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Eizo Debuts Monitor With 1:1 Aspect Ratio

jones_supa writes: Eizo has introduced an interesting new PC monitor with a square aspect ratio: the Eizo FlexScan EV2730Q is a 26.5-inch screen with 1:1 aspect ratio and an IPS panel with resolution of 1920 x 1920 pixels. "The extended vertical space is convenient for displaying large amounts of information in long windows, reducing the need for excess scrolling and providing a more efficient view of data," the firm writes. The monitor also offers flicker-free (non-PWM) backlight and reduced blue light features to avoid scorching users' eyes. Would a square display be of any benefit to you?

330 comments

  1. yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am using 4:3 monitors currently because having less than 1200 vertical pixels sucks

    1. Re:yes by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      You might want to find out whether you can tilt them by 90.

      I always thought it's odd that monitors are wider than they are tall. Isn't it far more convenient to use them, well, like we used to use paper?

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    2. Re:yes by malacandrian · · Score: 4, Informative

      Human field of vision is wider than it is tall, therefore our video recordings are landscape , therefore our video display devices are landscape . Unfortunately, when reading there is a cost in time and readability when a line of text extends beyond a certain length, hence why we use paper in portrait, and why some early displays were portrait. But there's nothing stopping you from having multiple portrait windows on a sufficiently large landscape monitor.

    3. Re:yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's funny because I'm using a 16:9 aspect 4K display because having less than 3840 horizontal pixels and less than 2160 vertical pixels sucks.

    4. Re:yes by Kjella · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Not just that, we use a very limited part of our vision. The actual reading we do with the super-sharp fovea (3 degrees wide) while keeping track of line to line using the semi-sharp macula (18 degrees wide). The remaining 160 degrees of horizontal vision and 120 degrees of vertical vision aren't really effective to use. What you want for immersion like games or video is totally different from the optimal width for a newspaper column. In fact, an A4 page full of typically sized text is probably too wide and an artifact of punch cards and typewriters, research suggests ~60 characters per line rather than 80 as optimal. And we got 600 years of research on this.

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    5. Re:yes by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Isn't it far more convenient to use them, well, like we used to use paper?

      When I work with paper, I usually lay out two or more sheets side by side. Same when I use a computer monitor. I have the docs in one window, my code in a second window, and the output in a third. So my monitor needs to be wide enough for three windows. A square monitor would be okay, but it needs to be a more than 1920 pixels in each direction. If it was 2560, I would buy it.

    6. Re:yes by gwolf · · Score: 1

      I cannot understand why such a setup isn't more common. My workstation has two monitors: One of them in portrait (900x1440) and the second in landscape (1900x1080). I mostly use the portrait one to write texts and browse the Web. The landscape one is where I usually code or sysadmin from. And, of course, other stuff finds its place in different ways.

    7. Re:yes by donaldm · · Score: 1

      I am using 4:3 monitors currently because having less than 1200 vertical pixels sucks

      There are 4k (3840x2160 pixels for a 16:9 aspect ratio) monitors out there although you will pay for them. A simple web search will find them. Now if you really want to be an elitist and have more money then sense then how about an 8k monitor.

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    8. Re:yes by donaldm · · Score: 1

      I always thought it's odd that monitors are wider than they are tall. Isn't it far more convenient to use them, well, like we used to use paper?

      If all we did was read papers on our monitors then maybe portrait (you really can get them) monitors would be the norm however a monitor can be used to display lots of different things so it is more practical to display on a landscape monitor. In fact any monitor that has an aspect ratio of greater than one is in effect a landscape monitor.

      As for why most HDTV's and modern monitors have an aspect ratio of 16:9 that is a compromise between the many competing aspect ratios that are currently available. For a better understanding read this and there are many other sites that discuss this as well.

      --
      There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
    9. Re:yes by smallfries · · Score: 1

      I used to do this, but in the end I switched them both back to landscape. Looking up and down is surprisingly tiring, but looking side to side is not. My screens are a little too big for a dual screen layout (23" maybe?) so the total width is a little uncomfortable and one screen is now directly ahead for 80% of what I do with the second screen offset for less frequent tasks.

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    10. Re:yes by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      There are 4k (3840x2160 pixels for a 16:9 aspect ratio) monitors out there although you will pay for them

      You won't pay much. We're now buying them as our default monitor because reasonable ones are down to about £300 - if you're using the machine for work, that's a negligible cost.

