CRT Effects Photoshop

CRT effects: the structure of a cathode-ray display

A CRT effect reproduces how an image looked on a cathode-ray tube monitor. Those displays drew the picture by sweeping an electron beam across the phosphor-coated inside of the glass, one horizontal line at a time. The beam excited red, green and blue phosphors arranged in stripes or dots, and the visible gaps between scan lines, the color structure of the phosphor mask, and the glow around bright areas are what the effect recreates.

The glass itself contributed. Tubes were curved, so straight lines bowed outward toward the edges and corners fell into shadow. Brightness bloomed into surrounding areas because phosphors continued glowing briefly after the beam passed. None of this was intentional design; it was the physical behavior of the hardware.

Modern files reproduce it as layered PSDs. The image is placed through a Smart Object and the screen structure rebuilds above and around it, with curvature, scan lines, phosphor stripes and glow kept on separate layers.

Screen types covered

• Standard CRT monitors: scan lines with visible RGB stripe structure and corner vignetting.
• Arcade cabinets: coarser line spacing, heavier bloom, saturated color.
• Broadcast television: softer focus, interlacing artifacts and signal noise.
• Handheld LCD: Game Boy-style four-tone screens with a visible pixel grid.
• Monochrome terminals: single-phosphor green or amber displays with strong glow.
• Distorted and glitched screens: rolling bars, flicker and signal interference.

Technical considerations

Scan lines are a regular stripe pattern, which means they interfere with the pixel grid when an image is scaled. Downscaling a CRT effect produces moiré, visible as shimmering patterns across the image. Work at or near the file's native resolution, and if a smaller version is required, reduce scan line opacity or increase their spacing before resizing.

Screen curvature is applied as barrel distortion across the whole composition, strongest at the edges. Because it bends the image as well as the screen structure, any text placed near the corners will distort with it. Position critical elements toward the center.

Contrast determines how much of the effect is visible. Phosphor bloom and color bleed only appear around bright areas, so saturated colors against dark backgrounds produce the strongest result. Pale, low-contrast images show almost no screen behavior.

Where CRT effects are used

• Game branding and streaming graphics: overlays, channel art and promotional material.
• Music artwork: particularly electronic, synthwave and vaporwave releases.
• Science fiction and cyberpunk posters: interfaces and surveillance imagery.
• Retro technology branding: products referencing 1980s and 1990s computing.
• Title sequences: period-set film and television openers.