A type of test pattern that appeared on a lot of VHS tapes before the mid-1990s. It consists of a white screen accompanied by an endless tone. If VHS tapes did not have this, they would either have static, a black screen with red numbers and a phone dialing noise, or a multicolored pattern.
Man, that white screen of death that came out of nowhere at the end of my VHS tape scared da hell outta me so much I wanted to run outta da room.
by Danny Palmer June 26, 2007
What happens when you're running a computer that's running low on memory and/or has an obsolete operating system, like Windows XP. When you get a white screen of death, it's usually preceded by some shit like "unresponsive script" error messages or hourglassing.
My old laptop is all fucked up---every time I want to watch a YouTube vid, I have to wait for the white screen of death to clear.
by pentozali October 20, 2014
My shitty laptops has an hardware problem that makes it hang with a white screen on high IO loads, under linux, freebsd and windows. Packard bell did not find anything though.
see blue screen of death
see blue screen of death
by aris May 31, 2004
The screen that appears if you are curious enough to watch a VHS tape beyond the credits. It shows a screen after a few minutes of a blank screen, usually white or black, and has a beep noise like in a test pattern. They usually show up for a few minutes and then goes back to a blank screen, or continues until the tape is ended by static. No one knows what the purpose of them are as of yet. I guess they had to be cheap, they could of just showed a screen saying "End of VHS tape, please press stop" but no, they had to show something irritating and horrifying.
TV: "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep"
Friend: "What the hell is that noise?"
Me: "Oh, its the White screen of death, I forgot to shut the VHS off, I guess it woke both of us up. That movie was boring."
Friend: "Whats a White Screen of Death?"
Me: "Its what is on the TV right now, no one knows what it means."
Adult: "It means the movie is over! Damn, you kids don't know nothing!"
Me: "No, there has to be a more logical explanation for them!"
Friend: "What the hell is that noise?"
Me: "Oh, its the White screen of death, I forgot to shut the VHS off, I guess it woke both of us up. That movie was boring."
Friend: "Whats a White Screen of Death?"
Me: "Its what is on the TV right now, no one knows what it means."
Adult: "It means the movie is over! Damn, you kids don't know nothing!"
Me: "No, there has to be a more logical explanation for them!"
by Teevo March 25, 2008
The White Screen of Death is any screen with a white background that appears on an iPod when it is broken beyond repair. These screens are usually accompanied by a face with red X's for eyes and a frowny face and says something like "Please go to apple.com/support for assistance".
A white screen of death is almost guarenteed after dropping an iPod (along with a cracked screen), dropping the iPod in water, someone steps on the iPod or the stars align in such a way that your iPod just suddenly doesn't work for no apparent reason. This is linked to the Blue Screen of Death in old Windows computers and also the Red Ring of Death in XBox 360's.
A white screen of death is almost guarenteed after dropping an iPod (along with a cracked screen), dropping the iPod in water, someone steps on the iPod or the stars align in such a way that your iPod just suddenly doesn't work for no apparent reason. This is linked to the Blue Screen of Death in old Windows computers and also the Red Ring of Death in XBox 360's.
by Sid Barrett August 22, 2007
When your browser turns white, such as when you open iTunes and then minimize it... causing it to be blank and white. Or when a notification pops up.
by anonymousssssssss December 8, 2007
The White Screen of Death is any screen with a white background that appears on an iPod when it is broken beyond repair. These screens are usually accompanied by a face with red X's for eyes and a frowny face and says something like "Please go to apple.com/support for assistance".
A white screen of death is almost guarenteed after dropping an iPod (along with a cracked screen), dropping the iPod in water, someone steps on the iPod or the stars align in such a way that your iPod just suddenly doesn't work for no apparent reason. This is linked to the Blue Screen of Death in old Windows computers and also the Red Ring of Death in XBox 360's.
A white screen of death is almost guarenteed after dropping an iPod (along with a cracked screen), dropping the iPod in water, someone steps on the iPod or the stars align in such a way that your iPod just suddenly doesn't work for no apparent reason. This is linked to the Blue Screen of Death in old Windows computers and also the Red Ring of Death in XBox 360's.
by Sid Barrett August 7, 2007