It can be more time consuming to develop a light on dark presentation.

I searched the internet for additional information and studies on the subject. You know that when you take a walk in the park; the glint of the sun from a gum wrapper lying in the grass draws your attention.

In television, the eye is attracted by changes on the screen either the introduction of a lighter color, movement, or both. . ." To a presenter, this is referred to as "white death.

It can be more time consuming to develop a light on dark presentation.

If you're a presenter and properly lit, projecting white light onto a reflective screen anywhere on the stage is going to attract the attention of the audience . The retina is lined with a series of light sensing cells known as cones and rods.

And yet in a presentation situation, many of us put black text on white screens. .

Traditional computer screens project light in a similar manner to projectors used in a boardroom setting. This is similar to adding white text to a static screen.

Don't take your audience for granted!

The only reason I can think of to use black text on white is that it's "easy" to create.

My extensive experience in television supports this hypothesis. In other words, support graphics and text should be placed on a dark background.

So, by using black text on a white screen, you're actually asking your audience to read what they don't see! Our brains have to calculate the dimensions of the area that doesn't reflect light and turn that into meaningful information.


Copyright (c) 2007 Peter Temple

. It creates a high contrast situation." I define builds as short phrases or words that are added to a screen based on a cue. But I wanted more concrete support.

You might say to me, "But we've been reading black text on white pages for centuries."

Black letters on a white background are affected by adjacent, projected, white light.

Now, we know that our eye is attracted by light. I want you to think for a moment about what that's doing to the audience.

One teacher who teaches large crowds in auditoriums says that unanimously, students prefer chalk on a blackboard over pen on a whiteboard." Don't force them to stare into the headlights of your projector.

Use the power of light to reinforce key points. The same thing holds true in television.

Many with dyslexia find white text on a blue background to be the easiest to read.

Projected (reflective) light is different than ambient light. Even the stars play second banana to the brilliance of the moon." The very best combinations are white or yellow on a blue, black or dark grey background. Our eyes are attracted to light.

Let's not make it difficult on our "deer audience. The brain then interprets the intensity and in this case, tells us the light is "white. The brighter the light (for example, white), the more intense the electrical impulses.

Consider these facts:

Studies have shown that on an LCD panel or CRT (the typical television-type of screen), users are able to read faster when presented with light text on a dark background. But print and paper create a different environment than light projected on a screen, for two key reasons:

Firstly, ink is absorbed by paper.

The other effect of a white screen on small, black text is that is reduces the desired contrast.

Approximately 8% of males and 0. And with a solid application of ink, the letters will slightly bleed into the white area, making them stronger and easier to read. The power of builds is that, if done properly, they visually reinforce key orally delivered phrases, in sync. The letters will get thinner due to the bleed (the absorption of the ink by the paper), plus you will use more ink, making the printing process much more expensive. . If printing is not well done, you'll end up with thinner letters, which in some cases, can completely "drop out. Here's what I found:

Our eyes are naturally attracted to light. Think of a screen on stage in a theatre . Logic overwhelmingly points to "light on dark. When they get hit with light, a chemical reaction occurs which sends electrical impulses to the brain. Perhaps that's the reason men have been accused of not complimenting women on their clothing as much as they perhaps should! But seriously, it's one more reason why contrast is so important." That's true. You don't want to make it any more difficult than necessary for them to absorb your message!

White light "bleeds. However, presenters need to think twice about the effect this phenomenon has on the audience. We perceive movement as the area in question "lights up" with the new text. This is the effect you want to create as a presenter. But the result will be well worth the effort: a higher level of retention, greater audience attention and an increase in perceived High Bay professionalism.

Let's look at "builds.

On the other hand, when you reverse out type (make it white on a dark background), the very opposite happens and the white type appears bolder.

Don't let the screen overpower you!

Here's yet another reason not to use white backgrounds. Or you look up at the sky on a clear, moonlit night - that big white orb is what catches your eye. away from you.

Secondly, printed pages are read in ambient light not in projected or reflected light. The black letters are somewhat overpowered by the reflected light and actually become dark or medium grey. That makes them harder to decipher, or read. Adding black text, however, is simply movement and, in fact, may not be that noticeable. Therefore the contrast is at an acceptable level. You become "support" to the screen and we all know you don't want that to happen! However, a dark screen with white lettering recedes into the background until you need it. Otherwise, you stand the chance of completely losing your audience's attention. After a while, it makes the audience stare back at us like "deer caught in the headlights."

Since the object of attention is letters (not the background), it seems to make more sense to make those objects white. The letters appear to become thinner.

And setting yourself up for white death on the podium." To compensate, good designers pick a stronger typeface. That's because the bright, white light "bleeds" onto them.5% of females have a color deficit of some kind. The white of the page is not being reflected back into our eyes. Any white light is beamed into the eyes of the viewer. They aren't actually thinner.

If you Heat Pipe Heat Sink try to reverse the ink (print white letters on black), the opposite happens.
Our eyes are attracted to shiny things. It makes it easier to see the white text. What you're actually doing is printing black everywhere but where the letters are. Over time, it will start to hurt your audience's eyes and decrease their concentration.

Light waves enter the eye through the pupil and strike the back of the eye, called the retina. On top of that, white type optically appears closer to us (above the black background). However, they appear to be thinner." No light, no stimulus. Light on dark is the preferred configuration for projected visuals. It's been described as trying to read the lettering on a switched-on light bulb. So, when building text onto a screen, it makes more sense to "build" white text on a dark background. They can help make a specific idea memorable; set it apart from other screen text.

In theatre, we take great pains to light the actors properly so that they are the focal point of any dialogue or action.
Meanwhile, a highly reflective screen blasted with white light is continually stimulating the cones and rods in our eyes. This is not a high contrast situation (like a computer screen or projected image on stage). The smaller the letters, the more pronounced the effect. It will more readily attract the audience's attention. In fact, Microsoft Word has an option on the preferences panel to turn any page into white text on a blue background. It supports you. That's additional work the brain has to do to understand the black text.