Paint it black

Many of us live on power point to make our points. Frequently, we might use a template that Microsoft or our company provides. Most of the time, the power point templates have a white or bright background with dark letters. All that white light on a screen (usually 30-60& of the screen doesn't have text) can strain peoples eyes, and over time make them drowsy. This is especially true after lunch.

This is not the way to be eyes-friendly. Dark slides with white letters not only prevent eye strain, they conserve energy. It takes a fraction of juice to display a black background than a bright one.

Download my simple black slide template here.
Download Black.ppt (14.0K)

PS: It looks very modern too, which makes it style friendly also.

Comments

[Bill Hyndrick]

Mary --

Projectors have fans. Mostly, the fans spin up when the bulb gets hotter. It's part of energy efficiency tech. When white is on screen, the bulb grows hot, when its black, bulb cools down. Check.

Also - visit any big company today and you'll start to see plasmas on walls for slide shows, not projectors. Plasma uses much more wattage to broadcast whiter shades too...just search Black Google and you'll see a ton of stuff on that issue...

[Anonymous]

Mary K:

Think: Does your monitor use more energy when it's on or off? Now think: what color is the screen when it is off?

[Mary K]

Umm, I'm not understanding this. It takes the same amount of power (kilowatts) to run the projector and/or computer for a colored (read: black) slide as it does for a white slide. Could you point me to the scientific source of your data?

[Casey Ross]

And, according to Dwight from The Office, black also intimidates your subordinates. Another great reason to use black slides. Just kidding. Thanks for the practical advice Tim.