Display Scanlines
Overlay display scan bands for quick CRT, broadcast, and retro-monitor texture.
Add Scanlines
Open an image or build the source composition first. Put this effect after the content it should process in stack processing order. Choose Optics → Display → Scanlines in the effects picker, or search for Scanlines with Cmd/Ctrl + F. Select the new layer in Layers to open its Effect Panel.
Set the scan grid
Choose Direction and Spacing, then Beam Width for the bright part of each line.
Balance the display
Adjust scanline intensity and Bloom, then overall Intensity. Check at full preview quality so reduced preview scale does not hide or alias the lines.
Compare and finish
Toggle the layer eye to compare with the incoming composition. Use the Effect Panel footer for opacity and blend mode, or add a mask to limit the affected area. In Video or Live, use the function menu on a supported control to add keyframes or a driver.
Control reference
Show individual controls
| Control | What it does | Values and animation |
|---|---|---|
| Beam Width | Changes the width of each bright scan beam relative to its spacing. | 0% to 100% Default: 40% Continuous keyframes |
| Bloom | Adds a glow extracted from bright screen pixels. | 0 to 2 Default: 0 Continuous keyframes |
| Intensity | Mixes the complete simulated display with the original picture. | 0% to 100% Default: 100% Continuous keyframes |
| Direction | Chooses horizontal or vertical scan beams. | Horizontal / Vertical Default: Horizontal Not keyframeable |
| Intensity | Controls how strongly the gaps between simulated scan beams darken the picture. | 0% to 100% Default: 70% Continuous keyframes |
| Spacing | Sets the distance between scan beams in the selected spatial unit. | 0 to 20 %; 1 to 500 px (typed input: 1 to 2000) Default: 4 px Continuous keyframes |
| Seed | Selects a repeatable realization of the display noise and damage. | 0 to 9999 Default: 0 Discrete keyframes |
| Signal Noise | Adds signal noise over the simulated display output. | 0 to 1 Default: 0 Continuous keyframes |