polyphonic Rube Goldberg device
Also impulse is cool because it offers a chance to use different envelopes than the stock ones of ST. Sometimes it’s nice to have fine tuning of your beat triggered envelopes.
I don’t know what I’d do without ST, it’s the main go to modulator for me. Lfo’s are cool but I want video that dances, that’s key. You did well.
Still haven’t really found a good use for the individual freq band outs aside from a few oscope-centric videos. Probably the dustiest jacks in my rack. Tips anyone?
you could feed them to different colors for a kinda color organ modulation source. Also try patching one of them back to the input for some adjustable frequency limited feedback effects!
It cuts your signal up into 8 different key levels,
each of which can be injected with another voltage/image.
These key levels can be rotated through sequentially, and the top and bottom of this range of key levels
can be modulated as well.
This all adds up to some very wiggly topography.
Video rate sequencing, too! A horizontal locked vco could switch between 8 different sources at subpixel speeds. Make sure you try hsync patched to reset input
Dither as clock source is a go to
“A horizontal locked vco could switch between 8 different sources at subpixel speeds”
David Collins Ethan Drown Hurlburt “It cuts your signal up into 8 different key levels”
What is a “key level”, exactly? Is it a simple 0-1v voltage level and therefore a scale from dark to bright? are you taking that slice of the “injected signal” and spitting that out in combination with other keys? i am sure i have it wrong, since I haven’t even got my head around the Polar Fringe yet, even though I am used to keying on my mixers.
imagine adding terraces to what used to be a smooth mountain slope.
Each terrace can be stamped with its own living texture.
Manage
so that terrace is a chunk of the dynamic range that you are squeezing some high-contrast signal into? and each “texture” is living on its own grey level?
the contrast can be varied by the IP FuncGen at the input like an EQ for Greys.
Yes, each terrace represents a grey level.
You can patch ramps
or oscillators
or cameras
into each of these terraces.
like source A on level 1-2, source B on 3-6, and source C on 7-8? but does it add them or does it only write out one at a time into the line?
different source for each of the 8 level inputs.
are the levels fixed or variable? (you could do what I said but changing the ranges of a level?)
Variable via the knobs on each level added with each input.
Variable via Top & Bottom controls squeezing and expanding the total range (+VC).
i am still confused about how it creates the final signal: if there is a dark spot on the screen from level 1 and a bright spot from level 8, you are only going to see the bright spot right? so a solid signal at any level will override a signal at a lower level? and zero for each key level is transparent? I really wonder if I can do this with just my mixers, using the order I layer keyed signals on top of each other and the colour controls to do the kinda same thing without the dynamic squeezing.
Each layer of shading there is a key level. The original ramp would just be one of those shaded triangle shapes… So stick that ramp in and out comes 8 stacked keys. You can add texture to them with the 8 inputs, or dial up & down the shading with the knobs. You can rotate thru which one is @ the bottom (or center however you think of it) with the clock input. The threshold sliders expand or diminish the bounds of each key
yeah word.
You can prioritize how it layers the keys by the way you have the threshold sliders set (or how you CV bot/top). You can set it where layer 1 overrides, or set it where they cascade nicely like in my acidwarp looking pic
The 1st key layer has the horiz osc going into its input(so that gives that key layer the horiz bar texture) . In pic 1 notice the slider position, then in pic 2 I swapped it and the 1st key layer overlaps everything like you were suggesting above.
Just horiz bars in pic 2 because that’s the way the threshold sliders are set… Layer 1 overlaps all, selfish little layer.
wow yeah, having that kind of ability to use dynamic range would be like EQing audio to make “space” in music. fine control over the dynamics would help tone down the visual blare of the wilder stuff while also being able to fine-tune and pull detail from subtler elements. very cool.
I’ve had it for quite awhile, but missed this on Facespace. Thank you for transferring it here! Better reference source.
There is more in the Friendspace thread. I just cherry picked.