Dark themes. Do they actually work for you?

Question

I waited a long time to see dark themes become an option in most software that I use, but now that I think about it, they're never as easy as light themes when it comes to reading text and distinguishing colors. Maybe it's just easier to detect dark patterns (text) on a bright background, rather than the other way around.

reify · Accepted Answer

Maybe its just old age, I am nearing 70 now and any screen glare is unbearable
I am a retired psychotherapist and I still read a lot of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis books in epub and pdf formats. I have to change the background colours in foliate and qpdfview to read without eye strain.
Being quite old I regularly wake in the middle of the night, I get up, make a cup of tea, turn my laptop on, and read for a while until I feel sleepy again. The screen glare at 2:00AM is like having a laser shone in my eyes.
arc dark theme is my go to theme on Arch
I like the Tomorrow night blue theme in vscodium for my family recipe offline web pages.
Dark themes just relieve any eye strain for me

retrac · Answer

Relative perceived contrast is important in vision. Most displays are backlit LCD and their black is actually a mid to light grey; it only appears moderately black in contrast to bright white. The white of white text on black isn't enough brightness to make the black truly black, reducing effective contrast and making it harder to read.
It's much better on OLED and other non-backlit displays with higher contrast ratios. (CRTs in the days of DOS and terminals were white on black mostly for ergonomic reasons; it is easier to read.)
The lighting in the room is a factor too. I like dark mode in dim lighting and light when it's bright in the room.

theGeatZhopa · Answer

Dark themes could always be set since win3
Accessibility settings. High contrast. No need to wait.
2 colors works Best for me :)
As for the eye. It works as soon a few photons meets the cones and stabs. No photons, ko work.
Dark mode sends less of photons. Thus, the eyes aren't in need to use up the purpura and whatever. They're not producing chemical reactions and reaction waste. So much better for longer sessions

not_your_vase · Answer

Nope, I have a similar experience as you. I find dark mode pretty, but always get frustrated when for example a syntax error is indicated with light-grey underlining on a dark grey background, and I have to squint to see it.I use light themes in almost all my applications - it's just way easier to see the different colors.

epirogov · Answer

I enable light theme for important fast tasks where attentiveness is switched on maximum. for thinking dark is better for me.