Screen colors, hardware tech, radiation

["Dimock, Dick" <red -at- ELSEGUNDOCA -dot- ATTGIS -dot- COM>]

Geoff Hart advised Black on White for a technical reason:

The sharpness of the letters is the best you
 can get on a color monitor since there are no electron
 beams to align to form the letters; in contrast, colored
 letters are formed by aligning three electron beams (red,
 green and blue; RGB if you prefer), which leads to fuzzy
 edges sometimes. The contrast between foreground is also
 usually higher than with any other colors, since white
 forms from the maximum amount of all three colors (RGB) and
 black from the minimum.
********************************************************************
DickieDee begs to differ.

The color CRT has to use three color guns to paint a white dot.
Thus, alignment quality does affect the sharpness of the white
dots, and therefore the edges of the black letters.

Reason would lead one to believe that sharpness would be
better with only two color guns lighting up only two adjacent dots.
Thus use basic RGB  ONLY for max sharpness. No pinky-blue.

That said, I raise another topic ---      X-radiation.
The fewer electrons hitting the screen, the lower the X ray
radiation from the screen. Only talking screen, here.  So using
simple RGB colors will only engage two electron guns.

Furthermore, comma, I was once told by someone who may or
may not be expert, that the red phosphor requires a higher beam
current to make the appropriate red impact upon the eye.  Higher
beam current = more electrons per second hitting screen = greater
brightness = higher X radiation.  IF and I repeat IF, this source is
correct, one should avoid using red.

Which of course leaves you with Green on Blue or Blue on Green.
Or greenish blue on bluish green........

I suspect a few of my fearless readers might choose to disregard
the extra X possibility and throw caution to the winds in favor of
readability.

"If I go blind or bonkers, I can't techwrite anyway, you fool, so
PHOOEY on YOUEY!"

Yes, well..... ahhhh ....to continue.....

I heartily recommend the X-ray and antistatic shield filters for all
color monitors. There is a tradeoff point where a filter requires you
to increase brightness, just to get the picture through the filter.
Raise the brightness and you raise the X radiation which you were
trying to filter, so up the brightness and put on TWO filters, By Gar!

 I like to use a hood to shade the monitor, which allows me to get
away with even lower brightness and still use a filter.

The leaded glass, grounded antistatic filters are my favorite.  I can
"feel" on my face the pressure from the electrostatic charge that
builds up on the screen glass.

One of these days I will mess with color combos myself. I just got
this lovely 20-inch  *** AT&T *** monitor(*)  for my  (at&t) office, and
I think it would look sharp in light blue background.

OUTPUT DISABLED

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

Thanks to all who have given good color advice on this thread!
I appreciate it.

(*)
I have paid my dues for this monitor!

Notice the shorter line length?  It hurts to see one's immortal
proeze hacked to pieces by heartless mailreaders.


Dick Dimock    Who had better get himself back to work,
          lest ***AT&T*** get the idea this 20-inch
          monitor would be better used  by a far
          cheaper entry level TW, which would
          definitely be a greater loss for

AT&T GIS  and a heart-wrenching loss for faire

El Segundo, CA which will get short shrift right now cuz it's
          LUNCH time 8Q !