Goodbye and good riddance to the 16:9 aspect ratio

[Karlston]

Goodbye and good riddance to the 16:9 aspect ratio

For lovers of tall screens, it’s a great time to be alive 

The brand-new HP Elite Folio has a 3:2 display.

Image: HP

One of the biggest trends coming out of this year’s CES wasn’t something people will necessarily notice at first glance unless they look closely. After enduring years of cramped, “widescreen” laptop displays, it looks like we’re finally starting to say goodbye to the 16:9 aspect ratio.

Here’s the new Dell Latitude 9420.

Image: Dell

An aspect ratio is the ratio of a display’s width to a display’s height (in that order). For example, a screen with a resolution of 500 x 500 would have an aspect ratio of 1:1. Think of it like simplifying a fraction: a 1080p screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, which divides down to 16:9.

 

The aspect ratios you’ll typically see on laptops are 16:9, 3:2, 16:10 (which, for whatever reason, is called 16:10 rather than 8:5), and (occasionally) 4:3. 16:9 is the most common option and also the one with the lowest amount of vertical space relative to its horizontal space.

Here’s a 16:9 Acer Aspire 5.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

 

And here’s a 3:2 Surface Book 3. See the difference?

Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge

If you have a modern Windows laptop, there’s a good chance your screen is 16:9. If you have a gaming laptop, its panel is almost certainly 16:9. (It’s unusual to find high refresh-rate panels with other proportions.) There are some notable exceptions: Microsoft’s Surface products have been 3:2 for quite some time, while Dell’s last few XPS 13 models and Apple’s MacBooks are already 16:10. But traditionally, Windows laptops like these have been few and far between.

 

16:9 screens are cramped — at least compared to other options. I usually can’t comfortably work in multiple windows side by side without zooming out or doing a ton of vertical scrolling, and when I’m multitasking in Chrome, the tabs get tiny very quickly. If you’re used to using a 16:9 screen and you try a 16:10 or 3:2 display of the same size, you probably won’t want to go back. You just have a lot more room, and it’s a much more efficient use of screen space.

 

But this CES showed that 16:10 and 3:2 displays are inching closer to the mainstream. These are some of the biggest laptops announced at the show that are offering non-16:9 display options:

• HP Elite Folio (1920 x 1280, 3:2)
• Dell Latitude 9420 2-in-1 (2560 x 1600, 16:10)
• Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 2 (2560 x 1600, 16:10)
• Lenovo Legion 7 and Legion 5 Pro (2560 x 1600, 16:10)
• LG Gram 17 and Gram 16 (2650 x 1600, 16:10)
• Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro (2560 x 1600, 16:10)
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga (2256 x 1504, 3:2)
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 and X1 Yoga Gen 6 (up to 3840 x 2400, 16:10)
• Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable (1920 x 1280, 3:2)
• Asus ROG Flow X13 (up to 3840 x 2400, 16:10)

That doesn’t mean there are no 16:9 displays left — plenty of laptops still use it, and probably will for the foreseeable future. And some of these devices, like the LG Grams, were 16:10 already.

 

But it’s significant that a large number of the flagships we’ll be seeing in the first half of 2021 will be either 16:10 or 3:2. In fact, when you include MSI’s 16:10 Summit E13 Flip and Razer’s 16:10 Razer Book 13 (both of which were announced prior to CES), I can’t think of a mainstream consumer laptop company that isn’t now selling a non-16:9 flagship-level machine. It’s clear that companies across the board are moving toward laptops with taller aspect ratios, and I fully expect to see more of them in the years to come.

Here’s the X1 Detachable (currently attached).

Image: Lenovo

Again, this may seem like a boring change. But it will make a big difference in the lives of this year’s laptop buyers, particularly people shopping for a work-from-home device. I switched from a 16:9 laptop to a 3:2 Surface Book 2 back in 2017, and it was one of the best purchasing decisions I’ve ever made. If you’re using a 16:9 screen now and are looking to upgrade this year, I encourage you to give one of these new devices a shot. You won’t want to go back.

 

 

Goodbye and good riddance to the 16:9 aspect ratio

[Ryrynz]

Can't believe they've still stuck with this, all based on the fact movies use this ratio, Why has this obviously non primary use of a computer dictated the screen ratio?

It's just stupid nowadays to be forced to use this, once you go 16:10 chances are you won't go back. 16:9 needs to die.

 

[Mutton]

What gets me is the way they write as if 16:10 is new and unusual, when years ago that was the standard, better alternative to 4:3 on any decent laptop. Before the industry decided we all should buy 16:9. They took us all a step backwards while telling us it was for our benefit.

 

All my monitors and laptops are 16:10. The only 16:9 we have here are the TVs.

 

Oh well, at least next time I need a new laptop I won't have to hunt out an old stock one to get a 16:10 screen.

[Karlston]

7 hours ago, Mutton said:

What gets me is the way they write as if 16:10 is new and unusual, when years ago that was the standard

 

Absolutely, both my old (10yo?) 24" and current 30" Dell monitors are 16:10.

[x3r0]

The last time I had 16:10 laptop was in 2007, almost 15 years ago. Toshiba Satellite A215, ThinkPad X200, their screen resolution was horrendous 1280x800. I don't remember why almost every laptop manufactures was suddenly switched to 16:9 - the famous 1366x768.

 

Now here we go again, back to 16:10. Or maybe even to 4:3, or 3:2...

[Mutton]

2 hours ago, x3r0 said:

I don't remember why almost every laptop manufactures was suddenly switched to 16:9 - the famous 1366x768.

I read that it was all about maximising profits by only having to make one aspect ratio screen when widescreen TVs got popular. It saved on production costs to do that, and they sold it to us (at least, those of us who didn't think too deeply) as being an upgrade because we could watch wide screen TV on them without black borders. Yeah, really useful... not.

[Ryrynz]

17 hours ago, Mutton said:

I read that it was all about maximising profits by only having to make one aspect ratio screen

Yeah that will be it, it's all about price Capitalism works that way unfortunately. But what's old becomes new again, suddenly it's unique and it sells and oh look 16:9 was shite all along? Who knew?.. I did.
I've never owned a 16:9 screen and nor will I ever because it's f'in horrendous for browsing the internet on.
 

I'm looking at a 24" 16:10 screen and even that my vision is blurred more on the sides of the screen than it is top and bottom which means this ratio isn't exactly perfect either..
but f me if it's better than 16:9 by a longshot, it's easily more natural to look at.