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Playing with 8.x/9.x in these VMs makes me wish that modern OS light mode themes would go back to using light mid-grays instead of stark whites. The color choic

Playing with 8.x/9.x in these VMs makes me wish that modern OS light mode themes would go back to using light mid-grays instead of stark whites. The color choices in Platinum are so much more usable… it doesn't make me feel the need to flip on dark mode immediately.

astrange 4y ago
The colors don't look like they used to because modern displays are much brighter and higher contrast. (and are 2.2 gamma not 1.8)
kccqzy 4y ago
Conversely I also think dark modes shouldn't be plain black; it should be a dark shade of gray.
- post-it 4y ago
  Except on OLED displays (or whatever Macs have), where black looks extremely nice.
- sharkjacobs 4y ago
  I like black blacks on OLED screens but otherwise agree with you
  - heyoni 4y ago
    Not only that but they’ll add longevity to the monitor by avoiding burn in
crazygringo 4y ago
Not sure what you mean, current macOS uses light gray for UX backgrounds, no stark white at all. Except for content areas like your document or the Finder content, but those have always been 100% white. Or are you talking about a different OS?
- kitsunesoba 4y ago
  Current macOS light mode isn’t technically white, but it’s a lot closer than platinum was. iOS is even brighter, as is Win10/11.
Stratoscope 4y ago
Older OSes and apps used gray backgrounds to mitigate the visible flicker due to low refresh rates. On a modern display, if a white background bothers your eyes, it often means that the brightness is turned up too high. After all, hardly anyone is bothered by black ink on white paper. Try holding up a white sheet of paper next to your screen and turn down the brightness until the display matches the paper. You may find it more usable.
- kitsunesoba 4y ago
  I do turn down brightness to an extent, but the problem with the most commonly used backlit LCD panels is that turning down brightness also reduces contrast and color vibrance. This is why I typically use dark mode with a higher-but-not-maxxed brightness. This doesn't seem to be nearly as much of a problem on my phone, which uses an OLED panel. Color and contrast are retained to a much greater degree at low brightness, which makes lower brightness more practical to use. I'd still like a light-mid-gray light mode option for iOS/Android regardless.
- wtallis 4y ago
  Once you throw HDR displays in the mix, you end up back at the conclusion that the colors chosen by the OS need to be reasonably not-bright, rather than blaming the user for not dimming the whole display to compensate for bad UI design.

astrange 4y ago

The colors don't look like they used to because modern displays are much brighter and higher contrast. (and are 2.2 gamma not 1.8)

kccqzy 4y ago

Conversely I also think dark modes shouldn't be plain black; it should be a dark shade of gray.

post-it 4y ago
Except on OLED displays (or whatever Macs have), where black looks extremely nice.
sharkjacobs 4y ago
I like black blacks on OLED screens but otherwise agree with you
- heyoni 4y ago
  Not only that but they’ll add longevity to the monitor by avoiding burn in

crazygringo 4y ago

Not sure what you mean, current macOS uses light gray for UX backgrounds, no stark white at all. Except for content areas like your document or the Finder content, but those have always been 100% white. Or are you talking about a different OS?

kitsunesoba 4y ago
Current macOS light mode isn’t technically white, but it’s a lot closer than platinum was. iOS is even brighter, as is Win10/11.

Stratoscope 4y ago

Older OSes and apps used gray backgrounds to mitigate the visible flicker due to low refresh rates. On a modern display, if a white background bothers your eyes, it often means that the brightness is turned up too high. After all, hardly anyone is bothered by black ink on white paper. Try holding up a white sheet of paper next to your screen and turn down the brightness until the display matches the paper. You may find it more usable.

kitsunesoba 4y ago
I do turn down brightness to an extent, but the problem with the most commonly used backlit LCD panels is that turning down brightness also reduces contrast and color vibrance. This is why I typically use dark mode with a higher-but-not-maxxed brightness. This doesn't seem to be nearly as much of a problem on my phone, which uses an OLED panel. Color and contrast are retained to a much greater degree at low brightness, which makes lower brightness more practical to use. I'd still like a light-mid-gray light mode option for iOS/Android regardless.
wtallis 4y ago
Once you throw HDR displays in the mix, you end up back at the conclusion that the colors chosen by the OS need to be reasonably not-bright, rather than blaming the user for not dimming the whole display to compensate for bad UI design.