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Comment by wwalexander | Hacker News Reader

I don't understand how this debate has become about which mode is biologically the most optimal for legibility. The obvious, clear benefit of dark mode is that there's less light, which feels more comfortable to many, many people.

I'm curious, how many of my fellow dark-mode users also struggle with migraine headaches? Perhaps this and other light-sensitivity afflictions can explain why dark mode seems to be so contentious...

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It's because there's a common trope online that people say seeing something in light mode is "blinding" or "makes my eyes bleed".

I think it's therefore important that the actual benefits of dark mode are tested scientifically and not just assumed.

Is it not enough that a person feels very strongly that one way is more comfortable for them? Why must we quantify when someone is physically uncomfortable?

Theoretically it would be probably be optimal in terms of the science of visual perception to flood my room with the brightest white light possible, instead of using my usual dimmed yellow lights. It would also make me feel subjectively terrible (like my eyes were bleeding) so I don’t do it, and I don’t need a study to back it up.

> Is it not enough that a person feels very strongly that one way is more comfortable for them?

Well, no.

If people think something is helping their eyesight, but it's really making it worse, that's a problem.

A lot of dev and gamer oriented sites/apps have a dark mode because it's trendy.

Whether it is objectively better is something I'm very interested in, especially as there are some things (e.g. Twitch's theatre mode) that only offer a dark mode.

Fair enough! I do agree that it’s important to back up any concrete biological claims related to eyesight or other long-term effects. But I’m moreso trying to argue that beyond specific claims about legibility or eye strain, it’s quite easy to understand that dark schemes are less blinding and therefore more comfortable for anyone sensitive to bright light.

They're not really wrong - I use light themes but occasionally experiment with dark ones and though both transitions can be jarring, the dark->light one is easily worse. The issue is that the shock is temporary, and long term using light themes avoids the "flashbang" issue of mixing light/dark colorscapes.

I suffer from migraines when using light themed IDEs. I learned this about 10 years ago when working in a dark theme I could work all day, but when I spent all day working on SQL in Sql Server Management Studios white theme I would go home with a migraine every day.

I understand that in certain lights white themes are probably easier, but I just have myself setup to only need dark themes now because migraines suck

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