Bright Room, Bright Screen Content

And now, a silent moment of gratitude for “dark mode”.

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Personal screens today have two modes. The original light mode is dark-text-on-light: good in a bright room, so-so in a dark one. 

Thankfully, we now have dark mode too: light-text-on-dark, which is much better in dark rooms. 

For example, I can write an article in a dark room and not disturb someone nearby. Which I may currently be doing.

Anyway, we may think each mode works because it matches the context. True. But there is a second reason: glare.

When you have a bright glass screen in a dark place — say, a movie in a dark living room — you don’t see reflections. But what’s another word for a dark glass screen in a bright room?

A mirror.

If you put a glass screen in a bright exhibition gallery, and the content is dark, it becomes a mirror. Glare will make it hard for you to see what’s on the screen.

Here’s the thing:
Bright room, bright screen content. 

In bright rooms, avoid screens (and touchscreens) with dark content or backgrounds. Keep the content bright, and it won’t act like a mirror.

Warmly,
Jonathan

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MtM Word of the Day:

Gantt chart. A visual way of showing a project schedule, with a list of tasks on the left, and time units across the top. Task become a series of horizontal bars like descending stairsteps, each representing a duration. (Yes, Gantt is capitalized and has two t's, it’s a guy’s name.)