The contribution therefore saves Dark Mode in most cases no energy from Felix Baumann first appeared on Basic Thinking. You always stay up to date with our newsletter.
Although the dark fashion on smartphone and computer screens is often associated with a longer battery life, it does not save any energy in many cases. The reason is the display technology.
Many users activate Dark Mode in the hope of protecting their battery on their devices. However, a new investigation shows that the mode only applies to certain screens. While Dark Mode actually saves energy on OLED displays, it has hardly any advantages on LCD screens-and in some cases it can even increase electricity consumption.
The background is the functioning of the two screen technologies. OLED panels (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) can switch off individual pixels if they represent black, which truly consumes less energy. LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays), on the other hand, require constant backlight – regardless of which color a screen shows. This means that a dark picture on an LCD does not save energy because the backlight remains active.
Dark Mode only saves energy for OLED displays
One Purdue University study shows that OLED displays with automatic brightness setting in Dark Mode consume between three and nine percent less electricity. With maximum brightness, up to 47 percent could even be possible. The problem: So far, OLEDs have only been widespread for smartphones and a few tablets.
According to the market research company Omdia In mid-2024, they only made up 53 percent of the smartphone screens, while their share in tablets and laptops should only increase to 14 percent by 2028. This means that most larger devices, especially laptops and monitors, continue to use LCD technology in which Dark Mode has no noticeable energy-saving effect.
As part of a BBC experiments It was examined whether users can save energy in the dark fashion with a MacBook (LCD). The result was hardly measurable differences between the light and dark mode. Ten test subjects were asked to adapt the brightness of their screen so that they feel comfortable – both in the dark fashion and in normal bright mode.
The participants often stopped the brightness in Dark Mode than in the standard mode because dark surfaces on LCDS are more difficult to read. As a result, the potential advantage of the Dark Mode was completely canceled or even wrong.
Dark mode can relieve eyes
Ultimately, it turns out that the Dark Mode is not a general power functions, but only brings advantages to certain devices. Users of OLED smartphones can actually save battery life due to the dark mode-especially with high brightness settings.
On the other hand, the effect is minimal or not at all on laptops, desktop monitors and many tablets with LCD technology. This means that the Dark Mode should primarily be regarded as a comfort function. It can relieve the eyes, reduce blinders and look more pleasant depending on their preference. However, if you only use it for energy-saving reasons, you will hardly find a difference on most devices-unless it is an OLED display.
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The contribution therefore saves Dark Mode in most cases no energy from Felix Baumann first appeared on Basic Thinking. Follow us too Google News and Flipboard.
As a Tech Industry expert, I understand that the misconception that Dark Mode saves energy primarily stems from the fact that OLED screens use less power to display black pixels compared to white pixels. However, this does not necessarily translate to significant energy savings in real-world usage scenarios.
In most cases, the overall energy consumption of a device is influenced by a variety of factors such as the brightness level, the type of screen technology, the processing power required to render content, and the efficiency of the device’s hardware and software. While Dark Mode may slightly reduce power consumption on OLED screens, the difference is often negligible and may not be noticeable to the average user.
Furthermore, the energy savings from Dark Mode can be offset by other factors such as increased processing power needed to render dark-themed user interfaces or the impact of enabling other features like notifications or background tasks. Ultimately, the effectiveness of Dark Mode in saving energy depends on the specific device and usage patterns.
Overall, it is important for users to be aware that Dark Mode alone may not significantly impact their device’s energy consumption. Instead, they should focus on optimizing their device settings, using energy-saving features, and practicing good charging habits to maximize battery life and minimize environmental impact.
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