cool-retro-term — Retro CRT Terminal Emulator

Introduction

cool-retro-term is a terminal emulator that recreates the visual experience of old cathode ray tube monitors. It applies real-time GPU shaders to simulate phosphor persistence, scanlines, screen curvature, bloom, and static noise while remaining a fully functional terminal underneath.

What cool-retro-term Does

• Renders terminal output with CRT visual effects via OpenGL shaders
• Simulates phosphor glow, burn-in, and afterimage persistence
• Applies scanlines, screen curvature, and chromatic aberration
• Provides preset profiles: Amber, Green, Apple II, Vintage, Futuristic
• Functions as a real terminal with full shell access beneath the effects

Architecture Overview

cool-retro-term is built with Qt5/Qt6 and QML. The terminal backend uses QMLTermWidget (a fork of Konsole's terminal component) for shell interaction. Visual effects are applied as GLSL fragment shaders rendered on the QML scene graph, compositing multiple effect layers (bloom, noise, curvature, scanlines) in real-time on the GPU.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Install from package managers on most Linux distributions and macOS
• Build from source requires Qt 5.2+ with QtQuick and QtGraphicalEffects
• Access settings via right-click context menu for profile selection
• Adjust individual effect intensities: glow, contrast, brightness, flicker
• Custom profiles can be saved and exported as QML settings files

Key Features

• Multiple built-in presets replicating specific vintage monitor aesthetics
• All effects run on GPU, maintaining smooth 60fps rendering
• Adjustable font with authentic bitmap terminal fonts included
• Screen jitter, static noise, and ambient light bleeding effects
• Fully functional terminal supporting all standard escape sequences

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Alacritty — performance-focused, no visual effects
• Ghostty — native rendering, minimal aesthetic customization
• edex-ui — sci-fi aesthetic but more of a dashboard than a terminal
• cathode (macOS) — similar retro concept but closed-source and discontinued

FAQ

Q: Does the CRT effect impact terminal performance? A: Effects run on the GPU via shaders. With a dedicated graphics card, performance impact is minimal. Integrated GPUs may see slight overhead.

Q: Can I use it as my main terminal? A: Yes, it is a fully functional terminal emulator. Some developers use it for light work and presentations.

Q: Which preset looks most authentic? A: The Amber and Green presets closely mimic 1980s monochrome monitors. Apple II preset emulates that specific hardware.

Q: Does it work on Wayland? A: Qt6 builds run natively on Wayland. Qt5 builds may need QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb fallback.

Sources

• https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term
• https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term#readme