Visual Studio background color preference

Hi all, i just wanted to know and ask people how do they like to work when programing, i always used the default white background in visual studio, but since i'm spend hours of my time in front the computer (and last year i got my glasses) and sometimes my eyes do "hurt" after I'm staring the screen too long, i even reduce my screens brightness to almost 10% because of that..
now, every now and then i see screen shot of people who set the background of visual studio to black and and the text is green ( i think ) how many of you use this settings? is it good idea?

Thanks!

I prefer a dark grey background like Expression Blend has.

Here's an excellent example: http://www.lnbogen.com/VisualStudioNet2005Colors.aspx

255,255,204

But it's personal preference, and does depend on the display. I can't stand 'reading' white on black, but use that uncategorically for HMI systems.

Headaches? Larger text (either bigger screen, lower resolution or increase font size). Walk away for 10 minutes in every hour.

thanks for the quick answers, can some one explain or direct me to a quick tutorial of how to change the settings ?

@SJWhiteley: I'm working with two screen both 23.5 inch and with resolution of 1680 x 1050 is that consider good ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by motil

thanks for the quick answers, can some one explain or direct me to a quick tutorial of how to change the settings ?

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Tool:

Visual Studio Color Theme Editor

Tutorial:

Changing Visual Studio’s Color Palette

Quote:

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Originally Posted by motil

thanks for the quick answers, can some one explain or direct me to a quick tutorial of how to change the settings ?

@SJWhiteley: I'm working with two screen both 23.5 inch and with resolution of 1680 x 1050 is that consider good ?

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Is it good? Well, that's like asking if a car with a 4 seats and a 3.257 liter engine is good to get you to and from work... ;)

With that resolution and screen size, I'd suspect you don't have a font size issue (especially since you imply you don't know how to change the settings, thus are using defaults). However, that's a huge expanse of white staring you in the face.

Go to Tools > Options > Environment > Fonts and Colors then change the Default Background color to something 'less white'. You can also experiment with specific colors for specific key words (Display items in the list). You can also get the 'white on black' look.

If you don't have VS2010, you can get the Consolas font for earlier versions; I personally find it much easier to read than Courier New (or Lucida Console, even, which I preferred prior to Consolas).

yes, i got VS2010, and I'm to prefer the Consolas font, i already found out how to change the settings and key words and now working on my VS new appearance :)

@MattP, thanks for the links

Thanks you both for the answers much appreciated! rep for you both.

I tried the black background. Frankly, I think it appeals to certain types of people. I'd be interested in seeing whether those people tend to be 40 and older who started out back in the days of monochrome or pre-Windows programming. In those days, there was a semi-hot debate (are there tepid debates?) as to whether amber monitors were better for your eyes than the standard green monitors. Frankly, this largely appeared to be driven by the fact that amber monitors were relatively rare and a bit pricier. In other words, it seemed like this was driven by the snob value of amber monitors. Of course, that was also back when a screen saver actually saved the screen, and there was also some suggestion that amber monitors burned in the images less when left on.

Once we started with CRT, the real key to eye comfort was the refresh rate of the monitor. Some people could actually use CRT displays with refresh rates down around 60Hz, but for others, the screen would be flickering like a strobe light. Some studies showed that even the people who didn't see the flicker were still being affected by it, so monitor refresh rates of 75Hz and above were pushed heavily. If you work with CRT displays these days, you can still adjust the refresh rates, and you want to keep the rate at or above 75Hz, even if it looks ok at lower rates. Now that we have LCD displays, you still have an option to change the refresh rate on your display adapter, but it makes no difference.

And with all that, the point I was headed towards was that I suspected that people who used black backgrounds were either older coders trying to look retro/cool, or younger coders trying to wear their hats at a new angle. It's just for show, but that's not to say that you shouldn't do it. It DOES look retro. When I tried it, I felt like I was back coding for DOS on a VGA monitor (had to be VGA, as I had colors that CGA and EGA couldn't handle).

On the other hand, I often start working before the sun comes up, and I don't need the lights on when VS comes up, since the vast expanse of white background provides sufficient lighting for my typing. That may very well strain your eyes.

Hi Shaggy,

the only reason I just changed my VS bg color is because I really feel the white background strains my eyes. and i hate the fact that i must keep my screens brightness on 5% - 10% because of the shiny white i get in VS. i also checked ,my refresh rate after your post and i noticed it's on 60Hz and i can't push it any higher, my vcard is nvidia 240 any reason of why i can't get it any higher?

Yeah, I was going to mention the refresh rate until I saw your screen resolution. If you have a resolution that high, you are not using a CRT monitor, so the refresh rate has no impact on anything. CRT monitors could noticeably flicker as the screen was redrawn. With LCD, there is never any flicker, and I'm not even sure what the refresh rate really does.

On the CRT monitors, you had an electron beam scanning down the screen line by line, then it would jump back to the top (or bottom, I forget which) and repeat. The phosphors would be excited by the electron beam and glow very briefly. If the beam didn't get back to the phosphor quick enough, it would fade a bit. Below 75Hz, your eyes would notice this pulsing even if you couldn't consciously see it. With LCD screens, there is no beam, there are no phosphors being excited, and the refresh doesn't even come into play. Therefore, you can generally ignore the refresh rate....though now that I write this, I actually do have an LCD monitor that flickers. The flicker isn't due to the refresh rate. I think it has to do with electrical interference from neighboring devices (the monitor is mounted on a treadmill). If you have any noticeable flicker on the screen (try looking at it from the side rather than straight on to see it better) it is very likely to be causing you eye strain and general fatigue. If that is the case, though, it isn't the refresh rate, but something else that is causing it, because LCD screens don't normally flicker.

However, the bright screen is also a likely culprit, so softening the color, as you are doing, is a good thing to try.

well, no flickering here..
i really think it's the glare that causing my eyes strain and i believe i can get use to the black background with a little more adjustments

thanks for the help Shaggy.