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Author Topic: Prevent Absolute White (and other very pale colors) from displaying onscreen  (Read 4093 times)

owlpotheosis

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Hi, new here. If there are any issues with my request, please let me know & I will amend my newbishness immediately.
I didn't purchase Donation Credits yet because I'm waiting to get a response first, since this is my first time posting. But I like the principle behind this community -- which I just discovered today, in the midst of other research -- will likely donate when my next paycheck comes in, regardless, and certainly will pay for a simple app that can do the following task.

After a head injury, white & very pale colors give me severe debilitating migraines that prevented me from using a computer very often at all (which I needed for my prior line of work). I've found a workaround that minimizes the problem ~85% of the time, which is to use dark mode for all apps that have it, and Windows 10's "high contrast mode" under accessibility settings. The latter forces most apps/websites into dark mode. But it doesn't do it for all apps, or websites or images -- including Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, old cellphone screenshots with white/light backgrounds. These brief exposures still trigger severe migraines, can take me out of commission for hours, and thus make it difficult to reliably work with computers -- even if it I manually draw a background fill in Adobe rather quickly to cover the white, the time it takes to do so is time enough to side effects & I can't very well have anyone else doing it for me all the time.
Dimming brightness isn't sufficient, because it crushes lower values & makes it impossible to see everything on the screen. So what's needed is not a global "darkening", but a global darkening of extremely light pixels (i.e. a reduction of contrast on the lighter side of the color spectrum).

The App:
  • A systemwide override should take all instances of #FFFFFF (255,255,255) & the range to (170-255, 170-255, 170-255) and replace them (relatively) with 169. So that nothing on the screen is ever brighter than (169, 169, 169). This includes iTunes, all Adobe apps, etc. Just hobble systemwide the ability of anything on the screen to migraine me. lol
  • Ideally this only occurs when the area of contiguous/adjacent pixels all falling in this value range is greater than 15px x 15px. (White text on a dark background isn't normally a problem, for instance).
  • An on/off toggle/command/button (in case someone else needs to use my computer).

Considerations:
  • I understand images won't always display correctly as a natural consequence of using this. That's fine, I can't look at them now as it is, so I'm not missing out on anything.
  • A systemwide override may present a permissions challenge. Would love to do this in a way that doesn't enrage an antivirus program, but I realize that may be a big ask.

I have been looking for a program like this for some time & have no idea where to begin undertaking it myself, though it seems like a simple idea, in principle.

paradisusvic

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Hello @owlpotheosis, this is a perfect fit for our Paradisus software project to assist the fellows with our programs / releases

So what's needed is not a global "darkening", but a global darkening of extremely light pixels (i.e. a reduction of contrast on the lighter side of the color spectrum).
-owlpotheosis (April 28, 2024, 11:18 AM)

I have experience with altering the colors of specific regions on running programs. Extending such selective color-change functionality to the entire screen is the next step.

Your specific requirements can be coded to completion for sure

Cheers!
Vic
My name's Victor but do feel free to call me Vic!

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« Last Edit: May 04, 2024, 04:41 AM by paradisusvic »

IainB

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I'd be very interested in any app that meets the general requirements stated here - I have had a similar visual perception impairment for a long time.

In my case, reducing unpolarised light/glare helps - either by using light-tinted polarised sunglasses, or (better) using Eskimo-style spectacles (ordinary specs, but with the lenses taped over with black tape to leave just narrow horizontal slits to see through. I haven't tried pinhole glasses yet, but that might help.

With computers, the problem seems to be too much bright, unpolarised light coming from the pixels of the computer/laptop screen. We are designed to see things by their reflected light, but with pixels we are literally reading from the light source. The result is unpolarised light noise falling on the retina, blurring the image there. If one has slight cloudiness of the fluid in the eyes (as I do), that leads to intra-optical refraction, causing more noise on the retina.

I think my eye problems probably all stem from injury - getting severe snow-blindless at high altitude when I was 16. It also damaged the epithelial membranes on the eyeballs. My eyes became sensitive to bright sunlight and I have worn low-tinted polaroid sunglasses for years to combat sun glare.

"Polaroids - the kindest thing you can do to your eyes."
 - my eldest brother, who is a pilot.
________________________________

IainB

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Duplicate post left empty on purpose.
« Last Edit: May 05, 2024, 10:42 PM by IainB »

paradisusvic

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Hello @IainB, I'm doing this program ASAP to bring relief to this condition.

The code repository is open as "WhiteEase" (as in easing the strain derived from too much white on screen):

https://github.com/paradisusis/white-ease

If you wish, I can "ping" you directly by PM on release.

Cheers!
Vic
My name's Victor but do feel free to call me Vic!

❤️ Support on Patreon @ www.patreon.com/paradisusio

GitHub: github.com/paradisusio

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✉ Email / Extend your PayPal support ❤️: paradisusvic@gmail.com
« Last Edit: May 24, 2024, 09:48 AM by paradisusvic »

IainB

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Hello Vic,
Thanks!
You could ping me in a PM here or to me as @Slartibartfarst in Telegram.

Cheers,
           IainB.

paradisusvic

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You could ping me in a PM here or to me as @Slartibartfarst in Telegram.

Sure I'll ping! :up:
My name's Victor but do feel free to call me Vic!

❤️ Support on Patreon @ www.patreon.com/paradisusio

GitHub: github.com/paradisusio

🌟 Good projects deserve support 🌎🌍🌏

✉ Email / Extend your PayPal support ❤️: paradisusvic@gmail.com
« Last Edit: May 28, 2024, 06:51 PM by paradisusvic »

paradisusvic

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Hello & good day!  :) Coding has started; currently aiming at reducing flicker :Thmbsup:

WhiteEase_ALPHA-1.png

I'm trying different ways... giving the program some more love right now :-*)
My name's Victor but do feel free to call me Vic!

❤️ Support on Patreon @ www.patreon.com/paradisusio

GitHub: github.com/paradisusio

🌟 Good projects deserve support 🌎🌍🌏

✉ Email / Extend your PayPal support ❤️: paradisusvic@gmail.com
« Last Edit: May 31, 2024, 06:57 AM by paradisusvic »

paradisusvic

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Ping @ owlpotheosis. Are you around & ready to test?

Also @ IainB, if around :)

The program may be good enough with a timer for refreshing screen --need actual testers to confirm.
My name's Victor but do feel free to call me Vic!

❤️ Support on Patreon @ www.patreon.com/paradisusio

GitHub: github.com/paradisusio

🌟 Good projects deserve support 🌎🌍🌏

✉ Email / Extend your PayPal support ❤️: paradisusvic@gmail.com
« Last Edit: May 31, 2024, 06:58 AM by paradisusvic »

GrumpyCoder

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Slightly off-topic, but have you tried Blue Light filters by any chance?
Windows include this feature (Night Light), and it can help reduce the strain significantly. Especially since you can adjust the strength of the effect.