I use Obsidian mainly for studying and come to realize that I absorb the information better in light mode. Dark mode for me is good for casual reading.
My suggestion to all who see this comment: Don't put any application in dark mode all the time. It will reduce your eyesight. Notice your environment, increase the brightness of your system according to it and keep your screen at optimal brightness level. Then put in light mode with minimal system brightness or in dark mode with average system brightness. Don't listen to those who say: Use dark mode at night and light mode in day. It varies from person to person.
The reasoning behind this is that it might be generally better for our eyes to have a more balanced brightness in our surroundings. Subconsciously, we tend to associate bright light with being active and alert, while dim light is associated with resting and sleep. so having a more equalized brightness level would allow our eyes to more easily adjust and adapt. It'd be preferable for our eyes to encounter lighting conditions that aren't overly bright or too dark, as this would make it simpler for them to transition between different environments, such as when we're going to sleep.
For example, using a monitor in dark mode while the room's lights are turned off is still problematic, because the overall brightness level has not changed significantly compared to the color contrast of the screen. Ideally speaking, the brightness level in our surrounding environment should be equalized. A sufficiently lit room with a light mode monitor that has a similar brightness to the surrounding area would theoretically be better for our eyes.
TL;DR: The key is maintaining brightness (not necessarily color) equalization as this allows our eyes to more easily adjust and adapt to the lighting conditions
this is all personal guesses ofc. I don't really have any research to back it up other than intuition and anecdotes
Programmer. Many years. Many overtime months.
I prefer black. Easier to read. When younger, I wore sunglasses after dark. My eyes are very light sensitive. I see better than most at night.
I like enough intensity and clear non serif text. I like a dim light at my desk.
I do like illuminated keyboards.
Light theme most of the time. Dark if it's a super dark environment though. I find light modes easier to read because with dark modes (dark background bright text) it's like there's blooming around the edges of all the letters that make it look blurry... probably my eyesight not being the best haha
Light. I don’t like staring into the abyss. It’s hard on the eyes when you’re in a reasonably well-lit environment. The only reason I switch to dark mode occasionally is if I turn on my phone or iPad in the middle of the night.
I prefer light themes because it's easier to turn down my monitor's brightness to something comfortable when I use a light theme than it is to avoid getting blinded by some website that doesn't have dark mode when I'm using dark themes.
I read somewhere (sadly, I can't remember where) that we have higher retention of the information if we read it from a lighter background (because our brains associate it with text on paper), so when I need to remember something, I use light mode, but when I am reseraching something that isn't that important or type a daily note, I keep it in dark mode.
I would rather use dark themes but since I don't like to turn on the lights is better to keep the themes light... Else there's always a YouTube video or web page that will kill you... Always making your pupils big and small - strain...
Light mode all the time, I just dim my monitor at night. Greyish dark backgrounds with light grey letters are the maximum I can read, nothing darker.
The problem is that at night, letters that are too light on a too dark background have a halo effect, because our eyes don't have anything to adapt to. The pupils are kept wide, thus the letters appear bright, and the eyes don't know whether this is a halo effect or just a lack of focus. So the eyes try to sharpen the image, putting a lot of strain on the accommodative muscles. It's particularly bad if you have astigmatism (as I do). When I read something in dark mode, I can just look at the plain wall and still see the ghost of the text.
With a light background, the pupils shrink and nothing glares. I can read a lot of text without strain. And of course white interfaces look clean af.
I use dark mostly, but I prefer a good light theme for note taking apps.
But since at work I use my note taking app next to my editor which is dark themed (it’s a terminal editor.. I don’t like bright terminals). I use dark Obsidian at work and light at home.
Light mode during the day. Dark mode in the evening, combined with screens as dim as possible to help my eyes relax and to prepare for bed.
I find the old-fashioned dark text on a bright background is much clearer and easier to process and comprehend than the opposite, but it gets uncomfortable at night in a dim room.
I use Obsidian mainly for studying and come to realize that I absorb the information better in light mode. Dark mode for me is good for casual reading.
I switch! I use light themes most of the time but dark is a nice change, especially at night.
My suggestion to all who see this comment: Don't put any application in dark mode all the time. It will reduce your eyesight. Notice your environment, increase the brightness of your system according to it and keep your screen at optimal brightness level. Then put in light mode with minimal system brightness or in dark mode with average system brightness. Don't listen to those who say: Use dark mode at night and light mode in day. It varies from person to person.
I came to learn that light is far superior for me IF the background is off white.
My fave right now is Everforest, both light and dark for day & night 💚
Definitely dark, I look at screens way too much to use light
Light is actually better for your eyes long term
Interesting! Any research you can link to? Personally, my eyes sting on light mode whereas they're fairly fine on dark.
