Goodbye and good riddance in 16: 9 format

One of the biggest trends at CES this year wasn’t something people will necessarily notice at first glance unless they look closely. After enduring years of cramped, “big screen” laptop screens, it seems like we’re finally starting to say goodbye to 16: 9.

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 an aspect ratio of 1: 1. Think of it as if you are simplifying a fraction: a 1080p screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, which divides into 16: 9.

The aspect ratios you’ll typically see on laptops are 16: 9, 3: 2, 16:10 (which for some 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 smallest amount of vertical space compared to its horizontal space.

If you have a modern Windows laptop, chances are your screen is 16: 9. If you have a gaming laptop, its panel is almost certainly 16: 9. (It is unusual to find panels at high refresh rate with other proportions.) There are a few notable exceptions: Microsoft’s Surface products have been 3: 2 for a while, while Dell’s latest XPS 13 and Apple’s MacBooks are already 16 : 10. But traditionally Windows laptops like these were rare.

16: 9 screens are cramped – at least compared to the 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 trying a 16:10 or 3: 2 screen that is the same size, you probably don’t want to go back. You just have a lot more space and it’s a much more efficient use of screen space.

But this CES showed that 16:10 and 3: 2 screens are getting closer to the mainstream. Here are some of the bigger laptops announced at the show that offer 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 aren’t any 16: 9 screens left – many laptops are still using it and likely will for the foreseeable future. And some of those devices, like the LG Grams, were already 4:10 pm.

But it’s significant that a lot of the flagships we’ll see in the first half of 2021 will either be 16:10 or 3: 2. In fact, when you include MSI’s 16:10 Summit E13 Flip and the Razer Book 13 16 : 10 from Razer (both of which were announced before CES), I can’t think of a mainstream laptop company that doesn’t sell a non-16: 9 flagship machine. It’s clear that companies from all walks of life are turning to laptops with higher proportions, and I really expect to see more of them in the years to come.

Image: Lenovo

Again, this can seem like a boring change. But it will make a big difference in the lives of this year’s laptop buyers, especially those who buy a work-from-home device. I went from a 16: 9 laptop to a Surface Book 2 3: 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 want to upgrade this year, I encourage you to try one of these new devices. You won’t want to go back.