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    11. Re:yes by Lawrence_Bird · · Score: 1

      AFAIK Clear type / sub pixel rendering only works properly in the native monitor view.

    12. Re:yes by OffTheWallSoccer · · Score: 1

      A square monitor would be okay, but it needs to be a more than 1920 pixels in each direction. If it was 2560, I would buy it.

      A 28-inch ASUS 4K is 3840x2160 resolution (at 60Hz) and is $600. I bought a bunch of them for my group at work. Also supplied each person with a 24-inch Dell 1080p monitor. Everyone likes this dual-display setup.

    13. Re:yes by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      With paper (for technical reading), I mark 5+ pages, and flip back and forth, comparing different sections with each other. Reading a book for pleasure, I want a more narrow column than my screen, because you lose track of the line reading. Also, the columns don't work well because they often seem to be competing for the smallest type that doesn't generate complaints. Larger print, two columns is better. I keep my computer screen farther away than I keep books, so I like larger type, but it's not a vision problem. Just a preference.

    14. Re:yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hearing the "human vision is landscape" argument trotted out too often. Resarch suggests that is not actually true - unfortunately I don't have sources ready, it was in late 90s that I looked into a lot of the visual perception and all that. While we may have a cognitive bias for lateral sweeping, physiological the horizontal offset of our eyes is negligible in the definition of our field of vision. Now our depth perception works using horizontal parallax, but that's it. Oh for a fun experiment - go watch a 3D movie, and wearing your glasses, turn you head sideways a way - the polarization relies on your eyes being horizontal... brain will do fun stuff...

    15. Re:yes by Optali · · Score: 1

      Or, the most common approach used by document writeres: One monitor in landscape and a second monitor in portrait, with the desktop in the landscape one and the document being displayed in the protrait monitor. Works very nicely for me.
      Nowadays most desktop environments use dual screens anyway.

      Nice and interesting info about why monitors are landscape. I was jsut asking myself the same ;)

      --
      -- 29A the number of the Beast
    16. Re:yes by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      I'm sure we all know that we can rotate our monitors? When I run a two monitor setup on a stand I always flip one to portrait mode for internet browsing, document work, and coding.

      --
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  2. Monitor Tiling! by duck_rifted · · Score: 4, Interesting

    These would be great for multi-monitor displays of enormous size. You can start with 4x3 and eventually upgrade to 16x9. Well, assuming you can manage to connect that many and setup output properly.

    1. Re:Monitor Tiling! by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

      Why does the monitor have to be square to do that?

    2. Re:Monitor Tiling! by ericloewe · · Score: 0

      It's not 4:3, it's 1:1 (though the pixels seem a bit on the rectangular side, judging by the picture).

    3. Re:Monitor Tiling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you just start out with a mere twelve of them, before moving up to 144.

    4. Re:Monitor Tiling! by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      DOUS's? I don't believe they exist.

      --
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    5. Re:Monitor Tiling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the point is: Get 12 monitors, have them 4 horizontal, 3 high...

    6. Re:Monitor Tiling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not 4:3, it's 1:1 (though the pixels seem a bit on the rectangular side, judging by the picture).

      I think he means you could literally have 12 monitors arranged 4x3. And then you could buy another 132 monitors to get 16x9.

    7. Re:Monitor Tiling! by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Wrong product for your solution.
      Firstly with tiles you'll be unlikely to drive all the displays at this native resolution, and if you can what content will you have for it?
      Secondly if you want to tile a large area the better solution would be panels made for that purpose which have thin bezels. Companies make products specifically for tiled displays.
       

    8. Re: Monitor Tiling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Porn.

    9. Re:Monitor Tiling! by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Yes, that linked monitor appears to be a 7k display. In dollars of course.

    10. Re:Monitor Tiling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And you think a custom designed 26" Eizo will be cheaper why? It's not just the display. Look up the details on such monitors and you will see that for tiled panels there are all sorts of additional controls such as daisy chain the video feed, synchronise all the color and brightness controls etc. These panels have more inputs and outputs than a high end HiFi receiver

    11. Re:Monitor Tiling! by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      I went to 16:10 monitor with 1920x1200, but when coding then both width and height is important. 16:9 is not a great upgrade from most 4:3 monitors from the aspect of coding.

      --
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    12. Re:Monitor Tiling! by smallfries · · Score: 1

      If your program is more thana single page then it makes sense to vertically split into two 8:9 panes, making it roughly twice as good as 4:3.

