My cousin finally understood dark mode contrast after our chat

I walked him through why pure black can strain eyes. He texted me later saying his site looks WAY better now.

3 comments

3 Comments

But have you considered pure black on OLED screens? The battery savings are real, and once your eyes adjust, that crisp contrast is hard to beat. I actually find dark gray backgrounds can look a bit washed out.

leec1818h ago

Yeah that's a great point about moving away from pure black, it really does help. I just want to add one thing though, because the "strain" part is a bit of a myth. The real issue with true black backgrounds, in my experience, is how your pupils react. They open wide for the dark background, then get blasted by the bright text, and that constant change can cause headaches for some people. Using a dark gray keeps the pupil size more steady. So you're totally right about it looking better, it's just more about comfort than avoiding actual eye strain.

rowan_kim5517h ago

Exactly, that gray just looks softer somehow. Switched my code editor theme a while back and it was like night and day, literally. Can read for hours now without that subtle pressure behind the eyes. Turns out the pupil thing is actual science, not just a feeling.