Gibson has said that he was imagining a TV from when he was growing up. Quote:

"I actually composed that first image with black and white video static of my childhood in mind, sodium silvery and almost painful, […] the texture and color of a signal free channel on a wooden cabinet motorola with fabric covered speakers.

So like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_7yUDne8fg&t=260s