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    13. Re:Monitor Tiling! by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Choose a different person to be your strawman to attack. I didn't say anything about what I think, I merely commented on the price with a slight attempt a humour that probably fell as flat as those screens.
      Oh no, I fell for the bait - but it does appear that I was baited by a master. What is it with these ACs and their master baiting recently?

    14. Re:Monitor Tiling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's an idiot if he thinks 1920x1200 is not significantly better than 1280x1024 for coding.

    15. Re:Monitor Tiling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why does the monitor have to be square to do that?

      Because with a triple-monitor display using the pseudo-mandatory standard of 16:9 results in a stupidly WIDE display, in both physical space as well as the end resolution.

      I haven't ran a multi-display setup in years due to this, instead simply switching to a single larger monitor which quite frankly, sucks.

    16. Re:Monitor Tiling! by TWX · · Score: 1

      I prefer my coding at 80x25, or better, 132x44.

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    17. Re:Monitor Tiling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right, because these days, limiting ourselves to an unreadable mess of 40-column-limited lines makes sense.

    18. Re:Monitor Tiling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Easier math.

    19. Re:Monitor Tiling! by duck_rifted · · Score: 1

      Wow, thanks for the link! I shouldn't be surprised that consumer products already exist, but I am.

      As for what I'd use it for, probably Star Citizen right off the bat. That's especially true if they later allow FOV adjustment so I can convert a large flat display into a large wrap around display.

      For work purposes, I wouldn't stretch a display across tiled monitors. It's more useful to have separate desktops to keep multiple references and tools available at all times.

    20. Re:Monitor Tiling! by smallfries · · Score: 1

      If you need 40 columns on a 960x1080 display then you have eyesight issues.

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  3. ATC by aquabat · · Score: 3, Informative

    Air traffic controllers in Canada Use 2000x2000 pixel panels for the Canadian Automated Air Traffic System (CAATS); Pretty close.

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    1. Re:ATC by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

      Yeah 2k2k was standard even back in the 1990s on Eurocat using CRTs. I am a bit surprised they haven't gone beyond it now though, given what can be done with LCD.

    2. Re:ATC by davydagger · · Score: 1

      I am guessing finding 1x1 monitors was probably an issue.

    3. Re:ATC by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

      The 2k2k monitors were from Sony. I don't know if finding them was an issue. The unit price was high (~$50k) and sony must have had other markets. Later LCD monitors were from NTT. Barco are in the market as well making monitors for environments with high ambient light.

    4. Re:ATC by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      OK, I don't know much about those monitors, but you did say Sony. So my immediate assumption would be that they patented them (that's OK), but in addition made all connectors to it patented and everything had to go through Sony display drivers/cards. And they likely only accepted video data formatted in a patented Sony format that they would never open up, etc. etc. etc. bunch of Sony bullshit ad nauseam, all of which made anyone else who thought about using them say fuck that; why pay a shitload of money for something I can't use with any of my other stuff? And like a bunch of other rather good ideas Sony has had in the past, it died and withered on the vine of incompatibility.

      --
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    5. Re:ATC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am guessing those monitors need to be certified for x100 cost and Sony is not looking for competition even in legit market.

    6. Re:ATC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, the video cards were made by Barco. see http://www.barco.com/en/markets/Defense-and-aerospace/Air-traffic-control-and-management.aspx. Barco also now make their own 2Kx2K LCD displays.

      There a number of other strong use cases for 1:1 displays. The main motivation for the square display in ATC was it replaced the round displays of earlier CRTs used to show radar coverage, which is circular in nature. Much of the cost can be attributed to the very high tolerances required for making a flat, square vacuum tube with no distortion. Son did have a patent on the Trinitron tube (flat in the vertical plane) and this was clearly an extension of the technology. The square pixel also made for truer images displays.

    7. Re:ATC by Howitzer86 · · Score: 1

      Yep, I did a quick Google search and you can find them (and more standard 5:4 displays) here.

      Edldisplays

      Though... it looks like you'll have to call for a quote, and any time you do you know it'll be expensive.

    8. Re:ATC by Theovon · · Score: 1

      Don't forget Tech Source, who had beat Barco to the market by years with 2Kx2K graphics cards: http://www.techsource.com

      Incidentally, Tech Source is now owned by Eizo, but they still produce ATC graphics cards.

    9. Re:ATC by Theovon · · Score: 1

      For a while there, there were some 2560x2048 monitors being marketed for ATC as well. And then there was the IBM T221, which did 3840x2400.

