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Main Viewer Blinkies

-SS-

Lieutenant Commander
Red Shirt
Y'know, the sequentially blinking lights beneath the main viewers on most Starfleet ships.

What the heck are they for?
 
In universe, I think they're supposed to be like a scanning bar, denoting the sweep of the sensors?
 
Buck: "What have you found?"

Lt: "All I've found is that these red lights keep moving back and forth. Aside from that, this thing seems to have no other function whatsoever!"

Buck: "That's impossible, it must serve SOME sort of function... I mean why would the government put all that money to a thing with red lights that move back and forth?! It doesn't make any sense! Keep working on it."

Lt: "Yes, Sir!"
 
In universe, I think the bridge view screens are meant to be 3D, so maybe the sweeping light below is some sort of mechanism to allow the viewer(s) the best possible image.
 
Maybe they serve the same function as the little green/blue/white light on your monitor that denotes the monitor is turned on.
 
Buck: "What have you found?"

Lt: "All I've found is that these red lights keep moving back and forth. Aside from that, this thing seems to have no other function whatsoever!"

Buck: "That's impossible, it must serve SOME sort of function... I mean why would the government put all that money to a thing with red lights that move back and forth?! It doesn't make any sense! Keep working on it."

Lt: "Yes, Sir!"


*ssshhhht*
 
Like someone said upthread, most production sources seem to indicate that they're sensor status indicators, and most tech manuals in the early years went with that as well.
 
I think they're the futuristic version of the thing that goes "Ping" from Monty Python and the Meaning of Life.
 
I seem to remember that the same kind of blinkies on the Phoenix slowed down as they dropped out of warp.
 
My theory was that they were general ship's systems diagnostic indicators. The problem with any theory is that they don't seem to change much no matter what situation the ship is in.
 
Interestingly, if you listen carefully, you'll notice that on the original Star Trek the interval between the viewer blips changes depending on the situation. I'm not certain if there's any sort of consistency to it, though.
 
Well, this is hardy canon, but in the the PC game "Star Trek: the 25th Anniversary" those lights moved from the center, outward when moving forward, to the left when turning to port the right when turning to starboard.

On the Enterprise-D, they typically always pulse from the centre outwards well. Maybe its just an at-a-glance way of telling the viewer which way the ship is currently travelling, with each pulse measuring some unit of distance.

Just a thought.
 
ust as goood as any explanation. In "real" orbit on the daylight side of a planet, you can't really see the stars; just look at any footage or picture taken from the ISS. So, an indicator of where you ship is going, that's not a bad deal.

Funny thing, the Phoenix had the blinkies, but the NX-01 is famed as the ONLY starship that had none. It's wierd as I recall that the guy who designed the E-E bridge almost left them out but put them back in because EVERY bridge had them.

Mark
 
The refit Enterprise, Reliant, and Grissom didn't have viewer blinkies. Oddly, though no one seems to know what they're for, I don't like them not being there.
 
Well, this is hardy canon, but in the the PC game "Star Trek: the 25th Anniversary" those lights moved from the center, outward when moving forward, to the left when turning to port the right when turning to starboard.

How does this work with a 36-degree offset to the bridge?

-runs and hides- :devil:
 
Sorry, I meant to specify that the NX-E is the only "Hero" ship not to feature ths blinkies. I thus stand corrected that the movie Enterprise bridge set did not feature them either, which extends to the Reliant and Grissom re-uses of the set.

Mark
 
...Assuming we can speak of a reuse when the Enterprise and Reliant sets were already dissimilar (a minor rearranging of the wild "pie wedges") and the Grissom set was only seen in narrow part. Indeed, some have argued that the Grissom set was significantly rearranged, the helm console now being quite a bit away from the center (perhaps so that it could be more confidently shot with all the portside wild elements removed) and at an angle. Who knows what that ship's viewer (if the ship even had one!) would have looked like, then?

Timo Saloniemi
 
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