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Author Topic: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?  (Read 1700 times)

jex

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Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« on: August 05, 2022, 03:14:12 am »
Basically title.

I started to question Why would I automatically keep trying to make everything Dark, from apps, browser, websites (browser extensions) etc..

I've recently installed a fresh Win11 and I immediately changed everything to dark mode and "forced" Lazarus too (here). But a couple days ago I wondered WHY? so I changed everything back to Light mode and while it isn't that easy to switch to after all these years of strict dark mode.. lowering monitors brightness seems to help a lot.

While dark mode might seem better in my case because I mostly work in a dark room at night, I started to actually quite enjoy light mode. (I think mostly because everything blends in together nicely as everything has light mode unlike "forcing" most things to be dark)

Do you mind sharing your take on this? Which do you prefer and why? Do you mostly code during the day or night? What about room lighting etc?

Martin_fr

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2022, 03:27:06 am »
I grew up in the age of CRT.  There simply was only one (or two) options: white text on black, or green text on black.  Then color came, but not quality, not back then. So white background would be looking into a flickering bright light.

Today that is all different.
And yes to a couple of points from your post:
=> Don't set your monitors brightness to 100%. Unless you work outside and have direct sunlight on your screen.
=> Always keep the room around you lit up. If the room is dark, your eyes adjust to darkness. And then the light from the screen will be blindingly bright.

For all else, there are tons of pro and contra....

Gustavo 'Gus' Carreno

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2022, 04:25:36 am »
Hey Y'all,

I've been invested in Dark Mode for a while.
When I first changed, a year or two ago, it was just to see what all the cool guys were talking about.
After a while I tried to switch back to Light mode and my 52 year old eyes hit me with a bloody sledge hammer.

So, now, for me in particular, using Dark Mode, is pretty much the unavoidable degradation of time :)

But I do have to agree with, at least, one point that Martin and Jex mentioned: Don't have your room dark and your monitor 100% bright :)

Cheers,
Gus
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440bx

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2022, 05:00:09 am »
Like Martin_fr, I got used to white/green/ember text on a black background and never liked lighter backgrounds.

I don't really use "dark mode" because I find that even programs that claim to support it don't give the results I'd like.  As a result, whenever possible I customize the colors in the application itself to something I find "acceptable".

Just about the only applications that provide the "dark mode" that I find satisfying are text editors.

I attached a screenshot of my custom colors when editing in Lazarus.  That's the "dark mode" I like.

(FPC v3.0.4 and Lazarus 1.8.2) or (FPC v3.2.2 and Lazarus v3.2) on Windows 7 SP1 64bit.

Awkward

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2022, 05:51:04 am »
Well, Dark mode looks nice often but i found what my eyes going tired too fast often, much more fast than with light mode. So, usually, i prefer Light

Leledumbo

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2022, 10:26:10 am »
The only time and reason I use dark mode on portable devices is when they have OLED screen, as dark color = turned off pixel = 0 energy consumed, so it gives better battery life. On a stationary or always plugged in devices, I prefer light mode. No idea why, as opposed to many people, why eyes hurt more when seeing darker colors. This also applies to the so called "eye comfort mode" or "blue light filter", where my eyes can't bear seeing the warmer tone, they want the cooler one. I'm not wearing glasses, btw and my eye lenses are still fairly sharp with quite far maximum focus distance as well as quite close minimum one. Perhaps it has something to do with this.

alpine

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2022, 10:51:45 am »
Programmers prefer dark mode because the light attracts bugs. 🤣
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Raf20076

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2022, 12:29:38 pm »
I hate Dark mode beside it's bad for your eyes. I always switch over to light mode and I don't use application with only dark mode. Using a dark screen requires your pupils to dilate which can make it harder to focus on the screen.  When your pupils dilate, your vision becomes less clear. When your pupils constrict under bright light, your vision sharpens.
People with astigmatism (approximately 50% of the population) find it harder to read white text on black than black text on white. Part of this has to do with light levels: with a bright display (white background) the iris closes a bit more, decreasing the effect of the “deformed” lens; with a dark display (black background) the iris opens to receive more light and the deformation of the lens creates a much fuzzier focus at the eye.

Black text on a white background makes for the best readability, hence the best comprehension and retention. Why? Because the color white reflects all wavelengths of the visible spectrum. The iris does not need to widen to absorb more light.
« Last Edit: August 12, 2022, 12:32:38 pm by Raf20076 »

superc

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2022, 03:02:38 pm »
Programmers prefer dark mode because the light attracts bugs. 🤣

ok ok ok .... You win

Martin_fr

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2022, 06:29:52 pm »
Actually I read somewhere (probably can be found by google) that dark vs light mode affects how far open your pupils are. And (as anyone knowing about cameras and lenses) will tell you, a smaller opening makes it easier to focus (i.e. you need to be less exact).

Looking at a dark screen your pupils open wide, and your eyes need to work harder to focus.
Off course setting your monitor to full brightness on a light theme, well that is bad too.

regs

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2022, 06:59:40 pm »
Light mode. Less stressful on eyes. Dark text on light background is far easier to focus on.

mas steindorff

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #11 on: August 12, 2022, 07:12:45 pm »
When I am looking at a webpage, light is my default because it's the whole page that someone designed that I wish to see. But when I wish to focuses on a task, Dark works better.  I think it's the just the fact the eyes are more relaxed that helps keep me in the zone. or it may be at times, I have floaters in my eyes which appear as dark spots in my vision.  In dark mode, they mostly are unseen and do not distract me.  in light mode, they can add extra false info to my field of view.

« Last Edit: August 12, 2022, 07:14:19 pm by mas steindorff »
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VTwin

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Re: Dark mode vs Light mode - which do you prefer and why?
« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2022, 03:11:00 am »
I don't care for dark mode at all on Mac. In part, it does not work well for many applications, including many pages in Firefox and Apple's own Preview. More so, I am used to looking at normal books and journal articles. I normally work during the day or evening, and I can turn down the brightness if I like.
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