Rest for Weary Eyes: Switching Your Display to Grayscale
TMO Quick Tip - Rest for Weary Eyes: Switching Your Display to Grayscale
by , 7:30 AM EDT, October 20th, 2006
Long hours working in text editors and word processors can be a strain on your eyes, especially since the bright white background of a document window can result in a harsh contrast against the black letters in the words you type. If you don't need to see different colors in your document, switching your display to grayscale can help keep your eyes from wearing out as quickly, and can even help extend your laptop's battery life.
You can switch your display from color to grayscale in the Universal Access Preference Pane. Here's how:
- Launch System Preferences. You can find it by choosing Apple menu > System Preferences.
- Select Universal Access.
- Click the Seeing tab.
- Check Use grayscale under the Display options.
![]() Use the Universal Access Preference Pane to switch your display to grayscale. |
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![]() Grayscale is still an option on today's modern Macs. |
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If I plan to work for several hours on text-only documents, I switch my display to grayscale. My eyes appreciate it, and when I am using my PowerBook on battery, it tends to run longer before I have to recharge. When I'm ready to switch back to a color display, I simply uncheck the Use grayscale option.
if you have ideas for Mac related tips that you think other TMO readers might find helpful.
Observer Comments
Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:08 am Subject: If my eyes are gonna wear out...
I just hope they go before my good looks. But so far, eyes and looks are intact. I wonder if you can hawk a worn out eye on eBay. Probably not a brown one... Well, if you've got blue or grey eyes, you probably can.
As for the battery claim though... I'm sure it has more to do with backlighting. You don't need as much for grey as for color. Right?
When you have it on grays, I assume it's using only 8 bits instead of 32. I guess that would lighten the load on the graphics card and any drawing routines.
I haven't used grayscale mode much since OS 9, where it specifically said it was 8-bit. Back then I definitely noticed a speed increase, which was especially noticeable when watching movies that were a little too demanding for my old computer. But in OS X, grayscale mode sends my Exposй performance down the drain. I guess Quartz Extreme can only function in full color.
I tried doing this a couple of months ago with my iMac G5, and I was very surprised to find that my system graphics were actually SLOWER in grayscale mode.
At first I thought I was imagining things, but I ran numerous subjective tests - moving windows around, scrolling, and other actions that require rapid screen redraws - and the system was indeed more sluggish in greyscale. Don't know why, but that was my experience.
Since then I have worked to minimize color in my day-to-day use. My theme is the graphite one instead of Aqua; I've grayscaled my Dock icons and desktop pic, and I've removed unnecessary toolbars and such when using my favorite apps. Definitely much easier on the eyes overall - which, by the way, is why I believe Apple is moving to a more low-key, graphite-based UI for its apps like iTunes (and, presumably for all of Leopard).
Fri Oct 20, 2006 8:09 pm Subject: Try Black on White
If you have followed the instructions above and set Grayscale, then, Black on White, the screen is still pretty glaring from all the white. YOu can also choose White on Black. If it's late and you just want some temporary relief from all that glaring color without going to the Universal Access Pref pane, you can press Control+Option+Command+8 and get a sort of hybird mostly-white-with-some-color on a black background. It's pretty cool.
I had a client call me with the inverse "problem" since I had never messed around with the Universal Access Pref I was baffled at first, took me a few minutes to find the solution but yes the screen was odd but cool at the same time. What was odd was the fact that Apple Support was unable to come to a conclusion as to why his screen was inversed even after being bounced up the support ladder.
Thu May 17, 2007 10:35 pm Subject: Re: How can i do this on Windows platform?
QuoteAnonymous wrote:
How can i do this on Windows platform?
It'seem there is no way to do this!
Is that right?
I have no idea. Is it right? By Microsoft's standards, quite possibly. But you're asking the wrong people. Try www.microsoftobserver.com, or www.windowsobserver.com (which does actually exist) or www.billgatesIwillcopyMacOSeventually.com (which, surprisingly, doesn't).
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