People with astigmatism (aproximately 50% of the population) find it harder to read white text on black than black text on white. 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. The "fuzzing” effect that Jason refers to is known as halation.
My eyes are hurting. And 50% of the population as well. Can we please change the color scheme?
Of course your post is an uncredited quote from Jason Harrison of the University of British Columbia, which was made some years ago. While it may be true that some people with vision problems have problems with white text on black, some people have similar problems with black text on white. There are other factors involved besides the color scheme such as the ambient light in the room and the type, resolution and refresh rate of the monitor.
Black backgrounds on web pages are popular and usually look pretty good on today’s LCD monitors and mobile phone displays. I have astigmatism as well and do not have any particular visual problems with this forum layout. If the room you are viewing your monitor is dark, it may be easier to read. I’m not saying that some people won’t have problems with this color scheme, but you can’t please everyone, no matter what you do, somebody won’t like it.
I actually got that blurb on my txt file on my computer from when I went to design school. Sorry if I couldn’t link it like I usually do with other topics. I browse this forum quite a bit and can’t seem to focus on the text when reading for an extended period of time. I currently use a new dell 1080p monitor so it’s not dated by any means. My room is well lit as well. While I understand you can’t please everyone, you are far more likely to please a much larger audience with the right color schemes. That is why most sites use black text on a white background. That is no coincidence. It is a fact due to it being much easier on the eyes. It is also something one learns in design school, which I’m sure the web designer here went to. The main problem lies within the main forum thread page whereas here, with the grey text is much easier on the eyes. If this is not something they have time to fix no real biggie but it’s definitely something to consider.
That statement from Jason Harrison has been floating around the internet for years. When computer monitors had lower resolutions, black text on a white background was the only way to go. With high resolution LCD and plasma displays, not as much because a white background is much brighter than the old CRT displays. The resolution is also much higher and so is the contrast ratio.
Color schemes of websites are usually pretty carefully thought out, you have to consider what the web page content will be and how it will look on different monitors, television and mobile device displays of varying sizes, resolutions and user color balance selections. As I mentioned, black webpage backgrounds are popular right now. I design and build websites, black is in. My own personal website has a black background. It is primarily a photo and video site, but has white text. If I was the website manager of this site, I would consider the comments I’ve seen with people saying they have trouble reading it and make the text size a little larger. Personally, I think the site looks OK but the text is a little small. Or use a bold face font.
Try viewing this forum in a dark room, turn off all the lights and see if it is easier to read. Dark color schemes look better when the room is dark. Play around with your monitor’s settings, especially the brightness and contrast. I know from experience that some Dell monitors are especially bright, might want to play around with it a little.
lol, I think you’re just trying to get too technical here. I’m simply stating what i’m noticing when I browse the forums. So to compensate for the site you want me to turn all the lights off in the room? Or turn down my brightness when it works fine with other sites? The statement from James might be old but the concept is still taught in schools as it still applies today as it did back then. This is not some drastic change either, more than anything, we’re talking about colors. I have no problem with the layout or it’s design. As I said, if this is something that they can’t waste the resource to change, i’d rather them work on the game as well, it’s fine.
How many books have black pages with white text? However there are lots of things in life that we can’t control. This is just another example of progress?
Kind of not even in the ballbark; computer monitors are transmitted light, print is reflected light. Wood pulp, that most paper is made from, is fairly light in color, it is bleached to make it white. Most ink is pigment or dyes dissolved in solvent, I believe the first ink products were made from graphite and burned wood, which is black, so there you have your black ink on white paper; easiest way to go.
Why are LCD panel backgrounds black when white is so much easier to see?
The quote screen is crisp clear and pleasing to me. The outside forum format isn’t. I guess the photos look better with a black background. Maybe that’s the underlying motivation for the blackness…graphics rule?
The quotes are white text on gray, the body text is light gray on dark gray, which I think is a little hard to read. As I mentioned earlier, if the text were a bit larger, I think it would be easier to read. Personally, I would prefer white text on the dark gray background, but everyone has different tastes and ideas.
The Forza 5 website has a black theme, it is graphics heavy so that would be going along with recent tastes and trends in web design, the rewards site is black, again, graphics heavy with large, bold type fonts. The news and user image gallery sites are black as well, this forum is just following along with the basic theme of the Forza 5 web identity.
I have found it easier to read white text on black text, hurts less on the eyes personally. But it is hard to transfer from every other page using black on white text to white on black text. I just don’t like how small the text is personally.