diff --git a/subwave_nowplaying.star b/subwave_nowplaying.star
index ab4c32e..aa93254 100644
--- a/subwave_nowplaying.star
+++ b/subwave_nowplaying.star
@@ -553,7 +553,26 @@ def _glitch_jitter(zoom):
     jittered = animation.Transformation(child = zoom, duration = total_ticks, keyframes = keyframes)
     return render.Box(width = ART_SLOT, height = ART_SLOT, child = jittered)
 
-SCANLINE_PERIOD = 4  # 1px line, 3px gap
+# Line count and spacing are derived from each other, not picked
+# independently: the small-sawtooth sweep below only loops seamlessly
+# when sweeping by exactly one full repeat-period of the line pattern,
+# which only exists (as a *small* shift, not the full ART_SLOT) when
+# SCANLINE_COUNT evenly divides ART_SLOT. 6 lines was tried first (an
+# explicit skip-tuple dropping 2 of 8 period-4 positions) and looked
+# uneven/inconsistent during the sweep -- traced to exactly this: with 2
+# positions skipped, the pattern's true repeat period became the full 32
+# (not 4), so shifting by 4 and snapping back no longer reproduced an
+# identical-looking frame. 4 divides 32 cleanly (spacing/sweep = 8px);
+# the only other clean option near the original density is 8 (spacing
+# 4px, the original count). Confirmed separately (pixel-sampled test
+# renders) that pixlet's Transformation+Translate can't reveal content
+# beyond what's visible at rest -- shifting only moves already-visible
+# pixels, it doesn't pull in new rows from an off-screen duplicate -- so
+# a single large sweep (shifting by the full ART_SLOT, tried as an
+# alternative to this small-sawtooth approach) isn't viable either;
+# small periodic shifts are the only mechanism that actually works here.
+SCANLINE_COUNT = 4
+SCANLINE_SPACING = ART_SLOT // SCANLINE_COUNT
 SCANLINE_SWEEP_DURATION = 160  # 8s total at the default 50ms/tick
 SCANLINE_CYCLES = 8  # how many times the sawtooth below repeats over that
 _SCANLINE_CYCLE_TICKS = SCANLINE_SWEEP_DURATION // SCANLINE_CYCLES
@@ -573,32 +592,20 @@ def _glitch_scanlines():
     # top" looked like.
     #
     # This avoids all of that: the buffer is only ONE extra
-    # SCANLINE_PERIOD taller than the art slot (the same small, proven-
+    # SCANLINE_SPACING taller than the art slot (the same small, proven-
     # safe oversized margin used everywhere else in this file -- e.g. the
     # zoom's own ART_SIZE vs. ART_SLOT), and instead of one big sweep it's
-    # a repeating sawtooth -- ramp down by exactly one SCANLINE_PERIOD,
+    # a repeating sawtooth -- ramp down by exactly one SCANLINE_SPACING,
     # then snap back to 0 and repeat. Since the pattern repeats every
-    # SCANLINE_PERIOD anyway, a one-period displacement looks identical to
-    # the starting position, so the snap is invisible -- a standard
-    # infinite-scrolling-texture trick -- while the translate distance
-    # never has to leave the small range already confirmed safe.
-    # SCANLINE_PERIOD=4 over ART_SLOT=32 gives 8 evenly-spaced candidate
-    # positions (0, 4, 8, ..., 28); skipping 2 of those 8 (rather than
-    # changing the period itself, which the sweep's periodicity depends
-    # on) to land on 6 visible lines. Skipping two *interspersed*
-    # positions instead of the last two in the run -- which left an 8px
-    # gap with nothing in it at the bottom of every cycle -- spreads the
-    # resulting two, slightly-larger gaps across the full height instead.
-    # Removing two slots exactly opposite each other (half the 8-slot
-    # cycle apart) is the most even spacing achievable while keeping every
-    # line on a multiple of SCANLINE_PERIOD: gaps come out 4,4,8,4,4,8 --
-    # symmetric, vs. e.g. removing two adjacent-ish slots which leaves an
-    # uneven 4,8,4,8,4,4 pattern.
-    SCANLINE_SKIP = (0, 16)
-    tall = ART_SLOT + SCANLINE_PERIOD
+    # SCANLINE_SPACING (see SCANLINE_COUNT above for why), a one-period
+    # displacement looks identical to the starting position, so the snap
+    # is invisible -- a standard infinite-scrolling-texture trick -- while
+    # the translate distance never has to leave the small range already
+    # confirmed safe.
+    tall = ART_SLOT + SCANLINE_SPACING
     lines = []
     for y in range(tall):
-        if y % SCANLINE_PERIOD == 0 and (y % ART_SLOT) not in SCANLINE_SKIP:
+        if y % SCANLINE_SPACING == 0:
             lines.append(render.Box(width = ART_SLOT, height = 1, color = "#00000080"))
         else:
             lines.append(render.Box(width = ART_SLOT, height = 1, color = "#00000000"))
@@ -614,7 +621,7 @@ def _glitch_scanlines():
         ))
         keyframes.append(animation.Keyframe(
             percentage = float(ramp_end) / SCANLINE_SWEEP_DURATION,
-            transforms = [animation.Translate(0, SCANLINE_PERIOD)],
+            transforms = [animation.Translate(0, SCANLINE_SPACING)],
             curve = "linear",
         ))