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Is Dark Mode Good for Your Eyes? (2020)

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Re: Is Dark Mode Good for Your Eyes? (2020)

#211

Post by steve1977 »

dontlaugh wrote: post #37
steve1977 wrote: post #8

Having astigmatism, I definitely feel like text in dark mode is harder to read than dark text on light background. In regards to eye strain with light mode, what I found important is to match screen brightness to „environmental brightness“ (don’t know the proper term). As a rule of thumb, when I put a white paper in front of a white screen, the screen shouldn’t illuminate the paper more than the other lights in the r…

I have astigmatism and experience the opposite. Not sure why. Is it because I always wear glasses?

I also wear glasses all the time, even computer glasses.

I’m nearsighted, maybe that’s a differentiator? Although I‘m not sure if astigmatism always comes with nearsightednesd or not.

Re: Is Dark Mode Good for Your Eyes? (2020)

#213

Post by BeetleB »

IncRnd wrote: post #202
verinus wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

err well- anecdotal evidence may be a good basis for a theory that could be validated using an experiment, but it does not suffice to be calling somebody elses' argument ridiculous...

My comment does not mention anecdotal evidence but a person using their eyes to perform an experiment. That is clearly not anecdotal. It is ridiculous for people with eyes to not use their own eyes except to read studies as to whether their own eyes prefer light or dark. That should be obvious.

> It is ridiculous for people with eyes to not use their own eyes except to read studies as to whether their own eyes prefer light or dark.

What part of "It's just a preference thing" are you disputing?

Re: Is Dark Mode Good for Your Eyes? (2020)

#214

Post by rxyz »

411111111111111 wrote: post #193
wincy wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has absolutely been my struggle since upgrading my lighting. It’s also so difficult to find data about how bright a monitor actually is! I bought some 1440p “gaming monitors” that I think are around 450 nits, and these are just barely bright enough for my newly lit up office.

This one has pretty decent brightness and comes with great blacks too. And the widescreen format is great for development. The 34" is basically an extended 27", whereas the 38" is an extended 32" https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/alienware-34-curved-qd-oled-...

Alienware QD-OLEDs have a special pixel layout which isn't good for text

Re: Is Dark Mode Good for Your Eyes? (2020)

#215

Post by brabel »

IncRnd wrote: post #196
BeetleB wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This post seems to boil down to, "I read a summary of one study, so I am confident in telling you all how wrong you are". Most/all of the points were well known back in the days when I used CRT monitors - he's not reporting something new. In fact, reading some of the comments, I'm quite surprised people still believe there are inherent benefits to dark mode. There's not really much research supporting it. It's just…

> In fact, reading some of the comments, I'm quite surprised people still believe there are inherent benefits to dark mode. There's not really much research supporting it. That's actually kind of ridiculous. I don't need to read other's research about dark mode to know how it lessens eye-strain. I have performed the experiment myself with my own eyes.

OMG didn't expect to see the "I know this is true and I don't need researchers telling me otherwise" argument here.

Re: Is Dark Mode Good for Your Eyes? (2020)

#216

Post by l0ner »

IncRnd wrote: post #196
BeetleB wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This post seems to boil down to, "I read a summary of one study, so I am confident in telling you all how wrong you are". Most/all of the points were well known back in the days when I used CRT monitors - he's not reporting something new. In fact, reading some of the comments, I'm quite surprised people still believe there are inherent benefits to dark mode. There's not really much research supporting it. It's just…

> In fact, reading some of the comments, I'm quite surprised people still believe there are inherent benefits to dark mode. There's not really much research supporting it. That's actually kind of ridiculous. I don't need to read other's research about dark mode to know how it lessens eye-strain. I have performed the experiment myself with my own eyes.

I do think it is a preference thing, but I also believe not all eyes are the same. I am myself visually impaired, and it is _so much_ easier to read a screen in dark mode. That is likely a different experience with healthy and eyes, but not all healthy eyes are the same either.

Re: Is Dark Mode Good for Your Eyes? (2020)

#217

Post by wheels »

wincy wrote: post #94

I was a big believer in dark mode for a long time, until I started trying to reduce my SAD symptoms during the winter time. I read this blog post here [0] after seeing it on HN, and ended up buying 28 100W equivalent bulbs and a 500W equivalent corn bulb. I get a pretty decent amount of light in my home office now, and light mode is essential on my workstation or it's almost impossible to even SEE anything on screen,…

I'm interested in your light setup, particularly if you happen to use high-CRI bulbs.

