The "easier on the eyes" excuse is nonsense. I say this as someone
whose computing career began with CRT terminals that displayed light
text (or, if you were lucky, graphics) against a dark background. As
soon as the display technology allowed for dark text on a light
background, a lot of us made the switch,
for the same reason that
printed paper usually has dark text on a light background, and not the
other way round: because it's easier on the eyes.
I don’t know why everybody is embracing “Dark Mode” display settings these days. Some say it’s for power saving, others say it’s easier on
the eyes. The only reason I’ve heard that makes sense is graphic
artists doing colour work use it (together with appropriately set-up
ambient lighting--important!) to get a more consistent viewing
environment, crucial for ensuring those colours come out correct. As
far as I’m concerned, everybody else is following a fad.
If you had black paper there's no white ink to print on it with.
[...] Chosing
dark backgrounds in software terminals isn't new, even if other
software is now embracing it more. What's the default (if it can be
changed) Linux fbcon background colour?
But the 'paper' colour was dazzling, and in the early days VDUs were at 50-60hz and I could see the flashing.
The “easier on the eyes” excuse is nonsense.
On 21 Feb 2025 08:40:54 +1000, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
If you had black paper there's no white ink to print on it with.
It literally took me less than 60 seconds to discover some sources of
white ink.
What's the default framebuffer console background color on
a SPARCstation?
What's the default color scheme in a Plan 9 'terminal'
window? Or on a Lisp Machine window?
It seems like as soon as we started getting high-
resolution bitmap screens, the common response was to
mutter "thank God, finally!" and implement black text on
white background.
I don't know why everybody is embracing "Dark Mode"
display settings these days
The "easier on the eyes" excuse is nonsense.
I say this as someone whose computing career began with
CRT terminals that displayed light text (or, if you were
lucky, graphics) against a dark background. As soon as
the display technology allowed for dark text on a light
background, a lot of us made the switch,
for the same reason that printed paper usually has dark
text on a light background, and not the other way round:
because it's easier on the eyes.
Because, you see, to make light text on a dark background
easier to read, people tend to turn up the brightness.
And this greater brightness tends to tire out the eyes
sooner. With a large, light background, things remain
comfortably readable at lower display intensities.
On 21 Feb 2025 08:40:54 +1000, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
If you had black paper there's no white ink to print on it with.
It literally took me less than 60 seconds to discover some sources of
white ink. Shall I tell you what to search for?
<https://www.conservationsupplies.co.nz/products/white-ink> <https://largeformat.hp.com/uk/blog/with-white-ink-you-can-print-your-way-to-higher-margins>
Lawrence D'Oliveiro <[email protected]d> writes:
The “easier on the eyes” excuse is nonsense.
I never bought that either.
By the way, I use dark text on light background, but that's because I
use blue light filters pretty all day long, making it stronger at night;
only a light background works well that way. Anyway, what's very
noticeably easier on my eyes is the blue light filter. I run redshift.
But this web page presents a different view.
https://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/cfaqPart6.html
In the examples of the word "hello" blue on black looks
quite clear to me, but then so does black on white. But
blue on red and red on blue are disasters.
John:
What's the default framebuffer console background color on
a SPARCstation?
What's the default color scheme in a Plan 9 'terminal'
window? Or on a Lisp Machine window?
It seems like as soon as we started getting high-
resolution bitmap screens, the common response was to
mutter "thank God, finally!" and implement black text on
white background.
What is the connextion between resolution and light mode?
I say light mode is more typical of GUI programs because it allows
for large areas of brightly-coloured interface elements and icons,
whereas dark mode requires that most of the screen be dark, which
means window title bars and backgrounds cannot be so varied and
discernible.
For this reason, good dark schemes tend to use bluish
colors for the background or comments (for there may be
more than one), and green-yellow collors for the
foreground.
To get a good idea why 'light mode' came about you have to
remember how the first GUI's were 'advertised'. As a
"desktop" -- with most of the UI elements styled to
resemble a real world physical desktop (anyone remember
apple's 'waste basket' that looked like a typical office
desk side waste basket).
And at the time, what were "real world desks" covered in?
Loads of sheets of paper.
And what 'color' were most of those sheets of paper? With
rare exception, they were white paper with black
typewriter ink for the text (or black or blue ink for
handwritten paper).
Richmond:
But this web page presents a different view.
https://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/cfaqPart6.html
In the examples of the word "hello" blue on black looks quite clear
to me, but then so does black on white. But blue on red and red on
blue are disasters.
While working on a NetPBM tool for the adjustment of saturation[1], I
learned a bit about colors, partly from direct experience. In the RGB triplet, blue is the darkest color and green the lightest. Perceived saturation is an inverse[2] relation to perceived brightness. The six
main colors in the order of increasing brightness and (generally)
decreasing saturation are: BRMGCY, with blue the darkest and yellow
the lightest color.
