is simply because this combination, when compared to the traditional "black text on white background" is less straining for my eyes. I have seen a lot of web guides that suggest me to follow that classic rule of black text on white page (and renders the usage of light text on black background a blasphemy) but based on my personal experiences in processing digital maps in MapInfo and ArcGIS, engineering plans in AutoCAD and Civil 3D, and programming C in Linux, the opposite of that rule holds true. You can even ask any programmer out there and I can tell you that most of them are favoring the light text on a dark background on a traditionalist's perspective.
I remember my superior seeing my office mate working on his plans and asking him what's up with the black background. "It's less eye-straining" was my office mate's immediate answer. I couldn't agree more. He probably saw my monitor and realized also that this color scheme is much easier on the eyes considering that we're working in front of our computer screens 8-10 hours a day. Yesterday, I was making an organizational chart and process flowchart via Word and Powerpoint with white background and before the day ended, I was already having a headache. I'm afraid of losing my normal eyesight to myopia.
So what really is the best rule for this? I think this is still a very subjective issue. It depends on the individual's eyes. Some might even say using black text on white background is boring while using white text on black background is stressful to the eye. Working in front of a monitor I think is not different in reading a blog like this one. This grey text over black background is the most comfortable in my eyes since this background also provides depth and sense of space compared to the plain white background. But I wont blame you if you think this blog kills your eyes and shun away from it. The important thing here is to protect both the writer and the reader's 20/20 vision.
More "contrasting" arguments here:
http://cuwebd.ning.com/forum/topics/1763934:Topic:18722
http://www.w3schools.com/quality/quality_readability.asp
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200608/light_text_on_dark_background_vs_readability/
http://www.usability.gov/pdfs/chapter11.pdf
I remember my superior seeing my office mate working on his plans and asking him what's up with the black background. "It's less eye-straining" was my office mate's immediate answer. I couldn't agree more. He probably saw my monitor and realized also that this color scheme is much easier on the eyes considering that we're working in front of our computer screens 8-10 hours a day. Yesterday, I was making an organizational chart and process flowchart via Word and Powerpoint with white background and before the day ended, I was already having a headache. I'm afraid of losing my normal eyesight to myopia.
So what really is the best rule for this? I think this is still a very subjective issue. It depends on the individual's eyes. Some might even say using black text on white background is boring while using white text on black background is stressful to the eye. Working in front of a monitor I think is not different in reading a blog like this one. This grey text over black background is the most comfortable in my eyes since this background also provides depth and sense of space compared to the plain white background. But I wont blame you if you think this blog kills your eyes and shun away from it. The important thing here is to protect both the writer and the reader's 20/20 vision.
image from ZDNet
More "contrasting" arguments here:
http://cuwebd.ning.com/forum/topics/1763934:Topic:18722
http://www.w3schools.com/quality/quality_readability.asp
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200608/light_text_on_dark_background_vs_readability/
http://www.usability.gov/pdfs/chapter11.pdf
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