CRT Screen Text Effect
Glowing text on a small curved CRT screen with scanlines, a vignette, a faint flicker and a bright roll bar drifting down. The layers are pseudo-elements; only transform and opacity move.
Also known as: crt monitor text css, retro computer screen text, scanline text effect.
SYSTEM READY
HTML
<div class="txt-crt-screen-text">SYSTEM READY</div>
CSS
.txt-crt-screen-text {
--c: var(--txt-color, #3b82f6);
font-size: var(--txt-size, 32px);
font-family: system-ui, sans-serif;
font-weight: 700;
line-height: 1.2;
position: relative;
display: inline-block;
overflow: hidden;
padding: 0.6em 0.95em;
border-radius: 0.5em / 0.7em;
background: radial-gradient(ellipse at center, color-mix(in srgb, var(--c) 16%, #10131a), #06070a 78%);
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0.7em rgb(0 0 0 / 0.85), 0 0 0 0.14em #22252c;
font-family: ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, Consolas, monospace;
letter-spacing: 0.06em;
color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--c) 55%, #fff);
text-shadow: 0 0 0.06em var(--c), 0 0 0.3em var(--c);
animation: txt-crt-screen-text-flicker 3s steps(1, end) infinite;}
.txt-crt-screen-text::before {
content: "";
position: absolute;
inset: 0;
background: repeating-linear-gradient(180deg, rgb(0 0 0 / 0.4) 0 0.05em, transparent 0.05em 0.1em);
}
.txt-crt-screen-text::after {
content: "";
position: absolute;
left: 0;
right: 0;
top: 0;
height: 40%;
background: linear-gradient(180deg, transparent, color-mix(in srgb, var(--c) 22%, transparent), transparent);
transform: translateY(-100%);
animation: txt-crt-screen-text-roll 4s linear infinite;
}
@keyframes txt-crt-screen-text-roll {
to { transform: translateY(250%); }
}
@keyframes txt-crt-screen-text-flicker {
0%, 33%, 72%, 100% { opacity: 1; }
31% { opacity: 0.88; }
70% { opacity: 0.94; }
}
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.txt-crt-screen-text, .txt-crt-screen-text *, .txt-crt-screen-text::before, .txt-crt-screen-text::after, .txt-crt-screen-text *::before, .txt-crt-screen-text *::after {
animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
}
}Customizing this snippet
- Color: set
--txt-coloron the element or a parent. Currently previewing#3b82f6. - Font size: set
--txt-size. Every other dimension is inem, so the whole thing scales together. Currently previewing40px. - Speed: change the duration on the
transitionoranimationshorthand. Staggered delays are relative, so they keep their rhythm. - Reduced motion: the rule at the end of the CSS turns the motion off for people who asked their OS for less of it. Keep it.