Black Background With White (or light) Text... Am I the Only One That's Annoyed by This?

[dman]

I prefer dark background with light text. Reason being, the light from the white background bothers my eyes.

Technically I'm supposed to be in a well lit room when working on a PC, so my eyes don't have trouble with the contrast stuff.... that's not usually the case.

So, a vote for light text on dark background here. But, clearly it's a subjective thing as most sites that involve a lot of reading allow you to configure that to your preference.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: pyonir
I honestly won't read a page if it is white text on black background.

Some how, I think we'll all survive if you don't.

I voted no btw. Black is badass. And its old school from my DOS days. But I honestly don't really care.

:roll:

Oh goody. :thumbsdown:

 

[glugglug]

I like the dark background better. Easier on the eyes. Any flicker becomes less noticable. Saves power too. (Yes, the difference in power your monitor requires with dark vs. light background is substantial!)

HOWEVER, if the room has too much light reflected in the screen, especially flourescents, the bad lighting conditions have a bigger impact when looking at a dark background and can make it unusable. In optimal room lighting (none), dark background is MUCH better.

I use the "Inverse gamma ramp" option on powerstrip to make it so all the white background sites are more readable. (changes them to black)

 

[axnff]

Personally, I have great difficulty with anything high contrast (and know many people who do, too). Light (read: not bright white) text (from a monitor) on a black background is smoother and easier to read for me. It boils down to the fact that there is simply less light entering the eyes, causing less strain. My night vision while driving also sucks, because the intensity of the headlights is too much for a single point of light...

However, seeing as we're trained to read black on white, studies often wind up showing BoW web pages as seeming most professional. However, the few studies I've seen that actually have any sort of empirical evidence indicate that dark-on-light (but not white) is probably the easiest for people to read, regardless of preference.

In the end, I won't frequent a web-site with a significant amount of white on it...

 

[blakeatwork]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: edmicman

I've chosen a black background for most of my text because it's easier on the eyes than staring at a white screen. Think about it: your monitor is not a piece of paper, no matter how hard you try to make it one. Staring at a white background while you read is like staring at a light bulb (don't believe me? Try turning off the lights next time you use a word processor). Would you stare at a light bulb for hours at a time? Not if you want to keep your vision.

http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=faq

His is, quite simply, wrong.

I have no problem reading text on a page with a light background. But a page with a black background and light text causes ghosting in my vision. The lines of text start to cause burn-in type ghosting and it's very distracting when I move my eyes as I'm reading.

How are your eyes? Serious question, as I don't know when you last had them checked.

I can read just about any type of page, within reason. Screaming green on a bleeding red makes my eyes bleed. But for me, dark on light, or light on dark doesn't matter. If i'm in my home office, and I have the lights off, I prefer a page with a darker background, as the amount of light coming at me is usually too bright, but i find my eyes to be a bit light sensitive at times.

 

[PingSpike]

My theory was the light one as well. Computer monitors/televisions and the like produce unnatural images that are hard on our eyes anyway (normal images are the light reflected off of objects back to your eye, while a monitor of course produces the light in the first place.) so I've always though black on white made more sense because it would be far less 'unnatural' light coming into your eye.

And the power consumption thing mentioned makes sense. I've always suspected it was the case, but I never bothered to do any research on it or anything.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: blakeatwork

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: edmicman

I've chosen a black background for most of my text because it's easier on the eyes than staring at a white screen. Think about it: your monitor is not a piece of paper, no matter how hard you try to make it one. Staring at a white background while you read is like staring at a light bulb (don't believe me? Try turning off the lights next time you use a word processor). Would you stare at a light bulb for hours at a time? Not if you want to keep your vision.

http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=faq

His is, quite simply, wrong.

I have no problem reading text on a page with a light background. But a page with a black background and light text causes ghosting in my vision. The lines of text start to cause burn-in type ghosting and it's very distracting when I move my eyes as I'm reading.

How are your eyes? Serious question, as I don't know when you last had them checked.

I can read just about any type of page, within reason. Screaming green on a bleeding red makes my eyes bleed. But for me, dark on light, or light on dark doesn't matter. If i'm in my home office, and I have the lights off, I prefer a page with a darker background, as the amount of light coming at me is usually too bright, but i find my eyes to be a bit light sensitive at times.

My eyes are fine. I'm going a little far sighted with age and I have a few floaters. But no disease or anything.

Ghosting in high contrast situations has always been an issue with me. When I was a kid I could turn the light off in a room and see a perfect burnt in image of the room for a LONG time.

 

[rh71]

YES ! Although my site does this too and doesn't bother me. It just gets strained if I have to read paragraphs with that contrast.

 

[FrustratedUser]

White text on black causes burn-in damage to my eyes.

 

Technically a light colored text on a dark background with the least extreme in contrast is easiest on the eyes.

A quick search will support that.
Text

 

[blakeatwork]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: blakeatwork

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: edmicman

I've chosen a black background for most of my text because it's easier on the eyes than staring at a white screen. Think about it: your monitor is not a piece of paper, no matter how hard you try to make it one. Staring at a white background while you read is like staring at a light bulb (don't believe me? Try turning off the lights next time you use a word processor). Would you stare at a light bulb for hours at a time? Not if you want to keep your vision.

http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=faq

His is, quite simply, wrong.

