monitorthesituation: A Live Video Wall Inside the Terminal
Maddie D. Reese
I built monitorthesituation to display multiple video feeds directly inside an existing terminal. It renders a live video wall as Unicode half-blocks or classic ASCII, with color and monochrome modes.
The tool supports HLS, RTSP, HTTP video, MJPEG, local video files, and USB webcams. FFmpeg decodes sources locally, while the interface arranges feeds into an adaptive grid that resizes with the terminal. Interrupted sources reconnect using bounded backoff.
The utility opens an alternate screen and restores the terminal when it exits. It requires no desktop window, account, or server, and includes no telemetry, recording, or bundled camera directory.
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Posted Oct 12, 2026
A local terminal utility that renders multiple video feeds as an adaptive ASCII or Unicode grid, with FFmpeg decoding and automatic reconnection.
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