dpreview's black background makes it hard to read

am I the only one experiencing difficulties in reading dpreview, due to the white font on black screens? (and seldom having eye strains after staying a bit on the site)?

Seems to work fine for me. When I hit my mid-forties, I found it necessary to use reading glasses when working on the computer.
--
http://101-365.com/

well, i'm more in my mid-20s!

and I just have problems with this (and other white-on-black) website!

jv0guano said:

well, i'm more in my mid-20s!

and I just have problems with this (and other white-on-black) website!

Click to expand...

Some computers can reverse text colours, I know my Mac has this in universal access under system settings.

It reverses everything so the text in this window will be harder to read, but you could do it temporarily for a few white on black articles....

--I find the DPR site very easy to read even with trifocals and very old eyes. The use of multi colored type on the black background is easier on the eyes than sites that use black type on white IMO. Typing this response I see it is black type on white on a black surround. One may have problems running copies but I am sure there is a work around. I do like it the way it is.
Don V. Armitage

At least the messaging boxes are black on white. If they too were white-ish on black I would not bother visiting. On some occasions, I just highlight the text and due my computer display setup, I see the text as RED on a white background.

Mind you, with all the various error and server problems over the past few months (regularly reported and discussed on most forums) visits have beome rather hit and miss almost daily. As the large (generally very reliable) conglomerate Amazon owns DPR, one would think their IT resources could apply some effort to sorting this website out.

--

Zone8: Although I am a handsome geniearse, when I stand in front of a mirror, I vaguely recognise the ugly idjit standing on the other side!

LINK: For B+W with Epson 1400 (and other models) using black ink only PLUS other useful tips:
http://www.photosnowdonia.co.uk/ZPS/epson1400-B&W.htm
Cleaning DSLR Sensors, including Kodak DSLR Factory Cleaning method:
http://www.photosnowdonia.co.uk/ZPS/KodakDCS-sensorcleaning.htm
Solving back/front focus problems on Sigma and most other DSLRs
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1027&message=35565277

... that it was once said that people who like white on black websites must be regular porn site visitors as they generally (so I am told) seem to prefer that sort of presentation. ;-)

--

Zone8: Although I am a handsome geniearse, when I stand in front of a mirror, I vaguely recognise the ugly idjit standing on the other side!

LINK: For B+W with Epson 1400 (and other models) using black ink only PLUS other useful tips:
http://www.photosnowdonia.co.uk/ZPS/epson1400-B&W.htm
Cleaning DSLR Sensors, including Kodak DSLR Factory Cleaning method:
http://www.photosnowdonia.co.uk/ZPS/KodakDCS-sensorcleaning.htm
Solving back/front focus problems on Sigma and most other DSLRs
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1027&message=35565277

Maybe your Profile tells the story !!.. I've been on here almost since it started.. or not much after that I suppose.. and as far as MY memory serves me.(excuse me but at MY age I do have to stretch that a litle sometimes !!)...I've never known or can remember it being any different than a black background !!!

I don't mind it so much - although if I ever use a black background on some HTML albums I make up occasionally from a set of pics - I do prefer to have yellow print..that I think DOES seem to look better/read better , on black. Inded dpReview do use yellow print in a few places.

--
eric
Staffordshire, UK

It might be a matter of what one is accustomed to.

Historically, computer monitors used green (or sometimes orange) text on a black background. This was done in order to improve legibility.

In printed media (on paper) we don't use white text on a black background because the ink tends to spill into the white areas, making the characters become narrower, and in some cases, strokes can just about disappear. In a similar way, black text on a white computer monitor would be avoided as the white illuminated areas would tend to spill light into the dark areas, making each character less distinct.

Some people worked professionally for years using only bright text on a black background, and it was comfortable to use.

So what has changed?

Well, two things have changed. One, computer monitors have improved, so that light spilling into adjacent areas is less of a problem. At the same time, fonts have tended to get smaller.

Any criticism I have with the Dpreview site centres around the very small font sizes used. As a result, I use the "text zoom" feature in order to make the text large enough to see. To be fair, this is necessary with other websites too.

But still, when it comes to visibility and eye-strain, this is one of the sites which never gives me problems. The worst sites are those which use light-grey on light-grey as a style, rendering text indistinguishable from the background. And unfortunately there are quite a number of those around. (Luckily this site isn't one of them).

Regards,
Peter

dona2 said:

--I find the DPR site very easy to read even with trifocals and very old eyes. The use of multi colored type on the black background is easier on the eyes than sites that use black type on white IMO. Typing this response I see it is black type on white on a black surround. One may have problems running copies but I am sure there is a work around. I do like it the way it is.
Don V. Armitage

Click to expand...

