Is Dark Mode Better For Your Eyes? | Plano | Save sight. Empower lives. (2024)

FAQs

Is Dark Mode Better For Your Eyes? | Plano | Save sight. Empower lives.? ›

The night-friendly setting reduces the overall brightness output from the screen, providing less contrast with the world around you. Dark mode makes it easier for your eyes to adjust from your dimly lit surroundings to your phone screen. This can reduce eye strain and minimize eye fatigue.

Dark mode can be beneficial for all users, though it can be especially beneficial for users with low vision and light sensitivity. Some of the advantages to using dark mode for low vision include: Inverted text is easier to read for longer periods of time and is less likely to cause eye strain or fatigue.

Using dark mode is helpful in that it's easier on the eyes than a stark, bright white screen. However, using a dark screen requires your pupils to dilate which can make it harder to focus on the screen.

The science behind modes

Dark Mode advocates argue that it's easier on the eyes and can contribute to better sleep patterns by reducing exposure to blue light. On the flip side, Light Mode proponents contend that their preferred mode offers superior readability and less visual fatigue in bright environments.

Eye-tracking and subjective data reveals that negative polarity displays elicit higher cognitive load for older adults in a bright environment and younger adults in a dim environment, suggesting older adults prioritise reduced fatigue while younger adults prioritise the feel of the interface.

Cons of dark mode

Dark mode may increase eye strain in brightly-lit conditions. Dark mode can cause halation for individuals with myopia or astigmatism, making text less readable for them. Dark mode may lower reading comprehension and focus. Dark mode does not improve battery life on older devices without OLED screens.

Less Blue Light—Healthier Sleep.

Blue light emitted by computer screens and mobile devices is known to negatively affect melatonin production. Melatonin in our bodies increases after dark and serves as a signal to our brain that it's bedtime.

The Cons of Dark Mode

For example, dark mode can prevent focus indicators from being visible for a user who navigates by keyboard only. If the contrast is too high, it can create what is known as a 'halation effect' where the text appears to be blurry and leads to readability issues.

People with dyslexia aren't the only ones affected negatively by dark modes. About 47% of people have some form of astigmatism, though some have mild symptoms that may go undiagnosed. User experience expert H. Locke notes that dark backgrounds can cause a "halation effect" for users with astigmatism.

The consensus is that the "non-colours", white and black, and the colours yellow, green, and orange are generally most acceptable. These colours (yellow, green, orange) are in the middle of the visible spectrum (the range of colours that our eyes can detect) and are the easiest for the eye to see.

Which phone is best for eye protection? ›

Honor 90: It's the latest smartphone that comes with a 3840Hz PWM rate with low modulation enabling comfort to sensitive eyes. It also provides built-in blue light reduction and an AMOLED display with 2664 x 1200 resolution.

Dark mode is used by 81.9% of 2,500 Android users on their phones, in apps, and in other situations. 9.9% alternate between the light and dark settings (LinkedIn). 22.

Google touted the benefits of dark mode to developers at the 2018 Android Dev Summit, citing the boost in battery life. The individual pixels on your screens require less juice when displaying black than lighter colors. However, this doesn't apply if you have an older LCD screen.

When you look at light text on a dark background, your pupils dilate (become larger) to let more light in. This can make it harder to focus on the text and for some people cause a slightly blurry vision. This is especially true for people with farsightedness or presbyopia.

High Contrast for Accessibility

Pure black isn't harmful to all users. Low vision users, who are sight impaired but not blind, tend to read text better with pure black text or white text on a black background. When designing for them, you may need to use black for an accessibility mode.

Part of this has to do with light levels: with a bright display (white background) the iris closes a bit more, decreasing the effect of the “deformed” lens; with a dark display (black background) the iris opens to receive more light and the deformation of the lens creates a much fuzzier focus at the eye.

Contrast Issues: Dark mode may not always provide sufficient contrast, such as gray text on a black background, which can pose challenges for users with low vision. Color Preferences: Some users may prefer alternative text colors, like yellow or green, on dark backgrounds, rather than the default white text.