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Default palette is unreadable #1674

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opened 2026-01-30 22:33:23 +00:00 by claunia · 0 comments
claunia commented 2026-01-30 22:33:23 +00:00
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Originally created by @alabuzhev on GitHub (Jun 14, 2019).

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Hi,

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/updating-the-windows-console-colors/

Why Change the Entire Color Scheme?

During the past 20 years, screens & display technology, contrast ratio, and resolution have changed significantly, from CRT’s through TFT LCD’s to modern-day nano-scale 4K displays.

The legacy default scheme was not built for modern displays and does not render as well on newer high-contrast LCD displays. This is particularly apparent with deeply saturated darker colors like blue.

The new default colors will modernize the look of the Windows Console and make it more congruent with other terminal experiences, such as the integrated terminal in VSCode.

I've read the article and I'm not convinced.

Why? See the picture.

The colours that were different (and supposed to be different) are almost indistinguishable now.
I'm not colour blind and my display is not CRT, but I don't see much difference between Teal and Blue or Green and Lime or Silver and White anymore (here and below I'm using the names from this table). It's hard to tell which of them is on the Black background. It's hard to read one on another.

Note that Teal and Green are "dark" colours, while Blue and Lime are "light" colours.
Combinations of light and dark are supposed to be readable by definition, and they actually were, since the Big Bang or so.

I especially like that the article states that blue is "very difficult to read" on black, with screenshots (presumably influenced by a weird dark-on-dark vim colour scheme?)
To be clear: \033[1;34 in the example is not Blue, it's Navy.
Both Black and Navy are "dark" colours, each supposed to be used with a lighter colour, but not with each other.
It's not surprising that dark on dark was not so readable.
Unreadable light on dark and dark on light surprise me much more.

I dare say that the default console palette is now broken. Even Windows 98 (!) palette is more readable.

P.S. I know about colortool, console window properties, shortcut properties, defaults, registry settings etc., thanks. The problem is that users don't know (and don't want to know) and keep filing the same issue - "the colours are suddenly ugly & unreadable" - as they migrate to Windows 10.

Originally created by @alabuzhev on GitHub (Jun 14, 2019). ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/11453922/59516410-31604f00-8eb9-11e9-8fd6-1362ae4874eb.png) Hi, https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/updating-the-windows-console-colors/ > ### Why Change the Entire Color Scheme? > During the past 20 years, screens & display technology, contrast ratio, and resolution have changed significantly, from CRT’s through TFT LCD’s to modern-day nano-scale 4K displays. > > The legacy default scheme was not built for modern displays and does not render as well on newer high-contrast LCD displays. This is particularly apparent with deeply saturated darker colors like blue. > > The new default colors will modernize the look of the Windows Console and make it more congruent with other terminal experiences, such as the integrated terminal in VSCode. I've read the article and I'm not convinced. Why? See the picture. The colours that were different (and supposed to be different) are almost indistinguishable now. I'm not colour blind and my display is not CRT, but I don't see much difference between Teal and Blue or Green and Lime or Silver and White anymore (here and below I'm using the names from [this table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_software_palettes#Microsoft_Windows_default_16-color_palette)). It's hard to tell which of them is on the Black background. It's hard to read one on another. Note that Teal and Green are "dark" colours, while Blue and Lime are "light" colours. Combinations of light and dark are _supposed to be readable by definition_, and they actually were, since the Big Bang or so. I especially like that the article states that blue is "very difficult to read" on black, with screenshots (presumably influenced by a [weird dark-on-dark vim colour scheme](https://wpdev.uservoice.com/forums/266908-command-prompt-console-bash-on-ubuntu-on-windo/suggestions/16776103-blue-color-is-too-dark)?) To be clear: `\033[1;34` in the example is not Blue, it's Navy. _Both_ Black and Navy are "dark" colours, each supposed to be used with a _lighter_ colour, but _not with each other_. It's not surprising that dark on dark was not so readable. Unreadable light on dark and dark on light surprise me much more. I dare say that **the default console palette is now broken**. Even Windows 98 (!) palette is more readable. P.S. I know about colortool, console window properties, shortcut properties, defaults, registry settings etc., thanks. The problem is that users don't know (and don't want to know) and [keep](https://forum.farmanager.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=11430) [filing](https://forum.farmanager.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=11350) [the](https://forum.farmanager.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11384) [same](https://forum.farmanager.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11200) [issue](https://forum.farmanager.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10948) - "the colours are suddenly ugly & unreadable" - as they migrate to Windows 10.
claunia added the Issue-QuestionArea-SettingsResolution-AnsweredProduct-Meta labels 2026-01-30 22:33:24 +00:00
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Reference: starred/terminal#1674
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