Researchers have found that a dark theme for smartphones and laptops can drain their batteries faster than previously thought.
If you’re familiar with OLED displays, you know one of their main advantages — the ability to turn off individual pixels, which will provide deeper blacks and save energy. In general, all the dark themes that are currently available in most operating systems are aimed at the latter option, but the statement is more questionable when it comes to older, but still dominant, LCD displays.
Researchers at BBC Research & Development have published the results of a small but interesting study comparing the effect of using light and dark themes on one of the pages of the BBC Sounds website on an old laptop. The study used a Tektronix PA1000 power and energy analyzer and two laptops, one for testing — a 2017 MacBook Pro with a 13.3-inch LCD display, and the other for monitoring.
Devices used for testing by the BBC R&D team
The team placed 10 people at a distance of 50 cm from the laptop and asked them to increase the brightness of the screen until the page became comfortable to view.
Everyone adjusted the settings under four conditions: in the dark and light modes of the page, and in a dimly and brightly lit room. In the end, 80% of the participants «significantly» increased the brightness in the dark mode version, thereby increasing the battery load; while the room lighting had a negligible effect.
An earlier study by Purdue University is worth mentioning here, which estimated energy savings for OLED displays with auto-brightness enabled at 3-9%, while 47% savings at 100% brightness. However, here again, the question arises: how many devices will get this advantage? According to Omdia by mid-2024, OLEDs occupied 53% of the smartphone display marketAnd the year before that, the same firm predicted that by 2028, OLED displays will account for 14% of the total tablet and laptop market.
It is worth noting that the study — is not peer-reviewed and published within the framework of the LOCO 2024 International Seminardedicated to environmental computing. However, it still shows that the effectiveness of the dark mode may be exaggerated in real-world conditions, given the popularity of using older equipment.
«Our findings indicate that the energy efficiency benefits of dark mode are not as clear-cut as commonly assumed, and the relationship between content color scheme and user behavior should be carefully considered», — the researchers conclude.
Source: Arstechnica
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