Bug 438906

Summary:	Don't darken panel in Present Windows effect (revert 64c72157 and a2ed8cb9)
Product:	[Plasma] kwin	Reporter:	geisserml <geisserml>
Component:	effects-window-management	Assignee:	KWin default assignee <kwin-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Severity:	normal	CC:	geisserml, nate
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	5.22.1
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Other
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description geisserml 2021-06-19 10:15:43 UTC

SUMMARY
Next Present Windows issue:
Some time ago I was happy the panel darkening got removed from Present Windows. Despite not interactive, the light panel made it a lot easier for me to get an overview of the open windows. I always found it unsuitable the panel got dimmed.
The fact that the panel cannot be interactive does not necessarily mean we need to hide it behind a half-transparent black overlay. Users will quickly realise and accept that it is not interactive.
Now the dimming is back :(. Rather than making a ping-pong game of adding and removing the panel darkening, I suggest to make it optional and configurable in the settings. (I'd prefer if it were deactivated by default, but that's your choice.)

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Trigger Present Windows

OBSERVED RESULT
The task bar panel will be dimmed and is therefore more or less invisible.

EXPECTED RESULT
It would be nice if the panel was not dimmed, so that it is easier to get an overview of open windows, which - to my understanding - is the purpose of this effect.

Operating System: KDE neon 5.22
KDE Plasma Version: 5.22.1
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.83.0
Qt Version: 5.15.3
Kernel Version: 5.8.0-55-generic (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 4 × Intel® Core™ i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz
Memory: 7.2 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa DRI Intel® HD Graphics 4000

SUGGESTION
Revert commits 64c72157 and a2ed8cb9 / make panel dimming optional
To indicate the panel is non-interactive, show the pointing finger cursor rather than the arrow cursor (revert c9a719e1)

BACKGROUND
I am a user who usually is in a light room with rather low monitor brightness, so all kinds of dimming effects are annoying and arduous for the eyes.

Comment 1 Nate Graham 2021-06-19 14:00:27 UTC

The desktop gets darkened too. The whole point is to reduce visual focus on everything that's not a window, as the other things are non-interactive and irrelevant. So darkening the panel supports that goal. I don't think we have any plans to change this back.

Comment 2 geisserml 2021-06-19 15:09:12 UTC

> The desktop gets darkened too.
The desktop does not show application switchers. This is a completely different thing; the comparison is inappropriate.

> The whole point is to reduce visual focus on everything that's not a window,
Ok. (Apart from these huge icons which reduce focus on the actual window, but yeah)

> as the other things are non-interactive and irrelevant.
No. The panel is an exception, because it helps for getting an overview of the open windows. Maybe you're right it's better to dim icon-only task bars, but this certainly does not apply for classical ones.

> So darkening the panel supports that goal. I don't think we have any plans to change this back.
It contradicts the overview goal, though.

What about making it optional?