    10. Re:ATC by ponos · · Score: 1

      EIZO has a series of displays specifically targeted to air traffic control with 2048x2048 at 28". They also make displays for medical uses, surveillance etc, with redundant connectors and PSUs.

    11. Re:ATC by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

      Nah the monitors had individual co-ax connectors for RGB. It was a simple interface if you had the computing muscle to drive it. Not so easy in the early 1990s. The monitors had a serial interface which was proprietary to sony. It was there to shut down the HMI if the monitor stopped working. You could use the monitor without it if you wanted to.

    12. Re:ATC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm a software enginner on ATC projects at Lockheed Martin. Air traffic controllers in the US also use 2048x2048 monitors.

      For example ERAM (https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/eram/) uses Barco LCDs and Barco graphics cards. Really the only reason for the Barco graphics card is that the system runs on AIX and there are no other reasonable graphics cards available.

      Another US ATC systems, Common ARTS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_ARTS), also uses 2k Barco monitors. It runs on Linux with fairly standard amd64 hardware and is able to use Nvidia graphics cards.

      Conventional wisdom is that Nvidia cards are ridiculously faster and cheaper than specialized cards from Barco or Tech Source. I expect those cards to eventually fade away as Linux takes over.

    13. Re:ATC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A 1x1 monitor is called a square indicator light. ;-)

    14. Re:ATC by Endlisnis · · Score: 1

      The human eye is limited to about 2k x 2k so going beyond that is not valuable unless you start sitting close and twisting your neck.

  4. Squarer is better. by MarcAuslander · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The move from 4x3 to 16x9 was already a big loss - more scrolling for no advantage except using the PC as a TV. Don't know about 1x1 but the old 5x4 worked just fine for me.

    1. Re:Squarer is better. by Luckyo · · Score: 4, Informative

      There is some advantage for various full screen viewing implementations like gaming. Like it or not, human field of view is much wider than it is taller. As a result, taking visual input from wide screen is more natural than from square(ish) screen.

      The obvious problem is that which you mention - much if not most of PC work is related to document handling and such, which requires vertical space and wastes horizontal space, making wide screen format a bad idea.

    2. Re:Squarer is better. by ourlovecanlastforeve · · Score: 1

      Notice that widescreen monitors became popular right about the time televisions and monitors started being advertised by their diagonal dimension.

      By that measure if you have a monitor that is 1 inch tall and 50 inches wide you would have a 50-inch monitor.

    3. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      grasp monitor in lower corner.
      lift upwards
      monitor is now 1920 tall and 1080 wide.

      Sorry if you bought a POS monitor that doesn't rotate or run a POS OS that can't deal with rotation.

    4. Re:Squarer is better. by unitron · · Score: 1

      Televisions have been advertised by diagonal measure pretty much starting with when they went to rectangular screens from round ones well over 60 years ago.

      Since they were all 4:3 ratio, if you were comparison shopping a 19" Zenith and a 19" RCA, it was apples to apples, and you could figure out x and y from the hypotenuse if you had to know width and height.

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    5. Re: Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      everytime i do that i have to untangle about half of the cables that stick out of my monitor (various video- and usb-cables) and still manage to unplug some, requiring me to crawl under my desk. even without that, it's very seldomly worth the hassle of turning the monitor. thanks, but no, thanks.

    6. Re: Squarer is better. by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Most hardware stores sell plastic ties and velcro ties that you can use to keep your cables nice and neat...I know for a fact that Office Depot does.

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    7. Re:Squarer is better. by Pope+Hagbard · · Score: 1

      They really weren't. In the early to mid '90s it was common for computer monitors to be advertised as 15" or 17" (that being the tube's size) but thanks to bezels being bigger or smaller they weren't really comparable. Around the mid '90s Congress passed a law (remember when that used to happen?) requiring that CRT mfrs disclose the exact diagonal measurement instead, so you'd have "17-inch" monitors advertised as having e.g. a 15.9" diagonal.

    8. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah we're not all american and some of us have had tvs advertised as, for instance, 17" meaning 17" diagonal, for a very, very long time now. it's not our fault if your congress is full of muppets.

    9. Re:Squarer is better. by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      I'd personally disagree that its a problem. In fact, one 16x9 still isn't wide enough. Two of them is ideal for me. The main monitor for my coding tool, and the 2nd monitor to have 2 web pages loaded side by side. In my main window, about 1/2 to 2/3 of the width is used for my actual code, and the rest used for other panel (project file list, debug panels, etc). If my 2nd monitor wasn't so wide, I either wouldn't have access to the extra panels, or I'd have to put them across the bottom (negating the advantage of making it taller).

