After making a scan line (left-to-right), the electron beam in a CRT retraces (returns) to the left side of the screen to begin the next line. During retrace time, it is not putting picture information on the screen, so the beam is turned off, or blanked. About 83% of each horizontal cycle is spent writing the line, while 17% is spent retracing the beam to the left before starting the next line. See " Blanking."