If you’re familiar with OLED technology, you know one of its biggest advantages: the ability to turn off individual pixels, offering deeper blacks and potential power savings. Dark modes—available on most operating systems—are designed to save power by making backgrounds dark or black, and they also cater to those who simply prefer the look.
But what happens on older, still dominant display technologies like LCDs? The results suggest that dark mode may not save as much power as we’ve been led to believe, especially when it comes to LCDs. In fact, the study shows that many users turn up the brightness when using dark mode, potentially using more power than they would in light mode.
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Surprising Findings
The BBC’s research, published as part of the International Workshop on Low Carbon Computing (though not peer-reviewed), examined how the display settings affect power consumption. In this experiment, participants were asked to view the BBC Sounds homepage in both light and dark modes on a 2017 MacBook Pro with an LCD display. The participants were asked to adjust the brightness until they felt comfortable.
Interestingly, 80% of participants increased the brightness significantly when using the dark mode version of the site, compared to light mode. This, the study suggests, highlights a potential pitfall in assumptions about the energy efficiency of dark mode. The researchers concluded that “the energy efficiency benefits of dark mode are not as straightforward as commonly believed for display energy,” especially when users manually adjust brightness.
This experiment used an LCD laptop, which makes sense given that dark mode’s power-saving benefits are tied to OLED technology, where individual pixels can be turned off to reduce power consumption. On an LCD screen, however, the backlight remains on regardless of whether the screen is dark or light. As a result, dark mode doesn’t really offer significant power savings. The study suggests that, “given that most devices still use LCDs, where power consumption may not be reduced by displaying darker colours,” the broad claims of energy savings from dark mode may not be applicable to all devices.
While OLED displays can indeed save power by turning off pixels in dark areas of the screen, LCDs simply don’t have this capability. So while OLED technology has the potential to cut power consumption by up to 47% at full brightness, this won’t apply to most users on LCD screens.
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Is Dark Mode Truly Efficient?
While the BBC’s findings were based on a sample size of just 10 participants, meaning it might not provide a universal answer to the question of dark mode’s effectiveness, they provide an intriguing glimpse into the complexities of dark mode’s impact on power usage.
In fact, a similar analysis by consultancy firm Valtech points to research from Purdue University that suggests dark mode savings range from 3-9% on OLED devices with auto-brightness, but could be as low as 0% for devices with LCD screens. Omdia, a research firm, estimated that OLED displays hold 53% of the smartphone market but only 14% of the tablet and laptop market by 2028, suggesting that for most users, dark mode’s energy benefits might be overstated.
Moreover, the study also points out that other factors—such as content color schemes, user behavior, and device type—could have a significant impact on power consumption. In this context, blanket claims about energy savings from dark mode should be reconsidered, especially for non-OLED devices.