Binnen één seconde was het scherm leeg.

Here binnen means within.

So Binnen één seconde means within one second. It gives a time limit: the result happened before one second had passed.

This is different from a literal physical meaning of binnen, which can also mean inside in other contexts.

Dutch uses één with accents when it clearly means the number one.

• een = a / an
• één = one

So:

• binnen een seconde can still be understood, but may look more neutral
• binnen één seconde emphasizes the number: within one single second

The accents help prevent confusion and often add emphasis.

Because after één, Dutch normally uses the singular noun.

• één seconde = one second
• twee seconden = two seconds

So the singular seconde is correct here.

Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second rule.

The first element in the sentence is Binnen één seconde. Since that time phrase comes first, the finite verb must come immediately after it:

• Binnen één seconde
  • was
    • het scherm leeg

If you start with the subject instead, you get:

• Het scherm was binnen één seconde leeg.

That is also correct.

Dutch often uses zijn with an adjective to describe the resulting state.

• het scherm was leeg = the screen was empty / blank

In context, English might naturally say the screen went blank or the screen was blank within one second, but Dutch does not need a separate verb like became here.

You could also say:

• Het scherm werd binnen één seconde leeg

but that sounds less natural in many everyday contexts. With adjectives like leeg, Dutch often simply uses was to describe the state reached.

Because scherm is a het-word.

In Dutch, nouns take either:

• de
• het

You usually have to learn this with each noun. Scherm is neuter, so it takes het:

• het scherm

Other examples:

• het huis
• het boek

Because leeg is used predicatively here, after the verb was.

Compare:

• het lege scherm = the empty screen
  Here the adjective comes before the noun, so it usually gets -e.
• het scherm was leeg = the screen was empty
  Here the adjective comes after the verb, so it stays in its basic form.

So in this sentence, leeg is correct.

Yes. Leeg literally means empty, but with scherm it can also mean blank.

So het scherm was leeg can be understood as:

• the screen was empty
• the screen was blank

In natural English, blank is often the best translation for a screen.

Yes, that is possible, but it is not exactly the same.

• Binnen één seconde = within one second
  This focuses on the maximum time it took.
• In één seconde = in one second
  This often focuses more on the duration itself.

In many contexts they are very close, but binnen stresses that the result happened before the one-second limit was reached.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• Binnen één seconde was het scherm leeg.
• Het scherm was binnen één seconde leeg.

The difference is mainly focus.

• Starting with Binnen één seconde emphasizes the speed or time frame.
• Starting with Het scherm emphasizes the subject first.

Yes. Was is the simple past form of zijn.

• is = present
• was = past singular
• waren = past plural

So the sentence describes something that happened in the past.

In the present tense, it would be:

• Binnen één seconde is het scherm leeg.

But whether that sounds natural depends on context. It could describe something habitual, a demonstration, or something that is happening right now.

For a normal past event, was is the natural choice.

A rough guide is:

• één sounds somewhat like English ain or ane, but with a pure vowel
• seconde is roughly seh-KON-duh

The stress is on the second syllable of seconde:

• se-CON-de

And scherm has a Dutch sch sound that is harder and more throaty than English sh.

Depending on context, common translations are:

• Within one second, the screen was blank.
• Within one second, the screen was empty.
• The screen went blank within one second.

If the meaning is about a display losing its content, blank is usually the most natural English choice.