Staring at the screen for so many hours isn't ideal. I guess we can all agree on that.
Eyes suffer
Thing is, from time to time I google which is supposed to be better on modern screens: light or dark themes.
Last time I read about this, I decided to give a try to the light team, so, I've been using light themes in every tool I use on my daily basis (IDE, terminal, git and db GUI, etc) for the last 2 years.
and I have to say that I think I get less tired?
What's your opinion? I'd love to read it.
Top comments (15)
Reading on a white background burns my eyes very quickly. It only takes a few minutes, after which I remember to use my invert colors shortcut.
Yes, dark themes SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the stress on my eyes.
For me text on a dark background is harder to read, I need to increase the font size. I've been using light themes for 20+ years. I'm using solarized-light for the last ten or so years. The background is a very pale orange.
This is very personal; I think that we must find the better for our eyes. In my case personally, I need a theme with a black screen (theme black) but with low contrast, more dimmed
I can't imagine dark theme is better for my eyes, because if it's white on black it's too much contrast and I get a headache. Any other colour on black is not enough contrast so I'm working hard to read it and get a headache.
White on black and black on white is the same contrast difference though?
Interesting that you think there's less of a contrast between black and colors though, I find that colors are able to "pop" better on a black background. Now I wonder what is best for colors.
They are, but for some reason I find black on white is fine, but white on black is too much.
I think that when eyes see a scene that is mostly dark (like dark mode), they naturally tend to overexpose. That is probably an evolutionary thing to see tigers hiding in the bushes at night. This is why dark mode may feel of higher contrast
Ooh, that makes sense.
I just change my screen brightness through the day. All the studies about blue light are inconclusive so right now it just seems like preference.
I stick with dark mode on my IDE, the syntax highlight looks better. But reading and so are all on white mode.
this is a thing I've noticed, you can use dark mode on the IDE + terminal ... but the web is almost on light mode
Personally yes I believe so they are nowhere near as bright giving you eye fatigue. It is quite subjective though I write articles with a white background and black text and that's the default for word so it depends.
this is such an interesting point: regular reading is (usually) black letters, white screen
@gzamann do you agree?
Exactly! The text to background contrast seems much better, easier to find words and read.
When we say light , Light could have multiple versions and same applied to dark. If it's pitch black then I would prefer white. It's depends on how smooth is the theme.