DVD Screensaver
The DVD screensaver is the bouncing DVD-Video logo everyone silently wills into the corner. It changes color on every bounce, and nothing on screen announces a corner hit, so you have to be watching when it lands. Not a prank: just the iconic screensaver, back on demand and running fullscreen in any browser.
Press F11 for maximum realism. Tap or press Esc to exit.
For the best results, add this to the device's home screen. It then opens with no address bar, no tabs and no URL, so there is nothing left to give it away.
Put it on a TV, a break-room display or a stream and watch how long people keep half an eye on it. If you want the same leave-it-running quality with a different mood, try Matrix code rain or the radar screen.
How to use the dvd screensaver prank
- Press Launch Full-Screen Prank and the DVD VIDEO logo sets off from the top-left of a black screen, bouncing off every edge.
- To run the DVD screensaver on a TV, plug the laptop in over HDMI or open the page in the TV's own browser before launching.
- Leave it be and watch the logo switch color each time it touches a side.
- Click the screen or press Esc when you want your display back.
Putting the DVD screensaver on a TV, laptop or second monitor
On a laptop or desktop, press Launch Full-Screen Prank and the bouncing logo takes the whole display. If a toolbar is left, F11 on Windows or Ctrl + Cmd + F on a Mac clears it. For a second monitor, drag the browser window onto that screen first, because full screen opens on the display the window is on.
For a living-room TV, a laptop on HDMI or the TV's own browser both work. On a phone or tablet, add the page to the home screen to lose the address bar. While it runs, the page asks the screen to stay awake on browsers that support it, so the TV or laptop does not sleep in the middle of a run.
Will the bouncing DVD logo hit the corner?
It depends on the screen. The logo always starts in the same spot and moves at a fixed angle, so whether it ever lands exactly in a corner comes down to the width and height of the display. Some sizes produce corner hits, others keep missing by a few pixels. Launch it again on the same screen and it follows the same path, so if a corner comes, it comes at the same point in the run.
A corner hit looks like any other bounce here: the logo changes color once and heads back out. There is no counter and no announcement, so the moment belongs to whoever is watching.
What this DVD screensaver does and does not do
The logo cycles through seven colors, blue, red, yellow, green, orange, purple and pink, one step per bounce. It moves a set distance on each screen refresh, so on a 120 Hz display it travels about twice as fast as on a 60 Hz one. There are no speed, size or logo settings and no sound, and it does not start on its own when the computer is idle.
The DVD screensaver at parties, on stream and as a small prank
On a TV at a party it becomes a shared waiting game, and on stream it makes a "be right back" screen people keep half an eye on. As a prank, it is the gentlest one here: left running on someone's monitor, it just looks like the computer has wandered off into 2005. For a TV screen that makes people check the cables, use no signal instead.
Frequently asked questions
What are the odds of the DVD logo hitting the corner?
Rarer than it feels like it should be, but far from impossible. Whether a corner hit can happen at all, and how often, depends on the screen dimensions, the logo size and the starting position; some combinations reach a corner regularly, others essentially never do. If it keeps missing, try a different window size, which gives the logo a different path.
Why is everyone so obsessed with the corner hit?
Because it's the perfect low-stakes suspense: obviously going to happen sooner or later, never when you're watching. An episode of the US version of The Office built a scene around it, which cemented the bouncing logo as a shared cultural in-joke rather than just a screensaver.
Is this the same as the old DVD-player screensaver?
Close. It's the same idea: a DVD-Video logo drawn in the classic style, changing color on every bounce at a slow, steady pace. It's recreated in the browser rather than emulated from a real player.
Does it tell me when it hits the corner?
No. A corner hit looks like any other bounce: the logo changes color once and heads back out. There is no counter or alert, so you have to be watching to catch it.
Can I use it as a stream or break-room background?
Yes. Go fullscreen and screen-capture the tab for OBS, or put it on a TV over HDMI. It works as a "be right back" screen because people tend to keep watching it.
Is the DVD screensaver a prank?
No. It's ambience and nostalgia, not a gag. There's no reveal and nobody gets fooled. For something in the same "leave it on a screen" family that IS a prank, try no signal / TV static.
Will it cause burn-in on an OLED?
It should not. The logo keeps moving and changing color over a black screen. The usual cause of burn-in is bright static elements that sit in one place for hours.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, and the bounce area fits the screen. A phone in portrait gives a tall, narrow bounce path, which oddly makes corner hits feel even more elusive.