About This Background
A flat dark gray (hex #121212, RGB 18, 18, 18), the shade many dark-mode designs use as their base surface. It is dark enough for night use but keeps a little separation from pure black.
Because it is not fully black, shadows, borders and lighter gray panels on top of it stay visible, and white text does not "bloom" as harshly as it can on pure black.
Quiet, modern and focused.
View in Full Screen
Go fullscreen to dim a second monitor at night without turning it off, or as a calm backdrop behind floating windows.
Night-time wallpapers, dark-mode design mockups and low-glare backdrops.
On OLED screens a near-black gray can show faint vertical bands; on LCDs it reveals backlight bleed at the edges.
How to Use This Background
Low-glare night wallpaper
Keeps your desktop readable in a dark room without a bright glow.
Dark-mode design base
Use it as the background surface when mocking up dark interfaces.
Backlight bleed check
A dark field makes light leaking from the edges of an LCD easy to see.
Choosing the Right Background
Choose dark gray for comfortable night use; choose pure black when you want OLED pixels fully off.
Off-white and light gray text read comfortably without harsh contrast.
For true 0% black use the Black Background.
Related Guides & Complementary Backgrounds
Frequently Asked Questions
Why #121212 instead of pure black?
Pure black next to white text creates very high contrast that some people find tiring, and it hides shadows. A soft dark gray is calmer and keeps depth visible.
Does a dark background save battery?
On OLED screens, yes: darker pixels use less power. On LCD screens the backlight stays on, so the saving is small.