I respectfully disagree. Style is not on my radar.
Speaking of radar, government research of the 1960s era showed optimum legibility and minimum eyestrain with amber-on-black and green-on-black screens.
My own experiments have caused me to prefer orangey yellow text on a dead black background for programming. It is more restful to my eyes.
Why have I only noticed this now? My eyes thank you.
No recent usability or accessibility studies I have seen agree with this. Quite the opposite. It is a style choice.
It is true that excessive contrast is bad in both scenarios though.
I suspect we are reading different meanings of the word style.
My preference is literally functional. Hmm, I guess we both know multiple meanings for that word, too. Bloody language.
If it makes you feel any better, on newer OLED screens black draws less energy as black is truly the absence of light on that pixel. Just like in the bad old days of CRTs!
LEDs cannot control lighting per pixel, but OLEDs can which is why they can offer infinite blacks â a pixel can literally be âoffâ and indistiguishable from a powered off display. Itâs extremely awesome.
What makes me feel better is fewer migraines, and over 30 years of experience has convinced me that less direct white light input to my eyes means fewer migraines. Eyestrain is my primary trigger condition; I wear multiple layers of sunglasses when Iâm crossing a snowfield or navigating on the water.
And yes, I do love OLEDs, particularly for their black black. I first saw a 15" model many years ago (for $6,000+) and it had me salivating like Pavlovâs puppies!
I donât expect anyone else to care about my physical or medical conditions; quite the opposite - I expect most humans to be callous and insensitive, and dismiss the concerns of others whenever they can find an excuse to do so, because they have troubles of their own that are more immediate. And thatâs exactly why I appreciate it so much when someone does do something that helps out an âinsignificantâ minority - thanks again, @sam!
Oh, incidentally, I believe that one of the main reasons that people like black on white is because of standard office lighting. It is fairly normal, in the USA, for a 10âx10â cubicle or office to be illuminated by twelve to sixteen feet of 208vac fluorescent tube. In those (absurd) lighting conditions, the âfloodlight in your faceâ effect of a white background is relatively innocuous, because the pupils of the eyes are already fully contracted.
Do you also invert the display on eink devices? I think display tech is still catching up to printed books, and eink is the closest we have gotten.
I usually do! It depends on the lighting conditions, though. And Iâve only had a few experiences with e-ink, honestly, the longest for only a couple of months.
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