Light-on-dark color scheme

Light-on-dark color scheme

A light-on-dark color scheme is a color scheme that uses light-colored text on a dark background and is often discussed in terms of computer user interface design.

Originally, computer user interface images were formed on CRTs. The phosphor was normally a very dark color, and lit up brightly when the electron beam hit it. The human eye adjusts to make this appear to be green or amber on black, depending on phosphors applied on a monochrome screen. RGB screens continued along a similar vein, using all the beams set to "on" to form white.

With the advent of teletext, research was done into which primary and secondary light colors and combinations worked best for this new medium.[citation needed] From a palette of black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan and white, it turned out that cyan or yellow on black was typically found to be optimal.

The opposite color scheme, dark-on-light color scheme, was originally introduced in WYSIWYG word processors, to simulate ink on paper.

There seems to be a dispute among vision and perception researchers about whether it is actually easier or healthier to read text on dark or light background; there is a similar dispute between users, when using each other's computer terminals.

Contents

Energy usage

Light on dark color schemes require less energy to display on some display technologies, such as OLED displays. This can impact battery life and overall energy conservation.

Issues with the web

Some argue that a color scheme with light text on a dark background is easier to read on the screen, because the lower brightness causes less eyestrain. The caveat is that most pages on the web are designed for white backgrounds; GIF and PNG images with a transparency bit instead of alpha channels tend to show up with choppy outlines, as well as causing problems with other graphical elements.

It is not necessary that a web design work well with only one color scheme. There are many mechanisms of web architecture that allow designs to work well with any color scheme a user might prefer. This technical flexibility is a product of the web architect's concern for accessibility and user preference empowerment, though designers rarely utilize this technical flexibility.

"Blazing white"

Blazing white is a term used to describe black text on a bright background, found in some software packages, often without the option to set colors. Another common problem is, when using anti-aliasing, the software assumes the background color is white.

Unlike paper which reflects ambient light, both CRT and LCD displays emit light of sufficient brightness to overcome ambient light. As ambient light varies, the relative brightness of the display can vary widely.

External links

  • Light on Dark Showcase of sites using a light on dark color scheme

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Color scheme — Celebration with fireworks over Miami, Florida, USA on American Independence Day. Bank of America Tower is also lit with the red, white and blue color scheme. In color theory, a color scheme is the choice of colors used in design for a range of… …   Wikipedia

  • Color analysis (art) — Color analysis, also called skin tone color matching or color seasons, is the process of finding colors of clothing and makeup to match a person s complexion, eye color, and hair color. It is often used as an aid to wardrobe planning and style… …   Wikipedia

  • Color wheel — For the circular mechanical device for tinting a light beam (e.g., in a DLP video projector), see color wheel (optics). Boutet s 7 color and 12 color color circles from 1708 …   Wikipedia

  • Color theory — For the American electronica/synthpop musician, see Color Theory. In the visual arts, color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual impacts of specific color combinations. Although color theory principles first… …   Wikipedia

  • Color vision — White light shone onto a green surface is perceived as green by the human eye, and processed as such in the brain s visual cortex …   Wikipedia

  • Color terminology for race — Map of indigenous skin color distribution in the world based on Von Luschan s chromatic scale …   Wikipedia

  • Color space — A comparison of the chromaticities enclosed by some color spaces. A color model is an abstract mathematical model describing the way colors can be represented as tuples of numbers, typically as three or four values or color components (e.g. RGB… …   Wikipedia

  • Color television — Title card for NBC, promoting their broadcast in RCA color . Color television is part of the history of television, the technology of television and practices associated with television s transmission of moving images in color video. In its most… …   Wikipedia

  • color — Synonyms and related words: Adrianople red, Alice blue, Arabian red, Argos brown, Bordeaux, Brunswick black, Brunswick blue, Burgundy, Capri blue, Cassel yellow, Chinese blue, Chinese white, Claude tint, Cologne brown, Columbian red, Congo rubine …   Moby Thesaurus

  • RGB color model — RGB redirects here. For other uses, see RGB (disambiguation). A representation of additive color mixing. Projection of primary color lights on a screen shows secondary colors where two overlap; the combination of all three of red, green, and blue …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”