I'm studying post graduate aviation medicine at present
There is a physiologic reason why pilots prefer analogue to digital readouts, and why smaller moving number images attract less attention than dials moving.
The occipital cortex ( via magnocentral pathways via lateral geniculate nuclei)is hard wired to interpret visually perceived movement as potential danger without reference to "higher centres" interpeteting the visual data.
ie if you saw an analogue altimeter unwinding the brain links to potential danger are more immediate, and the same would apply to the VSI in typical analogue form.
When its moving tapes of numbers occuppying less visiual space and requiring more intellectual input to interpret , its natural to feel less concerned, and in fact the brain is hard wired to feel less concerned.
All of this adds to increased risk at the edge of the flight envelope...