Blue on black is bad because of poor contrast, as well as pure red on
pure blue, and yellow on white. Also see how ugly green on white on
that page is -- the exact combination in the default colorscheme of
Microsoft SQL Management Studio!
Attempting to increase the brightness of blue by adding red and green
quickly "dillutes" its saturation. For this reason, good dark schemes
tend to use bluish colors for the background or comments (for there
may be more than one), and green-yellow collors for the foreground. Converselty, white schemes have to use dark colors for the foreground,
which significantly decreases the variety of hues, and that is a
serious disadvatage. ____________________
1. Example:
<https://freeshell.de/antonius/img_host/pamaltsat-ex01-v.png>
2. The indefinite article is intentional, because it is a general
tendency rather than an exact analytical relation.
Another thing to consider though is that blue light
refracts more than redlight. So if eyesight is becoming
poor, it may still be possible to focus on blue writing
without glasses, while red will no longer be possible.
whereas dark mode requires that most of the screen be
dark, which means window title bars and backgrounds
cannot be so varied and discernible.
The GUI artists likely took advantage of this fact, but
this fact was not likely 'why' they went "light mode"
coloring.
That was much more likely so that the virtual "desktop"
they were creating would more closely resemble a real
world desk that they were (at the time) telling everyone
their system resembled, so it would be "soo easy" for
everyone to immediately begin using it with no training
needed (or so they thought).
Richmond:
Another thing to consider though is that blue light refracts more
than redlight. So if eyesight is becoming poor, it may still be
possible to focus on blue writing without glasses, while red will no
longer be possible.
Hmmm, I do people ever complain of color aberrations? Does anybody
find the natural full-spectrum daylight (3000-4000K) less comfortable
than a spectral-color lighting? I do not think so.
By the way, seeing pure blue and pure red close together on the stark
black background of a 16-color terminal feels weird to me. The red
words seem to stand out of the display plane.
do people ever complain of color aberrations?
As a glasses wearer, when driving and looking in side
mirrors, most cars have small daylight running lights,
which show as a bright blue point source separated from a
smudge of green/yellow/red.
do people ever complain of color aberrations?
Blue on black is bad because of poor contrast, as well as
pure red on pure blue, and yellow on white. Also see how
ugly green on white on that page is -- the exact combination
in the default colorscheme of Microsoft SQL Management
Studio!
They must really be more like paints. Ink dyes the paper - it's a
subtractive process, hence mix all the colours on an ink-jet printer and
you get black. Onto black paper, ink can only make the black darker.
Can you find me a white ink cartridge for my HP ...
On 21 Feb 2025 18:29:31 +1000, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
They must really be more like paints. Ink dyes the paper - it's a
subtractive process, hence mix all the colours on an ink-jet printer and
you get black. Onto black paper, ink can only make the black darker.
When you apply the ink (or paint) as a layer on the paper, then the light
has to reflect off that ink before it gets to the paper.
This is similar to how a blackboard works, which is how you can write light-coloured text on a dark blackboard.
Subtractive mixing requires actually mixing the paints.
Lawrence D'Oliveiro <[email protected]d> wrote:
On 21 Feb 2025 18:29:31 +1000, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
They must really be more like paints. Ink dyes the paper - it's a
subtractive process, hence mix all the colours on an ink-jet printer
and you get black. Onto black paper, ink can only make the black
darker.
When you apply the ink (or paint) as a layer on the paper, then the
light has to reflect off that ink before it gets to the paper.
Ink isn't a layer, it's absorbed by the paper ...
... this conflating of ink and paint ...
In the RGB triplet, blue is the darkest color and green the lightest.
You accuse of lying ...
It seems like as soon as we started getting high-resolution bitmap
screens, the common response was to mutter "thank God, finally!" and >implement black text on white background.
By the way, I use dark text on light background, but that's because I
use blue light filters pretty all day long, making it stronger at night;
Another thing to consider though is that blue light refracts more than redlight. So if eyesight is becoming poor, it may still be possible to
focus on blue writing without glasses, while red will no longer be
possible.
White background is too bright, too fatiguing. PDF manuals that force
white or bright background are really annoying.
In the Smalltalk world, they say, "Don't mode me in!".
White background is too bright, too fatiguing. PDF
manuals that force white or bright background are really
annoying.
I've set my PDF reader to use a lightish grey background.
By blue light filter you mean a filter that removes blue
light? like the night viewing mode?
You accuse of lying ...
No, you are the one who used that word, I did not.
Hmmm, I do people ever complain of color aberrations?
Does anybody find the natural full-spectrum daylight
(3000-4000K) less comfortable than a spectral-color
lighting? I do not think so.
OK but I am not sure what bearing that has on it.
By the way, seeing pure blue and pure red close together
on the stark black background of a 16-color terminal
feels weird to me. The red words seem to stand out of
the display plane.
