On LCD displays dark mode actually uses more electricity; the brightness is always there, and you need to power the liquid-crystal layer to block that light to result in darker colours.
This whole myth about darker screens saving energy goes way back to the old CRT days when it actually did save some energy.
But then most dark modes aren’t pitch black. I guess it might save a bit of power by just being at a low brightness. Anyways I need my dark mode and also night mode.
Fun fact! Many OLED displays dim the whole image not by making the diodes dimmer, but by pulsing the diodes fast enough to match the desired brightness of each pixel.
You can test this by taking your OLED phone, pulling up an image, and then waving it around at different brightness levels; the observed image would become blurry at high brightness levels, but would separate into distinct “frames” at lower brightness.
I’m not sure if every OLED does this; just from the phones that I have used.
In case you are using an OLED screen or one of its variants, the difference is noticeable since they turn off the pixels that are black and, therefore, less electricity is consumed.
From what I understand, LCDs can have a resting state that will either stop light, or a resting state that will let light through. The backlight remains on, but a panel that natively blocks the light will require less power when showing black.
On LCD displays dark mode actually uses more electricity; the brightness is always there, and you need to power the liquid-crystal layer to block that light to result in darker colours.
This whole myth about darker screens saving energy goes way back to the old CRT days when it actually did save some energy.
Yall remember Blackle?
Many phones have OLED displays, which physically turn off the pixels in black areas. Since the site is on mobile, it does make a bit of sense.
But then most dark modes aren’t pitch black. I guess it might save a bit of power by just being at a low brightness. Anyways I need my dark mode and also night mode.
Less brightness means less light emitted by the diodes means less power is used. They may not turn off, but they still use less.
Fun fact! Many OLED displays dim the whole image not by making the diodes dimmer, but by pulsing the diodes fast enough to match the desired brightness of each pixel.
You can test this by taking your OLED phone, pulling up an image, and then waving it around at different brightness levels; the observed image would become blurry at high brightness levels, but would separate into distinct “frames” at lower brightness.
I’m not sure if every OLED does this; just from the phones that I have used.
In case you are using an OLED screen or one of its variants, the difference is noticeable since they turn off the pixels that are black and, therefore, less electricity is consumed.
Depends on the resting state of the LCD.
Saves energy for OLED, not LCD.
Yes for OLED. Sometimes for LCD.
From what I understand, LCDs can have a resting state that will either stop light, or a resting state that will let light through. The backlight remains on, but a panel that natively blocks the light will require less power when showing black.