For what it's worth:
I used white foreground on black background for a long time (VT100 days),
but once I switched (started using a BBN BitGraph terminal), I noticed
less eyestrain... Then I realized that using black letters on white background
allows the dots (black) to flow together making a smoother lettering
appearance. This doesn't happen with white on black because the white dot
has nothing to cause it to flow.... Black is always present between the
dots, even when using the current high resolution displays. You just have
to use a good magnifying glass to see it. If you don't see it then the
appearance of dots becomes fuzzy around the location of the real dot.
Another advantage(?) was that the phospor of the black letters on white
faded the same. the white on black left lines where the letters used to
be, and if you turned the brightness up to compensate, it made it get
worse faster. The black-on-white also could have the brightness turned
down, allowing the monitor to last longer. Even now, most of my monitors
are about 25%-30% maximum for comfortable viewing. If I had more ambiant
light control (I already pulled the floresent tubes from one fixture and
would like to pull them from another) I could turn the brightness down
more.
People want what makes the least pain to use. I met one grumpy secretary
that had an attitude change just because one overhead floresent light was
disabled. This eliminated some eyestrain (not recognized until it was off).
She brought in an incandesent light for desk work - this eliminated some
flicker between the floresent lights and the monitor. Flicker caused more
problems than screen brightness did, even a 75Hz refresh has a 15Hz flicker
too fast for most people to notice, but enough to cause eyestrain.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesse I Pollard, II
Email: pollard@navo.hpc.mil
Any opinions expressed are solely my own.
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