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Smart Cities: Urban Sustainability at the Forefront
29 de April de 2024
Light Mode vs Dark Mode: Which One’s Better?
There was a time when colors on a computer screen were signs of innovation and strength. When the first screens came out, there wasn’t much going on beyond red, blue or green. That monochromatism drove the development of new graphic designs. But now it seems that the trend is to move in the opposite direction: dark mode. Do you know what it is and its advantages? Let us tell you all about it.
Dark mode is a color scheme that can adapt to any type of device such as laptops, tablets and phones. It’s structured around a dark background and white text and not much contrast with the rest of the elements on the screen. This type of format offers a minimalistic look and reduces the impact that screens have on our retinas, which can help prevent eyestrain. This is particularly important during the night, since reduced brightness won’t exhaust our sight and it will improve our quality of sleep.
Dark mode has been a real challenge for developers. Finding a balance between the right screen distribution and making content easy to read has been a tough job. However, now, the question is whether it’s good or bad for our sight. It has been scientifically proven that exposure to blue light can alter our sleep routine and increase the tension in our eyes. As it suppresses the production of melatonin, our state of alertness increases and the production of that hormone gets interrupted. When this happens, our circadian rhythm —i.e. our internal clock in charge of regulating our physical, mental and behavioral changes— can be altered throughout the day.
Science has yet to confirm that dark mode is the miracle our eyes have been waiting for. It is, though, a helping hand for our device batteries, which last 50% longer when dark mode is activated. However, the key will always be the time we spend on our devices — the longer we spend in front of a screen, the more we’ll be straining our eyes. The best you can do is to keep your devices at a normal distance, lower the brightness of the screen and stop using them one hour before you go to bed.
So, should we all just change our screens to this mode? It will all depend on how our eye muscles are feeling. If you feel like you’re straining your eyes, you probably are. Remember, give your eyes a break — after all, you use them all the time.
