4 ms·

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

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 kind of strain because their background is more silvery. Turning down the brightness on a display is not really the solution because most displays use pulse width modulation so you are just exchanging brightness for flicker and strobing effects. I pose you this question, when it comes to paper, do you enjoy reading books that are printed on pure white paper which has had optical brighteners added to enhance the effect, or do you prefer a softer natural ivory or linen colour? Perhaps light gray? If so, then why should your screen be pure white?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
TheCapeGreek 4y ago
> 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.
- climb_stealth 4y ago
  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.
  - TheCapeGreek 4y ago
    For me even with blue light blockers it's still too bright if my room is dark at night. When I turn it off (e.g. when the red intensity is very high for color quality in games) and switch to a light web page it's blinding.
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  Wonder if that's correlated with warm/cold light preference. I hate cream colors, they make me dizzy and sleepy. I stick as close to pure white as I can - if I have to dim it, I dim the screen, or apply a light gray (possibly biased towards blue) background.
TeMPOraL 4y ago
> Turning down the brightness on a display is not really the solution because most displays use pulse width modulation so you are just exchanging brightness for flicker and strobing effects. Gotta add this to my list of ways the market fails us that I wish I know how to correct. I get that PWM is an useful, probably most cost-efficient approach, but that doesn't explain so many shitty implementations I see even in expensive devices. In case of lights, it's harmful to a subset of people who notice this. It also ruins video recordings (less so these days - camera software now tries to compensates for it). Then I see the same in electric and induction stoves, and microwave ovens - power level control implemented as sub-1Hz PWM (at this point the right term is probably "bang-bang controller"). I don't know about designers of those appliances, but my cookware and the stuff I cook often doesn't have enough thermal mass to "smooth out" the pulses - 50% of power implemented by heating at 100% for 3 seconds, and then 0% for 3 seconds, means my food gets overheated anyway, just half as fast, and I get to be annoyed by the sound of a clicking relay.
laserlight 4y ago
> Turning down the brightness on a display is not really the solution because most displays use pulse width modulation so you are just exchanging brightness for flicker and strobing effects. Thanks for mentioning this. I've never understood why people preferred dark-mode over reducing brightness of their screen. Perhaps, they are disturbed by flickering on a subtler level that they are not consciously aware of.
- Sunspark 4y ago
  One way to dim the screen without activating PWM is to leave brightness at 100%, but in the monitor's panels change the custom preset for the RGB channels to a lower value like 50%. It basically has the presentation of a neutral overlay filter. There is technically some dynamic range compression, but it's a perfectly serviceable solution for systems where you have no ability to install software like f.lux, or when you don't want the overlay to be warm.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

TheCapeGreek 4y ago

> 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.

climb_stealth 4y ago
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.
- TheCapeGreek 4y ago
  For me even with blue light blockers it's still too bright if my room is dark at night. When I turn it off (e.g. when the red intensity is very high for color quality in games) and switch to a light web page it's blinding.
TeMPOraL 4y ago
Wonder if that's correlated with warm/cold light preference. I hate cream colors, they make me dizzy and sleepy. I stick as close to pure white as I can - if I have to dim it, I dim the screen, or apply a light gray (possibly biased towards blue) background.

TeMPOraL 4y ago

> Turning down the brightness on a display is not really the solution because most displays use pulse width modulation so you are just exchanging brightness for flicker and strobing effects. Gotta add this to my list of ways the market fails us that I wish I know how to correct. I get that PWM is an useful, probably most cost-efficient approach, but that doesn't explain so many shitty implementations I see even in expensive devices. In case of lights, it's harmful to a subset of people who notice this. It also ruins video recordings (less so these days - camera software now tries to compensates for it). Then I see the same in electric and induction stoves, and microwave ovens - power level control implemented as sub-1Hz PWM (at this point the right term is probably "bang-bang controller"). I don't know about designers of those appliances, but my cookware and the stuff I cook often doesn't have enough thermal mass to "smooth out" the pulses - 50% of power implemented by heating at 100% for 3 seconds, and then 0% for 3 seconds, means my food gets overheated anyway, just half as fast, and I get to be annoyed by the sound of a clicking relay.

laserlight 4y ago

> Turning down the brightness on a display is not really the solution because most displays use pulse width modulation so you are just exchanging brightness for flicker and strobing effects. Thanks for mentioning this. I've never understood why people preferred dark-mode over reducing brightness of their screen. Perhaps, they are disturbed by flickering on a subtler level that they are not consciously aware of.

Sunspark 4y ago
One way to dim the screen without activating PWM is to leave brightness at 100%, but in the monitor's panels change the custom preset for the RGB channels to a lower value like 50%. It basically has the presentation of a neutral overlay filter. There is technically some dynamic range compression, but it's a perfectly serviceable solution for systems where you have no ability to install software like f.lux, or when you don't want the overlay to be warm.