    10. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You must watch a lot of tennis too.

    11. Re:Squarer is better. by Earthquake+Retrofit · · Score: 1

      ...The obvious problem is that which you mention - much if not most of PC work is related to document handling and such, which requires vertical space and wastes horizontal space, making wide screen format a bad idea.

      On Windows, turn your monitor on its side and press cntr+alt+left arrow>.

      --
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    12. Re:Squarer is better. by dwywit · · Score: 1

      It's similar for video editing - one large, high-def monitor for the actual video, and another monitor for the various control panel windows. The second monitor can be any aspect ratio - whatever you prefer to work with - but the first one needs to be big, accurate, and has to be able to cope with at least the most common formats.

      --
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    13. Re:Squarer is better. by Pope+Hagbard · · Score: 1

      Really? Whenever did they make a bezelless TV?

    14. Re:Squarer is better. by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      Which is nice if you don't do it that often. But.. why not just put an accelerometer in the monitor and have it report its orientation to the OS? If we can fit one in an mp3 player, we can fit one in a monitor.

      --
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    15. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, get one you can turn on its side?

    16. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use three 27" monitors I prefer looking left/right over up/down.

    17. Re:Squarer is better. by Phydeaux · · Score: 1

      Do agree. I miss 4x3 displays as Widescreen sucks for anything but watching widescreen movies. These days, if clients get larger 16x9 displays I usually show them that they can be pivoted to portrait for easier file creation/editing and web browsing...

    18. Re:Squarer is better. by donaldm · · Score: 1

      The move from 4x3 to 16x9 was already a big loss - more scrolling for no advantage except using the PC as a TV. Don't know about 1x1 but the old 5x4 worked just fine for me.

      I take it you have never heard of video and image editing, software development or even video gaming. Not everyone uses their monitor to create, edit and view documents. As to why the industry chose a 16:9 aspect ratio well that is basically a compromise since there is no perfect solution. As a customer you are certainly entitled to purchase the monitor that suites you however remember that just because you buy a monitor that suits you that same monitor may not suit everyone.

      When you say "more scrolling" (I assume up and down) then why don't you get yourself a larger monitor. 27in 1080p IPS monitors are not that expensive, you can even get 4k 2160p 28in monitors for around $500 now if you need the higher resolution although why you need a high resolution for documents is beyond me since even typesetters (been there done that) don't really need that resolution unless it is for bragging purposes.

      --
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    19. Re:Squarer is better. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      The move from 4x3 to 16x9 was already a big loss - more scrolling for no advantage except using the PC as a TV. Don't know about 1x1 but the old 5x4 worked just fine for me.

      I don't know about you, but every time I want to do something big and complicated it involves sidebars and/or apps side-by-side. Also, my 16:10 25.5" IPS has a pivot, you insensitive clod! I don't use it.

      --
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    20. Re:Squarer is better. by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      Unlike hand-held devices which get reoriented regularly by design, I can't think of many cases where monitors would be frequently turned. You'd have to be:
      (1) A coder, newspaper layout designer, or similar guy with a need for portrait screens.
      (2) Someone who also games or watches movies, on their work machine, necessitating a landscape screen too.
      (3) Someone who has not realized you can have a multi-monitor setup with both portrait and landscape screens.

      You're probably doing something wrong if you flip monitors daily. If you have a legit reason to do it, it would be an edge case. If you are also too lazy to use a three-finger keystroke after already physically rotating the monitor, well that's an extreme edge case. It's certainly nothing that a manufacturer is going to cater to.

    21. Re:Squarer is better. by Dadoo · · Score: 1

      Like it or not, human field of view is much wider than it is taller.

      Citation needed.

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    22. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...like gaming. ...human field of view...

      I like to see what is happening on the peripheral of my vision when I'm playing a game where that is important (I get what you're saying here). Another thing that is important to me in such games is having my status bars and icons visible on the top/bottom of the screen as appropriate without eating up prime vision real estate. Having my monitor include a little extra space on the top/bottom for that data at a quick glance without interfering with my game view is great. 4:3 worked pretty well for that and as UI builds improved, 16:10 was decent enough. Trying to do it on 16:9 just make it too vertically narrow for me. I think what the GP was saying was along those lines.

