In telecommunication, the term noisy white has the following meanings:
In facsimile or display systems, such as television, a nonuniformity in the white area[?] of the image, i.e., document or picture, caused by the presence of noise in the received signal.
A signal or signal level that is supposed to represent a white area on the object, but has a noise content sufficient to cause the creation of noticeable black spots on the display surface or record medium.
... See Professor Edward Felten's freedom-to-tinker Web site for information and pointers.
An early example of a DRM system is the Content Scrambling System (CSS) employed ...