In his latest blog post, Jeff Atwood states:
We computer geeks like it dark. Really dark. Ideally, we'd be in a cave. A cave … with an internet connection.
The one thing that we can't abide is direct overhead lighting. Every time the overhead light gets turned on in this room, I feel like a Gremlin shrieking Bright light! Bright light! Oh, how it burns!
But there is a rational basis for preferring a darkened room. The light setup in a lot of common computing environments causes glare on the screen:
[...]
While a darkened room is better for viewing most types of computer displays, it has risks of its own.
This is inconsistent with my personal experience: overhead lighting is good, and if positioned so that it doesn't create glare (not that hard, really), is way superior to a dark room.
Are there any documented advantages* to working in a "cave" with some monitor backlighing ("bias lighting")?
*Advantages such as: better health, better productivity, more happiness. The article is to be read in terms of increasing productivity and looking for the perfect programming environment. I am not interested in environmental or cost savings of any kind.