Dark mode may be good for your phone’s battery but not necessarily for your eyes

Dark Mode is in vogue and the tech world is embracing it with open arms. Whether it is the operating systems or apps and their web-based interfaces, everyone is including this feature in their products and services with WhatsApp Web becoming the latest service to do so.

Dark mode is popular and it has its advantages but did you know that it has some downsides as well? But first a history lesson.

History

A lot of people might not remember but computers in the old days did not have bright and colourful Graphical User Interface (GUI) like the computers available in the market these days. Instead, they used monochrome CRT screens that displayed light text on a dark background.

This changed when companies like Xerox and CPT Corporation made word processors that were meant to replicate ink on paper. Simply said, they popularised having black text on a white background. As the display technology improved, colours on the screens appeared to be brighter and more vibrant. This change was further accelerated by the introduction of smartphones and mobile games.

Advantages of using dark mode

Dark mode has its advantages. The most significant one being the reduction in battery usage in OLED and AMOLED display panels. In OLED displays every pixel is individually lit. So when the display is light, most of the display pixels are turned on, which in turn consumes a lot of battery power. On the contrary, when the dark mode is turned on and dark pixels are turned on, the battery usage goes down.

In addition to this, dark mode also reduces the emission of the harmful Blue light, which in turn reduces the strain on the eyes.

Why you shouldn’t use dark mode

While dark mode does reduce eye strain and battery consumption, there are some downsides to using it as well. The first reason has to do with the way the image is formed in our eyes. The clarity of our vision depends on how much light is entering in our eyes. So, when we use light mode on our smartphone and PC screens, a lot of light enters into our eyes, which makes the pupils contract, which in turns lead to the formation of a clearer and sharper image on the retina.

On the other hand, when we use dark mode less light enters our eyes, which results in the pupils being dilated. This leads to the formation of a blurring image and strain while reading.

The other reason, as the blog site Techquila explains, is the way light scatters. When we use light characters on a dark background, light scatters around the characters making it difficult to read. But when we use light mode or dark characters on a light background, the characters are sharper and hence there is no strain while reading.

Another surprising benefit of using light more during the day time pertains to an individual’s moods. Android Authority quoting a research by Harvard says that exposure to Blue light during the day can uplift the mood. The report also quotes American Association of Ophthalmology, which says that a healthy exposure to Blue light can help in reducing nearsightedness in children.