Trying to claim light color schemes are scientifically better based solely on the The Pulfrich effect is absurd. The best color scheme for programming is the one you like and can comfortably look at for extended periods of time. Your eyes are different than mine so trying to claim this is a scientific means of determining the best color scheme is about as useful as you telling me what my favourite color is based on 'science'.
>The best color scheme for programming is the one you like and can comfortably look at for extended periods of time. Your eyes are different than mine
No, your eyes are not different than theirs or mine. We share a common psysiology and optical mechanisms. Eyes work (in the absense of some mutation or disease, which covers most of us) the same way, with the same wiring, etc.
Your preference (e.g. like vs dark backgrounds) might be different, but that's not the same as your eyes being different.
And you could very well slow down/hurt or dellude yourself that your preference is better.
This is akin to someone saying a salad plus chicken is healthier than a McBurger and another replying that they like McBurgers, that what's important is what they can "comfortambly" eat, and that your mouth is "different" than theirs.
The preference part simply doesn't matter as to whether something is better on the eyes or not.
And while the "Pulfrich effect" might not be a good or enough justification, it's much less absurd than the above, which implies that there can't ever be a justification because whats easier/faster to process/etc on the eye is just "taste".
I have enough of astigmatism to have it corrected in my glasses and yet the colour scheme I found the most comfortable over the years is Zenburn. Though I do prefer the high contrast version with darker background.
The only time I managed to use a light theme for an extended period of time was a couple of years in a room with weird lighting and reflective screen of an imac. That's when I was using Solarised Light, because my Zenburn just couldn't provide enough contrast.
Then I moved to a different room and it was back to Zenburn.
