Technical Information: The system does not have a full 384 x 224 array of LEDs as a display. It uses a pair of 1 x 224 linear arrays (one per eye) and rapidly scans the array across the eye’s field of view using curved spinning mirrors. These mirrors rotate at very high speed (they are what produce the mechanical humming noise from inside the unit) and can be damaged if the Virtual Boy is hit, knocked over, or used while in rough motion (such as in a car). A full-size display, while mechanically simpler, would have increased the Virtual Boy’s physical size and unit cost to the point where the system would become uneconomical.
The mirrors might be curved, didn’t look too careful when I had mine apart. But at least there’s nothing spinning – they’re oscillating, twisting back and forth.
It’s repeated in the next passage “which uses a rotating mirror to transform ”
The only thing rotating in a VB is when you screw on any screws… 😉