What exactly was Spock's Moire Pattern Thing supposed to indicate?

[StarryEyed]

I have a background as an electronics technician and this was the kind of thing we used to joke about. All those colored lights flashing seemingly at random. What the heck did they indicate?

Oh, cut the bleeding heart crap, will ya? We've all got our switches, lights, and knobs to deal with, Starry. I mean, down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights, blinking and beeping and flashing - they're FLASHING and they're BEEPING. I can't stand it anymore! They're BLINKING and BEEPING and FLASHING! Why doesn't somebody pull the plug!

This definitely belongs in the Obscure References thread in Miscellaneous.

Buck Murdock (played by the Shat himself) in Airplane II.