What's the fascination with dark mode?
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But I really appreciate the advice and suggestions I have gotten from everyone in response to MisterEd's post! It has been very interesting seeing how dark mode is both loved & hated so much!!
I'd like to emphasize that its simply not that some people hate the dark theme. People can use whatever theme they want on their own computers. It's a personal choice. I only dislike it when people make posts or videos where they show their desktop. I find it difficult to discern what they are showing. I only want people to be more understanding about this. I bet nobody that is using a dark theme even realizes that some people have to strain their eyes when trying looking at such a desktop.
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Only when soldering cables and stuff
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I mentioned that I do use f.lux - since way before Night Light existed.
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I bet nobody that is using a dark theme even realizes that some people have to strain their eyes when trying looking at such a desktop.
What makes you think that anyone that uses a light theme even realizes that some people have to strain their eyes when trying to look at a light themed desktop? Congrats... now you know the perfect answer.
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Of course, dimming the screen is not an option for image or video professionals who spend fortunes on superior screen technology for colour accuracy reasons, etc., though dark mode still is (an option and generally preferred).
Taking frequent breaks is another option to avoid eye strain. So is increasing font size. Interestingly, this is the preferred interface for Visual Studio by millions of users:
Everything is easily seen and not too much contrast so as to glare. All the different colours improve recognition of code types. The font size is slightly increased. Longer work sessions are possible with less strain. So they all claim anyway. I think it's fine, and really enjoy using it this way.
However, when using Word, I use a white background with dark theme:
I could not use Word with a dark page background unless it was appropriate for a particular style such as brochure, etc. Otherwise, for letters and most documents, it really does need to be white. Plus coloured ink costs a fortune and imagine how environmentally wasteful printing white on black is? Crazy. That rules it out for professional use off the bat.
I do use a dark background for personal Excel work though as it is so much less glaring, especially on a large (ish) screen.
At the end of the day though, it really is subjective - horses for courses. (Chacun à son goût)
Christophe
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What makes you think that anyone that uses a light theme even realizes that some people have to strain their eyes when trying to look at a light themed desktop? Congrats... now you know the perfect answer.
The so called light theme has been around since Windows was released over 35 years ago. I don't know how long dark themes have been around. I only started to notice them a few years ago. I am sure that most people that have switched to a dark theme really like it. However, there may be some that have switched for other reasons such as dark themes are trendy now or are gullible enough to believe what some proponents have claimed. A little searching shows people on both sides of the issue. The problem is it is sometimes hard to separate the objective vs subjective in what claims are made.
Disclaimer: My views are totally subjective. I don't claim to have any objective evidence for or against any claims I have made.
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I use a mixture of Light and Dark, this depends on the content I'm looking at - I use a Dark skin for windows and Chrome. (with the actual content pages controlled by the Page authors On the forums here I tend to use the light skins, as I do with things such as office apps, where I find it useful to see content as it will be most likely to be "Published"
Of course with my Image editors the recent standard has moved to using a darker GUI so that the content shows up better and it's easier to judge colour fidelity, (I am using all 4K HDR screens now, which are colour profiled using a colorimeter, and I also have Daylight White Lighting ). I have lately followed Adobe's lead and moved to a Mid Grey GUI. which they now advise as the GUI for Photoshop, Lightroom and most of the other developers offer a similar option
I always start from a set point with my images on import to Lightroom. They go through an Import Filter that sets them to 5500K, (Daylight), and set the shadows to their max Point and the Highlights to their Minimum, which gives me an idea of the full colour Gamut possible
I have optional Blue light filters built into my Monitors but only switch them on when not working with Images - A compromise to the needs of the task at hand where you want colour Fidelity above all else
This is the kind of thinking that I was referring to in my post #38 above, and it's refreshing to see the technical considerations expressed so well.
I must say that I prefer the dark grey to jet black wherever possible. Similarly, here I just use the standard interface theme.
But a very good post @Barman58
Christophe
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Another fascination with dark mode is that you focus on foreground (ex. text) rather than background (dark background) @CMArbres pointed it out perfectly with VS sample.
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