I have no problem reading text on a page with a light background. But a page with a black background and light text causes ghosting in my vision. The lines of text start to cause burn-in type ghosting and it's very distracting when I move my eyes as I'm reading.

How are your eyes? Serious question, as I don't know when you last had them checked.

I can read just about any type of page, within reason. Screaming green on a bleeding red makes my eyes bleed. But for me, dark on light, or light on dark doesn't matter. If i'm in my home office, and I have the lights off, I prefer a page with a darker background, as the amount of light coming at me is usually too bright, but i find my eyes to be a bit light sensitive at times.

My eyes are fine. I'm going a little far sighted with age and I have a few floaters. But no disease or anything.

Ghosting in high contrast situations has always been an issue with me. When I was a kid I could turn the light off in a room and see a perfect burnt in image of the room for a LONG time.

I guess you're pre-disposed to minor vision issues then.

It's all personal preference in the end. Like I said, I prefer the darker backgrounds in a darker environment, and vice-versa. What about the brightness/contrast on your monitor? Is the brightness set fairly low?

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: blakeatwork

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: blakeatwork

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: edmicman

I've chosen a black background for most of my text because it's easier on the eyes than staring at a white screen. Think about it: your monitor is not a piece of paper, no matter how hard you try to make it one. Staring at a white background while you read is like staring at a light bulb (don't believe me? Try turning off the lights next time you use a word processor). Would you stare at a light bulb for hours at a time? Not if you want to keep your vision.

http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=faq

His is, quite simply, wrong.

I have no problem reading text on a page with a light background. But a page with a black background and light text causes ghosting in my vision. The lines of text start to cause burn-in type ghosting and it's very distracting when I move my eyes as I'm reading.

How are your eyes? Serious question, as I don't know when you last had them checked.

I can read just about any type of page, within reason. Screaming green on a bleeding red makes my eyes bleed. But for me, dark on light, or light on dark doesn't matter. If i'm in my home office, and I have the lights off, I prefer a page with a darker background, as the amount of light coming at me is usually too bright, but i find my eyes to be a bit light sensitive at times.

My eyes are fine. I'm going a little far sighted with age and I have a few floaters. But no disease or anything.

Ghosting in high contrast situations has always been an issue with me. When I was a kid I could turn the light off in a room and see a perfect burnt in image of the room for a LONG time.

I guess you're pre-disposed to minor vision issues then.

It's all personal preference in the end. Like I said, I prefer the darker backgrounds in a darker environment, and vice-versa. What about the brightness/contrast on your monitor? Is the brightness set fairly low?

Yep. My monitor is calibrated fine.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: SampSon
Technically a light colored text on a dark background with the least extreme in contrast is easiest on the eyes.

A quick search will support that.
Text

Um, your link contradicts you:

When working at your computer, increase the size of the font onscreen. Instead of working at 100 percent, increase to 150 or even 200 percent. Adjust the brightness and contrast of your monitor so text and graphics are clear and sharp. Usually, black text on a white background is the least stressful to read for extended periods, although some people prefer green on white. The most stressful is white or yellow text on a dark background.

 

[Bateluer]

I find that if I use black background with white text, it does hurt my eyes a little. So I turn the text color from white to a cream looking color and the problem goes away.

 

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: SampSon
Technically a light colored text on a dark background with the least extreme in contrast is easiest on the eyes.

A quick search will support that.
Text

Um, your link contradicts you:

When working at your computer, increase the size of the font onscreen. Instead of working at 100 percent, increase to 150 or even 200 percent. Adjust the brightness and contrast of your monitor so text and graphics are clear and sharp. Usually, black text on a white background is the least stressful to read for extended periods, although some people prefer green on white. The most stressful is white or yellow text on a dark background.

er yea, that's what I meant.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: SampSon
Technically a light colored text on a dark background with the least extreme in contrast is easiest on the eyes.

A quick search will support that.
Text

Um, your link contradicts you:

When working at your computer, increase the size of the font onscreen. Instead of working at 100 percent, increase to 150 or even 200 percent. Adjust the brightness and contrast of your monitor so text and graphics are clear and sharp. Usually, black text on a white background is the least stressful to read for extended periods, although some people prefer green on white. The most stressful is white or yellow text on a dark background.

er yea, that's what I meant.

:laugh:

 

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: SampSon
Technically a light colored text on a dark background with the least extreme in contrast is easiest on the eyes.

A quick search will support that.
Text

Um, your link contradicts you:

When working at your computer, increase the size of the font onscreen. Instead of working at 100 percent, increase to 150 or even 200 percent. Adjust the brightness and contrast of your monitor so text and graphics are clear and sharp. Usually, black text on a white background is the least stressful to read for extended periods, although some people prefer green on white. The most stressful is white or yellow text on a dark background.

er yea, that's what I meant.

:laugh:

Sorry, smoke got in my eyes when I was typing.

 

[dman]

Odd about the Yellow/White on dark background... my first PC had an Amber-Monochrome Monitor. the other choice being green screen. Those weren't difficult to read... but of course they were also 80 column text mode...