Is 2021 the end of 16:9?

What does your gaming laptop look like? Is it one of the 16:9 laptop designs? 16:9 refers to the aspect ratio of a laptop. It is the ratio of the screen’s width to the screen’s height. A screen with an aspect ratio of 16:9 has a resolution of 1920 by 1080. It has been the typical laptop screen ratio for over ten years.

At last, this old era in laptop design has ended in 2021. This good news was revealed at CES recently.

The 16:9 displays became famous in 2009 for high definition and standard definition resolution. Television makers set the pace back then for PC makers. Apple supported the trend with its MacBook series while Microsoft followed suit with its Surface series. 16:9 became the best screen for watching television movies and shows as long as the content was formatted for this aspect ratio. As for computers, the 16:9 turned out too wide and very short. It became harder to be productive when using it.

Since most data used today is naturally vertical, even in websites, a display that is too short and too wide cannot accommodate this. For the more vertical presentation of data, one requires a screen with a taller aspect ratio. The 16:10 aspect ratio screens would suit this best. You can access more vertical data without having to scroll down or up all the time. Perhaps this is why Mac computers are some of the best assets as they have always been 16:10. Microsoft’s Surface machines are 3:2, and they are better for productive work.

After what transpired at CES, every manufacturer of computers will most likely adapt to the new change. They will aim to emulate the 16:10 or 3:2 laptops they saw at CES. As most games are designed for 16:9 aspect ratio screens, we expect more of them to be shifted to 16:10. Lenovo is leading with its latest gaming laptops. Some of these include Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 2, Lenovo Legion 7 and Legion 5 Pro, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga, and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 and X1 Gen 6.

From now on, expect the industry elites like HP and Dell to continue introducing just the 16:10 or 3:2 aspect ratios. It will be an adorable change for people who love online gaming and similar activities. Sooner than everyone expected, there is nothing but the 16:10 and 3:2 laptops. While you can easily get these laptops, will you still use the formatted content for 16:9 aspect ratio displays? How fast will developers of this content, including game suppliers, optimize their content to match the taller aspect ratio?

If they create content for 16:10, it might not appear very good on 3:2 screens. On the other hand, content optimized for a 3:2 screen might not look good on a 16:10 screen. These are some of the challenges that developers will have to deal with.  One nice thing about the end of the 16:9 aspect ratio screen design is that we will now have a better display for creative and efficient work. Many people have appreciated this news, and so might you as well.