From Friday, April 19th (11:00 PM CDT) through Saturday, April 20th (2:00 PM CDT), 2024, ni.com will undergo system upgrades that may result in temporary service interruption.
We appreciate your patience as we improve our online experience.
Many SW-Tool providers have realized that how comfortable it is for a programmeruser to work with dark backgrounds. Microsoft did it in 2013 for visual studio and now browser companies are doing the same. Unfortunately, I can Change background color of MAX and TestStand. This makes longer working painful for eyes.
An example of such a bakground is attached with the message.
I would absolutely love to see this feature implemented. I have been working with TestStand almost all day everyday for the past few weeks and I'm definitely noticing the eyestrain at the end of each day.
I really don't think a screen's power usage was affected at all by what color is displayed. Because most screen power is used by the backlight, and only a smaller amount is used by the imaging mechanism. But I wasn't sure so I googled it. (Here is the first link I found: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-black-is/)
Apparently there can be a difference, and it is pretty slight. And it depends on the screen technology. Much of what I saw said white was more efficient, but like only 1/2 Watt.
I don't use TestStand, so I have no opinion on whether there should be an alternate dark mode. That said, I think I prefer a lighter mode in most apps over dark. So common things like Word, Excel, e-mail, and of course LabVIEW, I am accustomed to a white background, and I can't think of a case where I would ever want it dark.
On the other hand, AutoCAD, I find uncomfortable if it was a white background, so I use the black background.
But since I found this an interesting idea, and although I think the energy savings point is meaningless, I do think you have a valid concern if the white background gives you headaches. (What kind of background do you use in other software?) So I'll toss a vote your way.
Something that should not be necessary but a workaround atm. I'm using https://github.com/mlaily/NegativeScreen/ to flip the screen colors via shortcut on longer TestStand sessions... not a solution I like but as long as there is no alternative...