A rectangle drifting across a black screen, bouncing off the edges, with everybody in the room waiting to see whether it lands exactly in a corner. It is the most patient form of entertainment ever produced by a consumer electronics company, and it was originally a technical measure rather than a game.
What it simulates
The bouncing logo screensaver from DVD players: a coloured box travelling in straight lines, reflecting off each edge, changing colour on every bounce.
Will it hit the corner?
Eventually, probably. Whether a perfect corner hit ever occurs depends on the starting position and the ratio between the horizontal and vertical speeds against the screen dimensions. With some combinations it happens regularly; with others the path never quite closes and a true corner hit never comes. That uncertainty is the whole appeal, and it is why the effect became a meme decades after the hardware it came from stopped being sold.
Why screensavers existed
Not for entertainment. Early CRT displays could have a static image burned permanently into the phosphor, so anything left on an idle screen had to keep moving. Modern LCDs are essentially immune to that, which is why screensavers became optional. OLED panels have brought a version of the concern back, which is why they run their own pixel shifting and refresh routines.
How to run it
- Press Start fullscreen.
- Wait. That is the activity.
- Press Esc or tap Exit when you are done.
Related screens
Flip Clock and Waterfall for other ambient screens, No Signal TV for the other drifting box, black screen for the field it runs on.
DVD screensaver questions
Does it ever hit the corner exactly?
Sometimes. It depends on where it starts and on the ratio between its horizontal and vertical speeds relative to the screen size. Some combinations produce corner hits fairly regularly; others trace a path that never quite reaches one.
Why did DVD players have a bouncing logo?
To prevent burn in. A static image left on a CRT could permanently mark the phosphor, so anything shown on an idle screen had to move. The logo was a practical safeguard that happened to be mesmerising.
Can I use this as a real screensaver?
Not directly , it runs in a browser rather than as a system screensaver, and your operating system will still dim or lock the display on its own schedule. As a fullscreen tab on a second monitor it works fine.