This object makes sense to me only if, even if there is a 
     display, which is fundamentally different than tracing line 
     with the CRT raster, at least that original process is simulated.

Yes to all of that, but also, I think a raster display of sufficiently high DPI can simulate a vector display very well, if and only if they pay attention to the right things. A vector display is visually unique for a few reasons.

- The lines themselves which are honestly the easiest part to fake if the DPI is high enough, past the point of visual distinction.

- The "bloom" or "glow" (phosphor bleed, or whatever the right term is) around the lines

- The temporal effects caused by the screen phosphor continuing to glow even after the beam no longer hits them. The most obvious example is the "streak" left behind the ultra-bright moving bullets in Asteroids which looks absolutely awesome

I have seen incredible examples of vector/CRT emulation when people get creative with RetroArch (or whatever) GPU powered shaders.The only things that emulation can't match (for me) are input latency and the magic of knowing that the process of creating the image is "real" and not "faked."