So, by using black text on led pixel light Manufacturers a white screen, you’re actually asking your audience to read what they don’t see! Our brains have to calculate the dimensions of the area that doesn’t reflect light and turn that into meaningful information. That’s additional work the brain has to do to understand the black text.

Meanwhile, a highly reflective screen blasted with white light is continually stimulating the cones and rods in our eyes. Over time, it will start to hurt your audience’s eyes and decrease their concentration. You don’t want to make it any more difficult than necessary for them to absorb your message!

Black letters on a white background are affected by adjacent, projected, white light. The letters appear to become thinner. That’s because the bright, white light “bleeds” onto them. They aren’t actually thinner. However, they appear to be thinner. That makes them harder to decipher, or read.

The other effect of a white screen on small, black text is that is reduces the desired contrast. The black letters are somewhat overpowered by the reflected light and actually become dark or medium grey. The smaller the letters, the more pronounced the effect.

On the other hand, when you reverse out type (make it white on a dark background), the very opposite happens and the white type appears bolder. On top of that, white type optically appears closer to us (above the black background). This is the effect you want to create as a presenter. It makes it easier to see the white text.

You might say to me, “But we’ve been reading black text on white pages for centuries.” That’s true. But print and paper create a different environment than light projected on a screen, for two key reasons:

Firstly, ink is absorbed by paper. If printing is not well done, you’ll end up with thinner letters, which in some cases, can completely “drop out.” To compensate, good designers pick a stronger typeface. And with a solid application of ink, the letters will slightly bleed into the white area, making them stronger and easier to read.