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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)

#271

Post by Antshockey »

wwalexander wrote: post #235

I don't understand how this debate has become about which mode is biologically the most optimal for legibility. The obvious, clear benefit of dark mode is that there's less light, which feels more comfortable to many, many people. I'm curious, how many of my fellow dark-mode users also struggle with migraine headaches? Perhaps this and other light-sensitivity afflictions can explain why dark mode seems to be so conte…

I suffer from migraines when using light themed IDEs. I learned this about 10 years ago when working in a dark theme I could work all day, but when I spent all day working on SQL in Sql Server Management Studios white theme I would go home with a migraine every day.

I understand that in certain lights white themes are probably easier, but I just have myself setup to only need dark themes now because migraines suck

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

#273

Post by TeMPOraL »

tommica wrote: post #195
wincy wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Hue Bulbs in the rest of my house and they slowly dim in the evening, although you’re absolutely right that it’d cost thousands to buy enough hue bulbs. You’re better off buying dumb bulbs for daytime then equipping the rest of the house with Hue for a few hundred. I just went to Home Depot and bought the 8-packs of 100W (13W) equivalent, 5000K, 1600 lumen non dimmable LED bulbs from Feit Electric. Screwed thos…

Isn't the electricity cost of those insane?

That's some 3 KW of lightbulbs in total, based on original comment, and I'm not sure if the OP is running them all at the same time. Even if, that's in ballpark of household appliances, and I imagine it isn't running 24/7 (and most of those lights are likely active only during 1/4 - 1/5 of the year).

Sure, it probably triples their power bill. But electricity is dirt cheap anyway - and if it mitigates their SAD, then it pays for itself.

I'm also guessing OP doesn't have any problem with heating in winter.

EDIT: I misread, OP isn't using 100/500W bulbs, but 100/500W equivalent - so the actual power use is not ~3KW, but probably under 1KW. It's very much in ballpark of combined use of household appliances, so I doubt it even doubles their power bill.

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

#274

Post by MPSimmons »

KaiserPro wrote: post #270
alpos wrote: post #72

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". Thanks but I'll let the scientific process play itself out over time. In the mean time, I appreciate that the public debate has induced phones, apps, and many web sites to give me the option to enjoy reading things all day without eye strain. The fact that more stuff defaults dark mode or follows…

Look, darkmode, and the bluelight fear is not really based on that much science. Yes, UV and top end blue does cause cataracts in people, but thats from the sun, not monitors. There are at least two strands to darkmode, one is the "It stops me from sleeping" and the other is eye strain. the sleeping part is almost certainly nothing to do with the colour temperature of the light coming out of your device. If you go ou…

The moon wasn't the predominant source of light at night for most pre-industrial people. Fire was, and is what we evolved with, which is likely why red light doesn't cause your eyes to constrict (https://thehikingauthority.com/red-light-night-vision-a-myth...)

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

#275

Post by adql »

mcv wrote: post #237

I think the issue is a lot more subtle than simply "dark mode = better" vs "light mode = better". When it's dark around me, I don't want a bright white screen blinding me, so I prefer dark mode. But when I'm in a well-light room with a white wall behind my screen, I don't want to have to peer at a dark rectangle. Also, whether you're using dark or light mode, contrast and brightness need to be set right, and I think…

Many dark mode themes also aren't great. With bright mode you can get away with #000 on #fff but, at very least for me, just reversing that doesn't work all that well, I prefer at the very least background to be in #111-#222 range and maybe text not be in #fff but a bit lower.

On other side some dark themes have pretty terrible contrast, but that happens with white too, like HN just deciding light gray on light gray is fine just because someone downvoted a comment

Hell, even the header with buttons have [1] terrible contrast

* [1] https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/?fcolor=939392&...

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

#276

Post by adql »

IshKebab wrote: post #239
skeletal88 wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you not use random acronyms without explaining what they are? Why do you expect that everyone knows what SAD means in your current context? I get it when someone mentions AWS or MSFT or LED on a tech site.. but "SAD syndrome" ?

SAD is a very well known acronym.

Based on what ?

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

#277

Post by wheels »

wheels wrote: post #217
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 w…

To add a couple concrete questions:

- Did you experiment with any of the super high powered single LEDs? (e.g. 200-500w)

- How big a problem is monitor glare? Do you have a special monitor (e.g. Studio Display)? I have a 400 nit monitor (brightest 42" IPS monitor at the time I bought it), and I'm worried about going all in on lighting, and then not being able to effectively being able to use my monitor.

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

#278

Post by theclansman »

inexcf wrote: post #232
IncRnd wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> OMG didn't expect to see the "I know this is true and I don't need researchers telling me otherwise" argument here. And, you didn't see that here. That you would even think that shows that you didn't read what was written. It is ridiculous to wait for what others say about whether dark or light mode strains one's eyes more, since each person already has a pair of eyes to test what works for them.

Can I interest you in some homeopathic remedies or a bottle of snake oil? Maybe prayer? History is full of people who thought/think their bias and anecdotal evidence is good enough.

Just trust the science bro

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

#279

Post by TeMPOraL »

ezconnect wrote: post #117
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 actually dont understand why other people can work in a dimly lit space and having dark mode on their monitor. It make feel so lazy and gloomy.

In my case, it's either or: either dark room and dimmed screen or (more recently) dark mode on everything, or bright room and light mode. By bright I really mean bright - maybe not SAD-mitigation level like the OP, but I do turn on extra lights during the day, particularly when its cloudy.

What I can't tolerate is "half-light" - dimly lit space, afternoon/evening levels of daylight. Or the standard level of light most people have. Or warm light. That's one is actually a point of contention with my wife - she prefers warm light, I prefer cold. We compromised on "neutral", which has a benefit of not screwing with colors like warm does. It's tolerable for me, though I still occasionally notice how it yellow-tints everything.

By can't tolerate, I mean that in underlit rooms, I struggle to stay awake. Really struggle - I start to yawn uncontrollably, my mind gets hazy, and I need to pump myself with some stimulants (i.e. caffeine, usually) just to be able to function. Add more lights, or make the room dark, and I'm OK again.

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

#280

Post by theclansman »

taneq wrote: post #83
alpos wrote: post #72

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". Thanks but I'll let the scientific process play itself out over time. In the mean time, I appreciate that the public debate has induced phones, apps, and many web sites to give me the option to enjoy reading things all day without eye strain. The fact that more stuff defaults dark mode or follows…

I think your summary here more or less applies to the entire debate, and many other similar debates. When did we forget that personal preference an entirely sufficient reason to make a personal choice? I don't use dark mode because a meta-analysis of opthalmological studies indicates it may improve eye health, I use it because I like it and my eyes feel more comfortable using it.

I have many reasons to distrust a study like this anyway, just like a lot of medical studies trying to find causations in everyday activities. 1. If the results aren't controversial it probably wouldn't get published ("dark mode is good for your eyes" is a boring result) 2. They can discard results that contradict the thesis without having to make them public. 3. How many people do we need to trust the results of a study like this? Whatever the number you think of, they probably used less than that. When it comes to stuff like this, you can probably find studies stating the opposite anyway, it's not like there's a consensus on this stuff.
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