diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a0a8980108c3c0e38c0999a84d99c6ceaf86d87d..00c3832802a6d3940ab047c27a305ff1c61bf228 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Note that since we don't clearly distinguish between a public and private interf
 ## [Unreleased]
 
 - Add ``bumpiness`` (per-object and per-group), ``bumpFrequency`` & ``bumpAmplitude`` (per-object) render parameters (#299)
+- Change ``label`` representation defaults: Use text border instead of rectangle background.
 
 ## [v3.0.0-dev.3] - 2021-12-4
 
diff --git a/src/mol-repr/structure/visual/label-text.ts b/src/mol-repr/structure/visual/label-text.ts
index 2514e64e9e973d5a645a9b62cde2ed75fd5d7668..61fafcc12295bf3c885b5e69721fc38e01e9331b 100644
--- a/src/mol-repr/structure/visual/label-text.ts
+++ b/src/mol-repr/structure/visual/label-text.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * Copyright (c) 2019-2020 mol* contributors, licensed under MIT, See LICENSE file for more info.
+ * Copyright (c) 2019-2021 mol* contributors, licensed under MIT, See LICENSE file for more info.
  *
  * @author Alexander Rose <alexander.rose@weirdbyte.de>
  * @author David Sehnal <david.sehnal@gmail.com>
@@ -21,11 +21,12 @@ import { BoundaryHelper } from '../../../mol-math/geometry/boundary-helper';
 
 export const LabelTextParams = {
     ...ComplexTextParams,
-    background: PD.Boolean(true),
+    background: PD.Boolean(false),
     backgroundMargin: PD.Numeric(0, { min: 0, max: 1, step: 0.01 }),
     backgroundColor: PD.Color(ColorNames.black),
     backgroundOpacity: PD.Numeric(0.5, { min: 0, max: 1, step: 0.01 }),
-    level: PD.Select('residue', [['chain', 'Chain'], ['residue', 'Residue'], ['element', 'Element']] as const),
+    borderWidth: PD.Numeric(0.25, { min: 0, max: 0.5, step: 0.01 }),
+    level: PD.Select('residue', [['chain', 'Chain'], ['residue', 'Residue'], ['element', 'Element']] as const, { isEssential: true }),
     chainScale: PD.Numeric(10, { min: 0, max: 20, step: 0.1 }),
     residueScale: PD.Numeric(1, { min: 0, max: 20, step: 0.1 }),
     elementScale: PD.Numeric(0.5, { min: 0, max: 20, step: 0.1 }),