6 ms·

I agree on the multiple displays point. However, keep in mind that the 16:9 aspect ratio is better suited for movie watching and somehow the whole industry (ex

by znpy 6y ago

I agree on the multiple displays point. However, keep in mind that the 16:9 aspect ratio is better suited for movie watching and somehow the whole industry (except for Apple, and Dell also seems to have picked that up in its latest XPS line) uses that, even in professional settings. 16:10 is way better. 1920x1200 displays do exist and I recommend that. Used ones are a bit more expensive than used 1920x1080. I'll forever miss the 1400x1050 display that I had on my ThinkPad T42. It was awesome for displaying content vertically (think code and/or documents).

yummypaint 6y ago
Yeah, i miss the days of 4:3 displays on laptops. This reminds me one of my favorite things to do with 2x 1080p monitors is orient one of them vertically. It works great for documents and code.
- rightbyte 6y ago
  4:3 is underrated. I was watching Star Trek the other day and realized it is easier to focus on a square screen. I wonder if the widescreen era was driven by some technical detail in ease of manufacturing.
  - spanhandler 6y ago
    AFAIK the "widescreen era" of computer monitors has been driven by TV screens & TV screen marketing (non-tech and non-screen-nerd people just knew "HD" and maybe "1080p" meant "good screen"), which were driven by the desire to watch movies at close to full-frame, which I'd guess were driven by the need/desire to have a wide viewing area for seating-layout reasons. Early cinema, though, often used aspect ratios much closer to 4:3 than later films (they're actually really nice to watch on iPads), so the later, wider format must have evolved for some reason.
    - rightbyte 6y ago
      I guess it is easier to build cinemas with wide rather then tall screens, since the roof is just so high. Maybe it is becouse widescreens have more inches diagonaly for the same area as 4:3 that there was a push for consumer TVs with widescreen?
kxrm 6y ago
Add to that list 3:2 displays. Surface devices have been using this ratio since Surface 3. [1] Now it's the only device that appeals to me because the ratio feels just right. I wish there were more options for ratios in the stand-alone display market. Rumor has it, Microsoft will be creating a line of Surface displays. [2] In my opinion 16:9 is unappealing for productive work. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface#Model_comparison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface#Model_compar... [2] https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/29/18117584/microsoft-surface-studio-monitor-2020-release-date-rumors https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/29/18117584/microsoft-surfa...
- znpy 6y ago
  Yes indeed. I forgot about those.
deeg 6y ago
Help fight my ignorance: what makes 16:10 so much better? If you sat me down in front of two different monitors I doubt I could tell the difference.
- e12e 6y ago
  I'm not so sure, I recently calculated the following: 16:9 16:10 16:10.66 (almost 3:2) 16:12 (4:3) I'm sure you can tell the difference between 16:12 (old TV) and 16:9 (widescreen).
- znpy 6y ago
  Vertical screen real estate. Think about it: when you're writing code or working in a shell or reviewing a configuration file or working on a word document you'll probably use vertical space more than horizontal space.
  - ak217 6y ago
    Consider rotating your monitor to vertical instead. On the desktop, I always have one or both of my monitors vertical.
    - znpy 6y ago
      Can't do that on the laptop!
- sp332 6y ago
  It's a bigger difference than it sounds, because the space taken by the taskbar and window chrome are fixed. So the extra pixels go directly to your vertical scroll area.
  - vladvasiliu 6y ago
    I also like hiding the dock and the menu bar on macos. On linux I like using a 4k display at 100%. I don't really care about window chrome, icons, etc. I care about text and mainly use a text editor, terminal and browser. They all allow me to set the text size. This way I get the best of both worlds: unobtrusive window chrome and legible text. This works great on a 24" display.
pmontra 6y ago
I visited a factory (kind of) a few days ago. I saw an old HP laptop (6xxx model) running Windows XP and controlling some machines. It's as wide as my laptop, the bezel not much larger and the display area definitely bigger because it was almost square. Too bad for the low screen resolution. I'd love that form factor again.
heliodor 6y ago
Works great when you spend a lot of time in a code editor with a file navigation pane on the left fourth of the screen. Keeps the code in the center so you don't have to look to the left all day.

by znpy 6y ago

yummypaint 6y ago

Yeah, i miss the days of 4:3 displays on laptops. This reminds me one of my favorite things to do with 2x 1080p monitors is orient one of them vertically. It works great for documents and code.

rightbyte 6y ago
4:3 is underrated. I was watching Star Trek the other day and realized it is easier to focus on a square screen. I wonder if the widescreen era was driven by some technical detail in ease of manufacturing.
- spanhandler 6y ago
  AFAIK the "widescreen era" of computer monitors has been driven by TV screens & TV screen marketing (non-tech and non-screen-nerd people just knew "HD" and maybe "1080p" meant "good screen"), which were driven by the desire to watch movies at close to full-frame, which I'd guess were driven by the need/desire to have a wide viewing area for seating-layout reasons. Early cinema, though, often used aspect ratios much closer to 4:3 than later films (they're actually really nice to watch on iPads), so the later, wider format must have evolved for some reason.
  - rightbyte 6y ago
    I guess it is easier to build cinemas with wide rather then tall screens, since the roof is just so high. Maybe it is becouse widescreens have more inches diagonaly for the same area as 4:3 that there was a push for consumer TVs with widescreen?

kxrm 6y ago

Add to that list 3:2 displays. Surface devices have been using this ratio since Surface 3. [1] Now it's the only device that appeals to me because the ratio feels just right. I wish there were more options for ratios in the stand-alone display market. Rumor has it, Microsoft will be creating a line of Surface displays. [2] In my opinion 16:9 is unappealing for productive work. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface#Model_comparison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface#Model_compar... [2] https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/29/18117584/microsoft-surface-studio-monitor-2020-release-date-rumors https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/29/18117584/microsoft-surfa...

znpy 6y ago
Yes indeed. I forgot about those.

deeg 6y ago

Help fight my ignorance: what makes 16:10 so much better? If you sat me down in front of two different monitors I doubt I could tell the difference.

e12e 6y ago
I'm not so sure, I recently calculated the following: 16:9 16:10 16:10.66 (almost 3:2) 16:12 (4:3) I'm sure you can tell the difference between 16:12 (old TV) and 16:9 (widescreen).
znpy 6y ago
Vertical screen real estate. Think about it: when you're writing code or working in a shell or reviewing a configuration file or working on a word document you'll probably use vertical space more than horizontal space.
- ak217 6y ago
  Consider rotating your monitor to vertical instead. On the desktop, I always have one or both of my monitors vertical.
  - znpy 6y ago
    Can't do that on the laptop!
sp332 6y ago
It's a bigger difference than it sounds, because the space taken by the taskbar and window chrome are fixed. So the extra pixels go directly to your vertical scroll area.
- vladvasiliu 6y ago
  I also like hiding the dock and the menu bar on macos. On linux I like using a 4k display at 100%. I don't really care about window chrome, icons, etc. I care about text and mainly use a text editor, terminal and browser. They all allow me to set the text size. This way I get the best of both worlds: unobtrusive window chrome and legible text. This works great on a 24" display.

pmontra 6y ago

I visited a factory (kind of) a few days ago. I saw an old HP laptop (6xxx model) running Windows XP and controlling some machines. It's as wide as my laptop, the bezel not much larger and the display area definitely bigger because it was almost square. Too bad for the low screen resolution. I'd love that form factor again.

heliodor 6y ago

Works great when you spend a lot of time in a code editor with a file navigation pane on the left fourth of the screen. Keeps the code in the center so you don't have to look to the left all day.