blue screen

noun

plural blue screens

1

: a photographic technique in which a subject is filmed in front of a blue background so as to allow matte (see matte entry 3 sense 2) compositing of the film with other footage

also : the blue background compare green screen

2

: blue screen of death

Many blue screens are caused by bad memory modules or corrupted disk drives.

—George Cox

Examples of blue screen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Microsoft’s has also confirmed a blue screen of death (BSOD) risk for Windows 11 users with its recent updates. —Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 17 Apr. 2025

On the flip side, reports of Windows 11 update blue screen of death incidents don’t help convince those still on the fence. —Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 20 Apr. 2025

The two lone wolves traverse a wasteland of vast canyons, derelict cityscapes and blazing oil fields, digitally rendered on blue screens. —J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 7 Mar. 2025

This was combined with blue screen techniques to separate each pass, with each one then printed onto film. —Benny Har-Even, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for blue screen

• agin
• alkene
• allene
• ameen
• amin
• amine
• arene
• athene
• baleen
• beeline
• benzene
• between