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Comment by invalidator | Hacker News Reader

I suggest adjusting your gradient so they don't fully fade out until just before the sweep hits them, or maybe even only down to 10%, so they only get wiped by the bar. It'll make it much easier to watch a plane if it doesn't keep disappearing entirely.

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On the other hand, if you want maximum realism, everything should fade continuously from when it is drawn.

The underlying technology being imitated here is a slowly decaying phosphor.

And this is why I still hang out here, after abandoning nearly everything else.

I love how a discussion like this can occur here and there's no flaming or egos getting hurt. When you post a labor of love like this, it's great to see the reaction on HN.

I spend a lot of time trying to decide what to do with old tech in my volunteer gig. We have old Univac "dumb" terminals and I feel the need to plug them in and see if they still work. I come here for re-charging.

I think emulating old hardware is fascinating. Am I the only one who watches old media just to hopefully get a glimpse of the past?

Thanks for this comment - I knew the exact visual effect I was going for but didn't actually know the physics of what is happening until now! :)

Not sure if you picked up your own slight mistake earlier, but this is also exactly why you shouldn't try and 'tween' the planes to the new positions if you're aiming for realism.

Huh? What I'm proposing if you want to make it realistic (which may or may not be good UI) is:

* Everything fades from when it was drawn

* Everything is only drawn with the sweep

* Simulate a continuous motion for the planes, and use that to determine a new position at each sweep.

Did I make a mistake?

On re-reading it seems more like I misunderstood.

I thought you were saying to animate the planes, but I no longer think that's what you meant.

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