Black Background?

[saeborne]

Is there anyway to make revit use a black background with white lines? I think the white background is leading to eye strain.

[Tyveka]

Yes.
Under settings, options, on the graphics tab, put a checkmark in the box labeled "invert background colour."

That should do the trick for you.

[Steve Jager]

Yes, but it will cause even more eye strain as it does not work well with text and dims.
Under Options

[twiceroadsfool]

This may strictly be perception as well, but i would almost swear it lags more, display wise.

I went to go back to the dark screen, as the white background kills my eyes on a day to day basis...

[iru69]

I dig this wishlist item up every once in a while to no avail...

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=22294

[Justin Marchiel]

i find that when working with colored lines (such as in acad, adt, etc) you need a black background to make the lines pop. When working in black lines (like most revit stuff) i find the white background is easier to focus on.

Justin

[patricks]

agreed.

In AutoCAD, the colors were a way of denoting line weight. That's the old way of doing things. Since WYSIWYG is the case in Revit, we work with real line weights and black lines, just like they will be printed on paper.

After using Revit nearly 3 years now, I'm pretty used to the white background.

I feel kind of lucky to not have had much AutoCAD experience at all, as it makes it easier for me to adjust to the way Revit does things. I'm not always searching or wishing for ways to make it behave like AutoCAD.

[sleimgruber06]

Is there anyway to make revit use a black background with white lines? I think the white background is leading to eye strain.

I feel you just need to realize that Revit is the future... no more ACad for you, you dont want any memories of ACad...you must rid yourself of ACad to cleanse your soul...

[Calvn_Swing]

That being said, white on a computer screen is achieved by producing a lot of light with little to no screening. Black is achieved by blocking as much light as possible.

Therefore it follows that a White screen will cause more eye fatigue than a Black screen. This won't bother us young folks, but for the old fogies this can be a problem.

Also, I'd point out that once LED backlit screens and especially OLEDs and other newer technologies become available for our displays, a Black screen will use less energy because these reactive technologies don't create light where they don't need it. This is how they reduce energy consumption in general. When you're not making light and then blocking it with a dark pixel, you can save a lot of juice. So, all you green nuts out there (like me) will have an internal conflict between our white light emitting monitors and energy conservation...

Then again, this internal conflict is nothing new. Heck, we're architects, destroying the environment one building at a time! (Yes, I'm kidding, mostly...)

[Dimitri Harvalias]

This won't bother us young folks, but for the old fogies this can be a problem.

..)

HEY! I resemble that remark.
Speaking as an old fogie who has been staring at computer screens for about 20 years now I don't find eye strain a problem and, if my old fogie memory serves me, I don't recall the change being a problem for me when I made the switch from ACAD.

That said, it is all about personal perception. I happen to like the contrast with the black on white and do recall that changing to a laptop (LCD) display from an old CRT was an improvement.