A visually dark or completely black screen presented as a video on the YouTube platform can serve various purposes. For example, it might be used as a placeholder during video editing, or intentionally uploaded as a form of minimalist content.
The practice offers several advantages, including a reduction in bandwidth consumption when streamed or downloaded. Historically, such uploads have been employed for specific audio-only presentations or as a method to test upload functionality on the video-sharing platform. The availability of black videos also provides a low-distraction background option for playing ambient audio.