It also took me ages to realize how large of an effect SAD had on me. I grew up in Texas, where it wasn't much of a thing, but went to college in Michigan and then moved to Germany (where I've been for 20 years) and it took me multiple years to notice the pattern of only struggling with what I'd previously dubbed "burn out" in the winter. That I used to visit Texas every Christmas masked the effect for a while since it gave me something of a reset during the shortest days of the year.

Now I manage with a combination of what I'd thought of as redonkulous amounts of lighting (20-ish bulbs in my living room, 7 in my small office), and usually 1+ months away from Berlin in the winter.

It's only been relatively recent that going to your extent in terms of lumens has been possible. I was previously pushing 1000w of halogen lighting in my living room, and going to a multiple of that felt like it got into extremely wasteful territory. (There is the reasonable counterargument that in winter, all of the lighting watts also heat the apartment, but I use my lighting setup for a lot of months where I don't also need heating...)

Do you also go for high-CRI bulbs? That's been a limiting factor for me at times is that I don't like the spectrum of cheaper LEDs (or CFLs) and often sourcing high-watt, high-CRI bulbs can be tricky. (I was late in switching to LEDs in general, having previously stockpiled halogen bulbs before they were banned in Europe, but a HN comment a couple years ago turned me on to high-CRI bulbs, which was a game-changer for me.)

Re: Is Dark Mode Good for Your Eyes? (2020)

#218

Post by climb_stealth »

TheCapeGreek wrote: post #187
Sunspark wrote: post #159

I like dark mode very much these days even during the daytime because I find staring at a bright white screen runs the risk of triggering a migraine. Dark mode screens don't do that. The contrast between pure white backgrounds and pure black text is too stark and causes greater eyestrain when it's directly transmitted light as opposed to reflected light. Displays in light mode that are reflective do not have this kin…

> If so, then why should your screen be pure white? This is what it boils down to for most people. Using a less-than-pure white or a cream colour like HN makes for a much more pleasant read. At night it's often still too bright for me, but I'm happy to switch modes according to how I feel at the time.

I find it works to run something like f.lux at all times. Whenever I have to turn it off for whatever reason it comes as a shock how bright everything is. I can't imagine working with that all day.

Basically, make light mode pleasant by using f.lux. Then there are no unpleasant transitions whenever something doesn't play along with dark mode.

Re: Is Dark Mode Good for Your Eyes? (2020)

#219

Post by wingworks »

andruby wrote: post #164
wincy wrote: post #94

I was a big believer in dark mode for a long time, until I started trying to reduce my SAD symptoms during the winter time. I read this blog post here [0] after seeing it on HN, and ended up buying 28 100W equivalent bulbs and a 500W equivalent corn bulb. I get a pretty decent amount of light in my home office now, and light mode is essential on my workstation or it's almost impossible to even SEE anything on screen,…

I added a diy 50W LED that shines on the white ceiling of my office room. The diffuse bounced light feels closer to sunlight. It’s wonderful for those darker days. Make sure to get a high-CRI led, that’s what really makes the difference in my opinion. Cheap leds will have a narrow frequency band, high CRI is what makes the reflected light feel more real. I use a cpu heatsink with silent fan to keep the led cool. [0]…

How do you power your 48W LED? (i'm looking to create the same setup)

Re: Is Dark Mode Good for Your Eyes? (2020)

#220

Post by IncRnd »

brigade wrote: post #201
IncRnd wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In fact, reading some of the comments, I'm quite surprised people still believe there are inherent benefits to dark mode. There's not really much research supporting it. That's actually kind of ridiculous. I don't need to read other's research about dark mode to know how it lessens eye-strain. I have performed the experiment myself with my own eyes.

Just as I don’t need research either to know that dark mode inherently increases eye strain thanks to the afterimages caused by using it for more than a couple dozen seconds at a time. I have my own two eyes after all, and plenty of other eyes across the web agree.

Yes! That is my exact point. I'm glad you've found what works for you.
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