I agree. I had cataract surgery something like a decade ago: with my reading glasses, I have no problem reading DPR. In fact, I find it one of the easier to read sites.

--
Charlie Self
http://www.charlieselfonline.com

jv0guano said:

am I the only one experiencing difficulties in reading dpreview, due to the white font on black screens? (and seldom having eye strains after staying a bit on the site)?

Click to expand...

I personally prefer it. I have floaters in my eyes, and an all white page just makes them worse.

--
Karen

If it pleases you then to hell what everyone else thinks!

--One trend in the print media is the use of pale yellow print on white. Generally used in small areas to differ from the main article but the small type is almost unreadable. The editors must use jewelers oculars to proof read. Very annoying.
Don V. Armitage

jv0guano said:

am I the only one experiencing difficulties in reading dpreview, due to the white font on black screens? (and seldom having eye strains after staying a bit on the site)?

Click to expand...

That's a sure sign you're spending too much time on dpreview

Mark B. said:

jv0guano said:

am I the only one experiencing difficulties in reading dpreview, due to the white font on black screens? (and seldom having eye strains after staying a bit on the site)?

Click to expand...

That's a sure sign you're spending too much time on dpreview

Click to expand...

sadly, I am not spending as much time as I would like. but indeed I agree with the most of you, forums is more readable because it is basically black on white.

But getting through a whole review, well, it is really an impossible job for me, I really can't read more than 1-2 pages in a row.

And I have this with other websites as well, with the same utterly black background and white font; and even at work, when I have to use the damn terminal (yep, the old green on black).

Indeed maybe my eyes are strange? Cos, I think contrary-wise to most of you all, I feel the best is in white font on dark grey background.

Let say something like the dark grey that is in the background layer of dpreview. That I can handle, and I think is maybe weird, since theoretically speaking (I think, not sure of this) eyes are less strained in situation where the contrast is well marked (e.g. white on black). If we make the white more beige and the black more grey, eyes will get more strained. But my eyes like this last one

jv0guano said:

am I the only one experiencing difficulties in reading dpreview, due to the white font on black screens? (and seldom having eye strains after staying a bit on the site)?

Click to expand...

There are individual differences involved. For some people pupil dilation will depend more on the centre af the viewed area while for others it will depend more on the overall brightmess. If you belong to the second group, your pupil dilation will be a bit to large for the centre area where you are reading. This can result in some eye strain.

In a large scale study done some years back (print not computer screen), I found that black on a fairly light orange background was judged to the the most "readable". It seems that too little or too much contrast is undesirable.

I'm glad to hear some scientific explanation about it!

I like the idea of this study you mentioned; since I got no power in changing dpreview, I will at least test it against my pupils in my terminal at work, since i know somehow colours can be changed!

thank you for your contribution

In IE8 you can change some of the text and background colours of web pages to whatever you want.

White text on a grey background





To change the text and background colours in IE8 navigate through

Tools --> Internet Options --> General --> accessibility --> Formatting and tick the Ignore colors specified on web pages box, then click ok.

Next click the colors button

You now have the option of changing the Text, Background, Visited and Unvisited text to whatever you wish.

SteveMi

Dreemer said:

In IE8 you can change some of the text and background colours of web pages to whatever you want.

White text on a grey background





To change the text and background colours in IE8 navigate through

Tools --> Internet Options --> General --> accessibility --> Formatting and tick the Ignore colors specified on web pages box, then click ok.

Next click the colors button

You now have the option of changing the Text, Background, Visited and Unvisited text to whatever you wish.

SteveMi

Click to expand...

Steve, using Chome, but your post triggered my brain to look for an extension of Chrome...et voilá! "Change Colors" it is!

have to work on the setting, but the result is ammmmasing!

thank you very very much!





this is heaven! thank you again too Zamac!

jv0guano said:

am I the only one experiencing difficulties in reading dpreview, due to the white font on black screens? (and seldom having eye strains after staying a bit on the site)?

Click to expand...

I agree. It particularly hurts when ur reading white-on-black on DPR for long and suddenly switch to some other window which is black-on-white.
They should've made it user configurable parameter.

--Black backgrounds are great! They provide excellent contrast if your monitor is set up correctly and save energy.

I prefer the yellow font on a black background.Wish DPReview would change the skinny font on white background.

If anybody knows how to do this please let me know.

joer56
http://www.pbase.com/joer