It's the contrast between the text/content and the background that affects your comfort though. There was an article about how you should never use black for your text on a white bg[0]. I think the points there are rather salient.
In fact the W3C has a good calculator for colour contrast [1], which I think is a good guide for calculating colour contrast when designing sites
I think there are no points in [0] what so ever to support the claim than one should not use black (#000). The author does not argue at all. All he does is present a photo he has taken which does not have black pixels. What the hell is that supposed to prove?
In fact the W3C has a good calculator for colour contrast [1], which I think is a good guide for calculating colour contrast when designing sites
[0]http://ianstormtaylor.com/design-tip-never-use-black/ [1]http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/#contrast-ratiodef