Re: "modern" colors Re: Changes for emacs 28

[Dmitry Gutov]

On 12.09.2020 16:16, Arthur Miller wrote:
> I don't liek staring at white backgrounds, it is like looking into a
> lamp. As I write this I have half of my screen on white background (a
> github page) and white in dary green (Emacs) and I can clearly compare
> and see how much harder it is to look at white background of Github.

This looks like a common misconception. Here's how this experiment is 
flawed.

The eyes adapts to the current ambient level of lighting. That why when 
you go outside you don't usually have to cover your eyes. Even though 
daylight's brightness is an order(s) of magnitude higher than the 
lighting inside an average office, indoors.

As soon as your eyes and brain notice that the basic level of 
illumination has increased, the iris muscles in your eyes contract, the 
irises become smaller and let in only the amount of light that is needed 
for you to see things clearly, but not more (leading to too-bright a 
picture). And when you go back into the shade, the iris muscle relaxes 
and the pupils enlarge to, again, capture the appropriate amount of light.

If you ever did some photography (digital or otherwise), you probably 
know that more light is generally a good thing, and most cameras can 
produce a good picture in generous lighting. In twilight, that takes 
more effort.

The bulk of the eye strain comes from those moments when the eye has to 
adapt to the new level of brightness. That's when the iris muscle does 
its work.

So if you have been working in a dark Emacs for some time, and 
especially if the room around you is not well-lit, of course Github and 
similar websites would immediately look like a bright sun.

But if you turn on more lights in the room (or simply lower the screen 
brightness to match the surrounding lighting) and spend some time on 
Github, Wikipedia, Reddit, SX, inside Thunderbird, etc, then switch back 
to your dark Emacs, the immediate stress should be about the same.