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I am a Software Engineer, so as such I use a computer system for more than 9 hours a day. While I am working which background color is best white or black to help avoid unnecessary eye strain?

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    I have deleted your comment as provocative, comments are intended to clarify or improve questions. There is no stack exchange requirement to explain downvotes.
    – JohnP
    Oct 7, 2015 at 14:40
  • There are a lot more options than just those two. Are you specifically asking only about black-on-white and white-on-black, or are you asking more generally? Oct 9, 2015 at 2:39
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    Actually in my framework have only this both background colors. black and white.i can use any one color in my framework.so which one is give less eye strain
    – Vinoth
    Oct 9, 2015 at 4:24
  • As a software engineer I would think you would know there's a wealth of information on this subject available. Entire books, in fact, since it's a complex subject. There is no single "best" background color for all circumstances. Your question is too broad.
    – Carey Gregory
    Oct 10, 2015 at 2:07
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    @AlessandroJacopson How about this instead? It's probably a better forum for this question anyway.
    – Carey Gregory
    Oct 14, 2015 at 23:07

1 Answer 1

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  1. Reading is better for dark text on light background than for light text on dark background.

We investigated the underlying mechanism by assessing pupil size and proofreading performance when reading positive and negative polarity texts. In particular, we tested the display luminance hypothesis which postulates that the typically greater brightness of positive compared to negative polarity displays leads to smaller pupil sizes and, hence, a sharper retinal image and better perception of detail. Indeed, pupil sizes were smaller and proofreading performance was better with positive than with negative polarity displays. Source: Smaller pupil size and better proofreading performance with positive than with negative polarity displays

  1. Higher brightness of light background displays is said to lead to an improved detail understanding.

The findings are in line with the assumption that the typically higher luminance of positive polarity displays leads to an improved perception of detail. Source: Positive display polarity is particularly advantageous for small character sizes

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  • This is a good answer as it pertains to reading, however programming is not quite in the same arena. If you could expand it to include extended (6+ hour sessions) viewing impacts, it would make an excellent answer.
    – JohnP
    May 6, 2016 at 14:30

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