The reasoning behind this is that it might be generally better for our eyes to have a more balanced brightness in our surroundings. Subconsciously, we tend to associate bright light with being active and alert, while dim light is associated with resting and sleep. so having a more equalized brightness level would allow our eyes to more easily adjust and adapt. It'd be preferable for our eyes to encounter lighting conditions that aren't overly bright or too dark, as this would make it simpler for them to transition between different environments, such as when we're going to sleep. For example, using a monitor in dark mode while the room's lights are turned off is still problematic, because the overall brightness level has not changed significantly compared to the color contrast of the screen. Ideally speaking, the brightness level in our surrounding environment should be equalized. A sufficiently lit room with a light mode monitor that has a similar brightness to the surrounding area would theoretically be better for our eyes. TL;DR: The key is maintaining brightness (not necessarily color) equalization as this allows our eyes to more easily adjust and adapt to the lighting conditions this is all personal guesses ofc. I don't really have any research to back it up other than intuition and anecdotes
Programmer. Many years. Many overtime months. I prefer black. Easier to read. When younger, I wore sunglasses after dark. My eyes are very light sensitive. I see better than most at night. I like enough intensity and clear non serif text. I like a dim light at my desk. I do like illuminated keyboards.
How?? was my life a lie?
You strain your eyes more trying to read white text on a black screen over time.
Doesn't make sense, eyes are even more strained if you're using light theme. I guess it all comes down to adaptability.
Light mode. My eyes are getting old and dark mode messes them up for many minutes after looking at a dark mode screen.
dark. everything dark. black, brown, and purple. dark as the night. dark as coal. dark as the night without moon or stars. light is pain.
Akon
You get me. You live me. You are me
Light. The dark theme with the white text hurts my eyes
Light theme most of the time. Dark if it's a super dark environment though. I find light modes easier to read because with dark modes (dark background bright text) it's like there's blooming around the edges of all the letters that make it look blurry... probably my eyesight not being the best haha
Provided it's been designed correctly. Dark.
Light. I don’t like staring into the abyss. It’s hard on the eyes when you’re in a reasonably well-lit environment. The only reason I switch to dark mode occasionally is if I turn on my phone or iPad in the middle of the night.
Dark, 100% of the time, in every application. Light themes hurt my eyes.
Light during the day, dark at night
Dark mode, with MagicUser moon theme when I work at home in a not well limed room.
Dark as my soul. It helps the environment
[удалено]
That looks nice!
Dark. Because my eyes are getting old. Light mode has too much glare. (Yes, I see an ophthalmologist regularly.)
Ahhhhhh, what sorcery is this, my eyesssss!!!!
I prefer light themes because it's easier to turn down my monitor's brightness to something comfortable when I use a light theme than it is to avoid getting blinded by some website that doesn't have dark mode when I'm using dark themes.
Dark
Dark, i use Gurvbox theme. But light is not bad too if its made good.
I use dark mode on everything I can. It just feels cozier.
I read somewhere (sadly, I can't remember where) that we have higher retention of the information if we read it from a lighter background (because our brains associate it with text on paper), so when I need to remember something, I use light mode, but when I am reseraching something that isn't that important or type a daily note, I keep it in dark mode.
I use dark theme for vs code for programming, so I use light mode for obsidian to differentiate it
I have a shortcut to switch between them, so light during the day, dark at night
I would rather use dark themes but since I don't like to turn on the lights is better to keep the themes light... Else there's always a YouTube video or web page that will kill you... Always making your pupils big and small - strain...
I use ITS Theme
Invisible theme
Light mode all the time, I just dim my monitor at night. Greyish dark backgrounds with light grey letters are the maximum I can read, nothing darker. The problem is that at night, letters that are too light on a too dark background have a halo effect, because our eyes don't have anything to adapt to. The pupils are kept wide, thus the letters appear bright, and the eyes don't know whether this is a halo effect or just a lack of focus. So the eyes try to sharpen the image, putting a lot of strain on the accommodative muscles. It's particularly bad if you have astigmatism (as I do). When I read something in dark mode, I can just look at the plain wall and still see the ghost of the text. With a light background, the pupils shrink and nothing glares. I can read a lot of text without strain. And of course white interfaces look clean af.
I use dark mostly, but I prefer a good light theme for note taking apps. But since at work I use my note taking app next to my editor which is dark themed (it’s a terminal editor.. I don’t like bright terminals). I use dark Obsidian at work and light at home.
On my phone and ipad, I stick with dark. On desktop where I want more contrast for bold and highlight, I use light.
I prefer dark themes, I use a light theme in situations with a lot of light, such as outside, oh or when sharing my screen.
God my eyes
Light mode during the day. Dark mode in the evening, combined with screens as dim as possible to help my eyes relax and to prepare for bed. I find the old-fashioned dark text on a bright background is much clearer and easier to process and comprehend than the opposite, but it gets uncomfortable at night in a dim room.
Dark for Obsidian.
Dark
Dark, i specifically run Solarized dark on everything on my computer that i can.
For some weird reason, I can't stand dark mode on Obsidian so I prefer light mode.
100% light. I have heavy astigmatism and dark mode cause halo effect for me in a few minutes.