Droste effect

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Droste effect with monitor and camera

The Droste effect is a Dutch term for a specific kind of recursive picture. A picture exhibiting the Droste effect depicts a smaller version of itself in a place where a similar picture would realistically be expected to appear. This smaller version then depicts an even smaller version of itself in the same place, and so on. Technically this can go on forever, but practically it continues as long as the resolution of the picture allows, which is relatively short since each iteration exponentially reduces the picture's size.

The term Droste effect was coined by the poet and columnist Nico Scheepmaker, at end of the 1970s. It is named after Droste, a Dutch brand of hot chocolate, whose box has a picture of a nurse carrying a serving tray with a cup and a box of the same brand of hot chocolate.

An example of the Droste effect can be easily created by placing two mirrors in front of each other. Another method would be to film one's own television with a video camera, while displaying the output of the video camera on the same television.