Yes because it is refracting differently. These things are
noticeable when looking at red and blue LEDs for example
on gambling machines. The blue light is clearer.
I don't want any externally imposed "modes," but rather
the ability to set the colors of my interface elements
(text, title bar, background . . .) myself. This was still
possible in Windows 98, but it seems to have been severely
limited in newer Windows versions.
Bob Eager to Anton Shepelev:
White background is too bright, too fatiguing. PDF manuals that
force white or bright background are really annoying.
I've set my PDF reader to use a lightish grey background.
That's right. It's not the PDF manual, but the PDF reader. I prefer to
set the background in my PDF reader and my browser to some reddish
yellow resembling old paper, e.g.: 255/232/216 or even 255/227/207 .
Does anyone know how to configure a non-white background for qpdview?
You know, given our past exchanges, I think you know exactly what I
mean and this conflating of ink and paint is just trolling.
Goodbye.
Computer Nerd Kev <[email protected]d> wrote:
You know, given our past exchanges, I think you know exactly what I
mean and this conflating of ink and paint is just trolling.
Goodbye.
Yes, Lawrence is more often than not simply trolling. Killfiling him
is the best response.
Stefan Ram:
I don't want any externally imposed "modes," but rather
the ability to set the colors of my interface elements
(text, title bar, background . . .) myself. This was still
possible in Windows 98, but it seems to have been severely
limited in newer Windows versions.
Yes, and in addition to that, more and more programs use
some custom, non-standard, or non-native UI frameworks, on
which Windows settngs have no effect. Scaringliy many
programs provice UI in the form of a built-in browser.
Lawrence D'Oliveiro to Anton Shepelev:
You accuse of lying ...
No, you are the one who used that word, I did not.
Yes, I am -- in clear terms to describe your statetement.
White background is too bright, too fatiguing.
Electron does suck, yeah, but it does technically make more programs compatible with Linux.
On Sat, 22 Feb 2025 19:10:03 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 wrote:
Electron does suck, yeah, but it does technically make more programs
compatible with Linux.
It was Microsoft’s choice of framework for building Visual Studio Code. Wonder why?
On 22 Feb 2025 05:19:56 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
White background is too bright, too fatiguing.
Does your monitor not have a suitable brightness control?
Lawrence D'Oliveiro <[email protected]d> wrote at 21:26 this Saturday (GMT):
On Sat, 22 Feb 2025 19:10:03 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 wrote:
Electron does suck, yeah, but it does technically make more programs
compatible with Linux.
It was Microsoft’s choice of framework for building Visual Studio Code.
Wonder why?
Wait, VSC is a website?
Salvador Mirzo <[email protected]> writes:
Lawrence D'Oliveiro <[email protected]d> writes:
The “easier on the eyes” excuse is nonsense.
I never bought that either.
By the way, I use dark text on light background, but that's because I
use blue light filters pretty all day long, making it stronger at night;
only a light background works well that way. Anyway, what's very
noticeably easier on my eyes is the blue light filter. I run redshift.
By blue light filter you mean a filter that removes blue light? like the night viewing mode?
Lawrence D'Oliveiro to Anton Shepelev:
You accuse of lying ...
No, you are the one who used that word, I did not.
Yes, I am -- in clear terms to describe your statetement.
You are ascribing malicious motives to people who are
simply deluded.
Lawrence D'Oliveiro:
Lawrence D'Oliveiro to Anton Shepelev:
You accuse of lying ...
No, you are the one who used that word, I did not.
Yes, I am -- in clear terms to describe your statetement.
You are ascribing malicious motives to people who are
simply deluded.
By repeatedly snipping my argumentation you show that you
are not interested in a meaningful conversation.
Lawrence D'Oliveiro:
Lawrence D'Oliveiro to Anton Shepelev:
You accuse of lying ...
No, you are the one who used that word, I did not.
Yes, I am -- in clear terms to describe your statetement.
You are ascribing malicious motives to people who are simply deluded.
There are different reports and studies that seem to contradict
each other in part. Here are two quotes from the World Wide Web:
On 2025-02-20, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
I don't know why everybody is embracing "Dark Mode" display settings
these days. Some say it's for power saving, others say it's easier
on the eyes.
The only reason I've heard that makes sense is graphic artists doing
colour work use it (together with appropriately set-up ambient lighting--important!) to get a more consistent viewing environment,
crucial for ensuring those colours come out correct. As far as I'm concerned, everybody else is following a fad.
The "easier on the eyes" excuse is nonsense.
I say this as someone whose computing career began with CRT terminals
that displayed light text (or, if you were lucky, graphics) against
a dark background. As soon as the display technology allowed for
dark text on a light background, a lot of us made the switch,
for the same reason that printed paper usually has dark text on a
light background, and not the other way round: because it's easier
on the eyes.
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