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Is Dark Mode Such a Good Idea?

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Re: Is Dark Mode Such a Good Idea?

#381

Post by chooseaname »

there_the_and wrote: post #377
chooseaname wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blue on black/dark gray is horrible for visual acuity.

Blues exist along a range of brightness values and blues work great in dark terminals and editors all day every day for many many people. I'm typing into a browser window surrounded by probably about 4 or 5 terminal and editor windows peeking out of the background with somewhere between 5 and 10 different shades of blue on dark grey backgrounds and they look clear, bright, and amazing. The dark background makes the b…

Blue is objectively the hardest color to see. Amber would be so much better in this scenario.

Re: Is Dark Mode Such a Good Idea?

#382

Post by aspenmayer »

taneq wrote: post #329
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they were discussing the subject of, how our conscious estimation of our subjective experience can be way off. Which is a legitimate point?

Is it? I mean, serious question - aren't they they same thing? What IS our subjective experience if not our conscious estimation of how we experienced the thing? Is it possible to think you're enjoying something when really you're not, and if so then what the heck does that even mean?

You can be wrong about your perceptions, if you’ve read your Descartes.

Dark mode could be more aesthetically pleasing, and yet could also be less legible. I have personally experienced this. Dark mode is hard to read and find my place in compared to light mode. The white space helps me absorb the information and use it effectively. I say this while I still think dark mode looks better for many apps. I just choose light mode because of utility and usability.

Re: Is Dark Mode Such a Good Idea?

#383

Post by Chromozon »

I remember reading an article years ago which explained that the reason people get eyestrain from a white background is that the monitor's brightness is set way too high. With high brightness, the monitor acts as a light shining directly at you all day. Instead, you want it to be more like paper- low light emission but still readable due to contrast. At the time, I was using dark mode heavily, but I was still having bad eye strain. I tried lowering the brightness of the monitor, and the problem went away. Since then, I've only used light mode with a low brightness setting of 30 out of 100. I encourage people to experiment with it. Note, if you are not used to low brightness, the monitor will look incredibly dim. But your eyes will adjust quickly- mine only took a few minutes.

Re: Is Dark Mode Such a Good Idea?

#384

Post by nogabebop23 »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #241

Wait. So. "Multiple studies show that light mode is better" trumps my actual experience, with my eyeballs, in my office environment? No. No it doesn't. 1. I don't have that much faith in scientists. Someone trying to p-hack their way to a publishable result that's sensational enough to advance their career is not going to produce good advice for me. 2. Even if they were perfect scientists, they're not using my eyebal…

>> I don't have that much faith in scientists.

well I guess you have faith or dogma to fall back on, then. Safe travels!

Re: Is Dark Mode Such a Good Idea?

#385

Post by coffeeling »

CSSer wrote: post #5

They taught us this in advertising. White text scatters over the iris on a dark background, so it’s harder to read the copy. I’ve even read it in UX articles. It was amusing to get out of school and into the tech industry to find dark mode everywhere. Granted, I use it too. Both my terminal and editor have dark themes. I’m not really sure why. The terminal isn’t really a big deal to me. I could go either way there. B…

> Granted, I use it too. Both my terminal and editor have dark themes. I’m not really sure why. The terminal isn’t really a big deal to me. I could go either way there. But I’ve just never found a lighter color theme that wasn’t offensive in an editor. I always try them for a bit and end up switching back.

I spent ages hunting for a VSCode theme that wasn't just a blob of undifferentiated white. Turns out, now light themes are designed as dark themes first, flipped and just generally obey the rules of dark themes (eg. color pops out a ton in dark mode, it's a much more balanced part of the UI in a positive polarity environment and can be used more liberally).

We used to just design UIs, and most of what people started calling light themes were actually just "normal, not trying to be obsessively dark UI design". Normal UI design has really wide latitude to use a lot of stuff, dark theme is a much more narrow, specific philosophy in comparison. Take a look at eg. Office apps. The default "light" theme isn't super white, it's called "Colorful", is colorful, and it looks great. It just does what looks good without trying to be especially light or dark and surprise surprise, it works.

What did I end up with? Visual Studio Blue. All the different UI things are various very distinct shades of blue so the app has a characterful look and the UI elements are clearly differentiated, and the background has a slightly yellow hue to it. Does it look a little early 2000s-y? Yes. But it works.

Re: Is Dark Mode Such a Good Idea?

#386

Post by nogabebop23 »

taneq wrote: post #329
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they were discussing the subject of, how our conscious estimation of our subjective experience can be way off. Which is a legitimate point?

Is it? I mean, serious question - aren't they they same thing? What IS our subjective experience if not our conscious estimation of how we experienced the thing? Is it possible to think you're enjoying something when really you're not, and if so then what the heck does that even mean?

What IS our subjective experience if not our conscious estimation of how we experienced the thing?

regardless of the sample population, the difference is asking about perception vs. designing an experiment that provides consistent measures and accounts for bias. That's the definition of science. What you're arguing is "I know what I know", i.e. faith.

Re: Is Dark Mode Such a Good Idea?

#387

Post by agumonkey »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #241

Wait. So. "Multiple studies show that light mode is better" trumps my actual experience, with my eyeballs, in my office environment? No. No it doesn't. 1. I don't have that much faith in scientists. Someone trying to p-hack their way to a publishable result that's sensational enough to advance their career is not going to produce good advice for me. 2. Even if they were perfect scientists, they're not using my eyebal…

> I don't have that much faith in scientists.

About that, it's surprising that there's so much papercuts in the scientific field these days. p-hacking, lack of peer reviews, journal gatekeeping, also some ex-engineer turned pseudo cosmologist [0] said that there's too much technological 'papers' and not enough fundamentals, which dillute the quality of thinking and the seal of quality attached to the scientific method

(the man is a controversial figure, most people would consider him a nutsack, but I can agree with the fact that research has shifted in meaning compared to early 20th century)

Re: Is Dark Mode Such a Good Idea?

#388

Post by agumonkey »

I encountered dark modes in old CGI applications, it was the norm and it was at least a zero cost thing. I never regretted the usual win/mac style. I'd bet a dollar that nobody in the media industry had issues with dark mode.

Re: Is Dark Mode Such a Good Idea?

#390

Post by jjice »

> A better remedy for eye strain would be to enable night light on your operating system, which will reduce the your screen’s blue light output.

When I got my current Android phone (a year and a half ago), I was so confused as to why my screen got a blue hue at night. After finding out what it was, I figure it would be good to leave on, and I even set it up on my Ubuntu machine. Holy cow do I depend on it now. If I look at a screen late in the day without a blue light filter, I notice a serious difference. I don't know if I've just gotten used to the blue light filter, or if it really is helpful, but I've become a dedicated fan.

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