plaid screen n. [XEROX PARC] A `special effect' that
occurs when certain kinds of {memory smash}es overwrite the
control blocks or image memory of a bit-mapped display. The term
"salt and pepper" may refer to a different pattern of similar
origin. Though the term as coined at PARC refers to the result of
an error, some of the {X} demos induce plaid-screen effects
deliberately as a {display hack}.