How dark mode works and how it keep our eyes safe when using digital devices?
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It basically changes a white background to black, black letters to white and other light colours to dark and vice versa.
The bright lights of light colours are worse for our eyes than darker colours / less light. Compare it with looking straight into a light for an extreme effect. It can damage your eyes, looking at a shadow won’t.
It basically changes a white background to black, black letters to white and other light colours to dark and vice versa.
The bright lights of light colours are worse for our eyes than darker colours / less light. Compare it with looking straight into a light for an extreme effect. It can damage your eyes, looking at a shadow won’t.
When you see something, light is going into your eyes. Light contains every single colour in existence. “Pure” light is white, take part of it away, and you get some other colour. So when you’re looking at a screen displaying a white image, you’re getting the full amount of light. Darker things mean less light.
When you see something, light is going into your eyes. Light contains every single colour in existence. “Pure” light is white, take part of it away, and you get some other colour. So when you’re looking at a screen displaying a white image, you’re getting the full amount of light. Darker things mean less light.
Dark mode is used for power saving, especially on devices equipped with OLED screens.
Other than that, multiple studies show that dark mode is not necessarily good for the eyes. It can even be detrimental to legibility depending on your eye condition.
Quoting https://www.wired.co.uk/article/dark-mode-chrome-android-ios-science:
> Research published in 2013 by psychologists Cosima Piepenbrock and Susanne Mayr showed that accuracy and performance are better in positive polarity conditions (i.e. black text on a white background). The study involved participants carrying out both visual acuity tests and proof reading tasks. On these tasks, participants both read faster and/or spotted more mistakes in the positive polarity condition.
> The researchers put this down to the fact that when we look at a bright background, our pupils constrict and increase acuity while scanning text. When looking at a black background, the opposite effect occurs, and dilated pupils make it harder to focus on the text. Mayr’s research initially proposed that these effects might be reversed for elderly populations, but found this wasn’t the case. However, this might be one of the keys as to why people spend longer on these apps when this mode is enabled – because it reduces legibility and makes reading more effortful.
> This effect is even truer for those with astigmatism according to Singh, a condition where the eye is not spherical that affects close to 50 per cent of the population. However, eye conditions causing a sensitivity to light such as photophobia or keratoconus or those suffering loss of vision might benefit from the inky display mode.
Adjusting the brightness of your screen is better for your eyes than dark mode.
An other issue with dark mode is that you get more screen glare.
Dark mode is used for power saving, especially on devices equipped with OLED screens.
Other than that, multiple studies show that dark mode is not necessarily good for the eyes. It can even be detrimental to legibility depending on your eye condition.
Quoting https://www.wired.co.uk/article/dark-mode-chrome-android-ios-science:
> Research published in 2013 by psychologists Cosima Piepenbrock and Susanne Mayr showed that accuracy and performance are better in positive polarity conditions (i.e. black text on a white background). The study involved participants carrying out both visual acuity tests and proof reading tasks. On these tasks, participants both read faster and/or spotted more mistakes in the positive polarity condition.
> The researchers put this down to the fact that when we look at a bright background, our pupils constrict and increase acuity while scanning text. When looking at a black background, the opposite effect occurs, and dilated pupils make it harder to focus on the text. Mayr’s research initially proposed that these effects might be reversed for elderly populations, but found this wasn’t the case. However, this might be one of the keys as to why people spend longer on these apps when this mode is enabled – because it reduces legibility and makes reading more effortful.
> This effect is even truer for those with astigmatism according to Singh, a condition where the eye is not spherical that affects close to 50 per cent of the population. However, eye conditions causing a sensitivity to light such as photophobia or keratoconus or those suffering loss of vision might benefit from the inky display mode.
Adjusting the brightness of your screen is better for your eyes than dark mode.
An other issue with dark mode is that you get more screen glare.
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