Windows 8/Windows 8.1 Too Bright On The Eyes

[wahoospa]

I bought my wife a new laptop for Christmas. It came with Windows 8 and Microsoft updated it to Windows 8.1. The main problem we are having, and I agree with her, is the backgrounds are, too darn bright and the bars on the right side to move a page up or down, blend in so much it is hard to determine they are there unless you move your mouse to the side. It is hurting her eyes and I don't have the best eyesight either. Previous versions of Windows are better on the eyes than 8 or 8.1. Does anyone know of a fix for this? The dark contrast setting has horrible colors in it and too dark. I have seen page after page of complaints on Google about the brightness.

[Max Norris]

Not to be snarky, but I assume turning the display's brightness down isn't helping?  That said, have you considered a different visual style for Windows, something not quite so bright?  There's a bunch of them now for 8/8.1, look over on DeviantArt for example, some are fairly "neutral", and there's some rather dark/black ones as well.

[Dot Matrix]

Well, the scrollbars are hidden by default, unless you move your mouse. I suspect these will be going away soon in favor of mice wheels and touch input. That's why you're "not seeing them" unless you move the mouse. 

[vcfan]

have you considered that maybe the display is kinda crappy?

[AJerman]

If it hurts your eyes, turn the brightness down. Look for a sun icon on a key on your keyboard, if it's a different color you may have to use a function key to use it. Brightness causes pain, not color selection (though color selection can make it hard to read). I do agree that the colors are a bit out there, but you can also customize the colors for the UI to something more subtle. I like mine to be red personally. Check Personalization in Settings from your charms bar on the far right.

[neo1911]

1. You can turn the brightness down.

2. The modern UI colours can be tweaked so that they appear gentle on eyes.

3. Desktop window border colour can also be changed to light blue/grey as per your liking.

4. Enable desktop wallpaper in Start Menu too

That's all it.

If you want to complain about the UI design in general, it's a totally different debate.

[Dot Matrix]

Along with your brightness, check contrast as well. 

[123456789A]

Change the color temperature on your monitor.

[vcfan]

Change the color temperature on your monitor.

is that done by putting the color in the freezer or the oven?

[Knife Party]

I would change the windows border colour to grey, that seems to work well. Also change the start menu background to something else you might like via the charms bar. Hope this helps.

[exotoxic]

try this http://justgetflux.com/

[123456789A]

is that done by putting the color in the freezer or the oven?

 

By melting the crayons or cooling down the sand inside the monitor.

[riahc3]

Hello,

is that done by putting the color in the freezer or the oven?

By melting the crayons or cooling down the sand inside the monitor.

Believe it or not, there might be some people that actually believe you :)

[zhangm Supervisor]

The default white on blue can be hard on the eyes. I suggest that if this continues to be an issue, try a different visual style.

First, UXStyle is a light-weight program that enables use of custom visual styles. There are cases where it doesn't work for everyone, but it doesn't modify system files and as such, is fairly risk free.

http://uxstyle.com/

There are custom visual styles of varying degrees of quality in the following link. If you use UXStyle, you will not need to install any of the visual style patches that people might recommend.

http://www.deviantart.com/customization/skins/windows8/?order=5&offset=0

I've picked out a few that I think are decent and easier on the eyes. I recommend against darker themes even though some are well composed.

http://cu88.deviantart.com/art/lne-Vs-for-win-8-8-1-413348499

http://dvkndn.deviantart.com/art/CatDo-2-Final-386307536

http://neiio.deviantart.com/art/Elune-for-Windows-8-379882888

http://sand-and-mercury.deviantart.com/art/This-VS-Sucks-406503783

Also, keep in mind that the lighting environment can severely compound eye strain, so avoid using the laptop in very dark rooms (I know changing the color temp and screen brightness helps, but it is still not good for eyes).

[Raa]

I agree, the visual styles are rather hard on the eyes, the sounds a bit heavy on the ears...

What about skinning it, say with WindowsBlinds (or an alternative)?