Goodbye and good travel for 16: 9 aspect ratio

One of the biggest trends that came out of CES this year was not something that people would necessarily notice at first glance, unless they looked closely. After enduring years of narrow “widescreen” laptop screens, it looks like we’re finally starting to say goodbye to the 16: 9 aspect ratio.

Image: Dell

An aspect ratio is the ratio of the width of a screen to the height of a screen (in that order). For example, a screen with a resolution of 500 x 500 would have a 1: 1 aspect ratio. Think of it as simplifying a fraction: a 1080p screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, which is divided into 16: 9.

The aspect ratios you normally see on laptops are 16: 9, 3: 2, 16:10 (which, for whatever reason, is called 16:10 instead of 8: 5) and (occasionally) 4: 3. 16: 9 is the most common option and also the one with the least amount of vertical space in relation to its horizontal space.

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

16: 9 screens are tight – 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 doing multiple tasks in Chrome, the tabs shrink very quickly. If you’re used to using a 16: 9 screen and trying a 16:10 or 3: 2 screen of the same size, you probably won’t want to go back. You just have a lot more space and a much more efficient use of screen space.

But this CES showed that 16:10 and 3: 2 monitors are approaching the mainstream. These are some of the biggest laptops announced at the fair that are offering non-16: 9 screen 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)
• Removable Lenovo ThinkPad X12 (1920 x 1280, 3: 2)
• Asus ROG Flow X13 (up to 3840 x 2400, 16:10)

This does not mean that there are no more 16: 9 screens – many laptops still use them, and are likely to do so in the near future. And some of these devices, like the LG Grams, were already 16:10.

But it is significant that a large number of flagships that we will see in the first half of 2021 will be 16:10 or 3: 2. In fact, when you include the 16:10 Summit E13 Flip from MSI and the 16:10 Razer Book 13 from Razer (both announced before CES), I can’t think of a laptop company that is not now selling a 16: 9 main level machine. It is clear that companies in all areas are adopting laptops with higher proportions and I hope to see more of them in the years to come.

Image: Lenovo

Again, this may seem like a tedious change. But it will make a big difference in the lives of laptop buyers this year, especially people who buy a device to work from home. I switched from a 16: 9 laptop to a 3: 2 Surface Book 2 in 2017, and it was one of the best buying decisions I’ve ever made. If you’re using a 16: 9 screen now and plan to upgrade this year, I encourage you to try one of these new devices. You don’t want to go back.