« BackSix Levels of Dark Mode (2024)cssence.comSubmitted by Akcium 10 hours ago
  • apparent 6 hours ago

    I thought this was going to be about how people prefer different levels of blackness for the background in dark mode. I've heard people say that pure black is more battery efficient for OLED displays (but don't know if this is true), and I know some folks prefer a less-inky grey.

    I was wondering how there could be six levels though; I'd think 3 or 4 would be the most anyone could notice or care about.

    • gruez 2 hours ago

      >I've heard people say that pure black is more battery efficient for OLED displays (but don't know if this is true)

      No.

      https://www.xda-developers.com/amoled-black-vs-gray-dark-mod...

      • layer8 4 hours ago

        The more universal solution would be to standardize Reader Mode compatibility, and for browsers to let users configure how they want Reader Mode to look.

        In other words, instead of an n x m solution where every web site has to cater to each different user preference, there should be a simplified content view that every web site only has to support in a singular way, and that allows browsers to cater to the various user preferences.

        • apparent 2 hours ago

          This likely would have happened already if it weren't for Google's hostility to Reader Mode. It's hilarious to see the Reader Mode that they offer, where it's a resizable 2-column view, to ensure that ads are loaded and kept in sight. We get it, Google: you don't want to endanger your ad revenue.

          • f33d5173 2 hours ago

            It's just n x 2 for light and dark themes.

          • mudkipdev an hour ago

            Grayish dark themes are underrated

            • t-writescode 4 hours ago

              for OLEDs, I tend to prefer pure black because it doesn't burn-in. Since they have a limited lifetime, any "on" time is costing me usage in the long-long-long run and I'd rather have my monitor last 5+ years than ... 2 or 3.

              • gruez 2 hours ago

                >any "on" time is costing me usage in the long-long-long run and I'd rather have my monitor last 5+ years than ... 2 or 3.

                Going from dark gray to pure black isn't going to halve your monitor expectancy, if it makes a difference at all. Due to how human perception works something that's merely dark gray is actually orders of magnitude brighter than pure white, or even 50% gray. Therefore most of your burn-in is going to be driven by bright content like photos or white text, not whether you're using 5% gray vs pure black.

            • chrismorgan 3 hours ago

              > Dedicated files make sense if you do a lot of customization. The browser may ignore any CSS file that does not match the query, so there’ll be one less thing to download.

              That’s not how it actually works: in practice, browsers download them all. They may prioritise them differently, but they’ll still download them all in the end.

              • zamalek 5 hours ago

                Is there still no way to prevent the flash bang while waiting for initial content from the server?

                • jagged-chisel 3 hours ago

                  I don't know if I misunderstand the problem, but what about a style tag at the earliest part of the page indicating the background color to use?

                  • zamalek 2 hours ago

                    That flashbang happens during the initial latency (DNS, RTT, any server slowness).

                  • silverwind 4 hours ago

                    Use `background-color` in Firefox's `userContent.css`.

                    • zamalek 3 hours ago

                      I love the idea of ending it for myself, but my users are still screwed?

                    • NSPG911 2 hours ago

                      send a blank black page then load from there?

                      • MitPitt 2 hours ago

                        make dark mode the default, then it's a flash of dark in either case

                        • pocksuppet 5 hours ago

                          Decrease screen brightness. Turn off dark mode. No flashbang. Bonus: Battery lasts longer.

                        • gwern 6 hours ago

                          Glad OP got the tri-state toggle right!

                          • yyy888sss 5 hours ago

                            Level 9 (or 0): Turn off the computer and go to sleep.

                            • sambellll 6 hours ago

                              Would've been cool if the levels came into effect while you scrolled down the page

                              • jagged-chisel 3 hours ago

                                Or were selectable by the reader at each appropriate position in the page.

                              • stevage 5 hours ago

                                It's 8 levels though?

                                • andrehacker 6 hours ago
                                  • NooneAtAll3 an hour ago

                                    so sad that he disabled this ability to propagate to other pages :(

                                    it was the first time my eyes got comfortable reading his comics

                                    • mrexroad 2 hours ago

                                      Ah, the unofficial sequel to The Last Question.

                                    • everybodyknows 6 hours ago

                                      2024