wyatt_fox68•2d agoMost Upvoted

Tried pure black backgrounds for 2 weeks and totally changed my mind

I always thought true black (#000000) was the way to go for dark mode. Gave it a shot on my portfolio site and after 3 days my eyes felt super strained reading white text on it. Switched to a dark gray like #121212 instead and it's way easier to look at for longer periods. Has anyone else noticed this with their own projects?

2 comments

2 Comments

amy_reed792d ago

Oh man, I actually read a thing recently from a UX researcher saying pure black text on white can cause something called "ghosting" where your eyes keep seeing the afterimage. I switched my own reading setup to a really dark navy and it helped with that strain a lot. The whole debate feels like it depends more on your screen brightness and room lighting than people want to admit.

sam_harris682d ago

Oh come on, you absolutely had to bring this up, didn't you? I mean pure black is the whole point of dark mode (at least for me) and I can't believe people are actually moving away from it. I've been running a #000000 background on my main reading setup for like three years now and my eyes feel fine, maybe better even than staring at bright white pages all day. The whole dark gray thing feels like a compromise that defeats the purpose, you know, saving battery on OLED screens and getting that deep contrast that makes colors pop. Maybe your monitor's gamma or brightness was set too high, or you weren't in a dim enough room, because I seriously think #121212 is just muddy and washed out in comparison.