    23. Re:Squarer is better. by Drinking+Bleach · · Score: 1

      Erm.... software development is exactly a use-case where widescreen hurts. Want more lines of code, not less. Width doesn't matter, it's rare for lines of code to be longer than 80~120 characters.

    24. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      converting a 16:9 into a 9:16 takes about a minute, give or take. it does a number on your peace of mind and productivity, so beware, once turn your main screen tall, you might not go back.

    25. Re:Squarer is better. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Turn the 16:9 monitor 90 degrees and it's ideal for document editing. If you do a lot of document work either have a portrait orientation 16:9 monitor or have two pages displayed on a landscape 16:9 display.

      I find that 16:9 is better for coding too. I can have two code views side by side, or code on one side and debugger on the other. I have dual 16:9 monitors at work, and use the second one for a terminal window and datasheets (I'm an embedded developer).

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    26. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No likey ... now how about some instructions on how to put my screen back?!?

    27. Re:Squarer is better. by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      So flip the screen vertical. If you game, as well, the solution is just as obvious: 2 widescreens, one vertical, one horizontal.

    28. Re:Squarer is better. by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      Because it adds cost for something that very few people do, and for something that doesnt take much time in any case.

    29. Re: Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1080 not wide enough

    30. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > for no advantage

      Sure, there was an advantage... There is less area in a long rectangle than in a square, so a wide "19-inch" monitor used less material, so it was cheaper to make, so the company made more profit.

    31. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      16x9 and 16/10 are wonderful for programming. i can have 3 vertical partitions for vim in on a single screen. if you're complaining about the vertical space, quit using interfaces that waste it.

    32. Re:Squarer is better. by Mal-2 · · Score: 1

      I do rotate a monitor (2048x1152 rather than 1080p), and there is another problem you aren't accounting for: the vertical "sweet spot" of TN panels is much smaller than the horizontal sweet spot. This means that in Landscape mode, the separation between your eyes doesn't matter much, but in Portrait mode, it can become quite significant. The result is that the display looks different to each eye, which can be a very disorienting effect. The only position where this more or less goes away is dead on axis, where the angular difference of each eye matches. The color shift is still different, but at least the brightness and contrast roughly align.This can be quite troublesome though, as I'm talking about a head shift of an inch in either direction making the display go from dead sharp to flickering rapidly between single-eye images. I don't know about you, but I don't sit that still.

      --
      How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
    33. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Me think U should test you claim. Our effective field of view (the focused area) is almost circular, the fact that you can identify a movement in the far corner of your eye is not usable for anything else than just that.

    34. Re:Squarer is better. by baker_tony · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I have two widescreen as well. I'd have a 3rd but I use Dexpot to give me 4 virtual desktops (email/web, development, RDC and misc desktops), negates the need for a 4rd. Works really well for me.

    35. Re:Squarer is better. by baker_tony · · Score: 1

      Just look out of your eyes if you don't believe it...

    36. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bah. Fuck yours first person games. Square display area would be super nice in RTS and MOBAs.

    37. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Like it or not, human field of view is much wider than it is taller. As a result, taking visual input from wide screen is more natural than from square(ish) screen."

      Other than stating the human field of view is wider than taller, you're horribly wrong. We most efficiently process information in the center of our vision, where both eyes provide the brain with roughly the exact same data. As the specific area we are focusing on increases in size, the less effective we are at picking out details.

      Evolutionarily speaking, having a large horizontal field of view is excellent when you're out in the wild, hunting & hiding, and your only concerns are for spotting movement (prey & predators, respectively). For browsing data on a monitor though, excess data off on the edges is pretty much useless, as vertical scrolling/browsing is significantly more efficienct, as both eyes focus on the same area.

      Even when programming (coding to the younger generation), I find it significantly more efficient for a widescreen monitor to be swiveled sideways so that I can read 3-4 as many lines of code at one time, without having to rely on the screen being broken up into multiple side-by-side pages. And if you're coding for web pages, you can still put a window with the page on it at the top or bottom of the displayed code.

    38. Re:Squarer is better. by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      Also, some gaming would benefit from a screen like this. One that comes to find is Everquest. You use a lot of vertical space for chat windows, spell bars, both on the top and bottom of the screen typically. You want those chat boxes and spell bars to be as central to your vision as possible, not pushed way out into your peripheral vision.

    39. Re:Squarer is better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How does that work out with vertical languages? Wouldn't wide-screen be great for Chinese?

    40. Re:Squarer is better. by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      Consider how our normal horizontal text looks when scaled to entire width of 16:9 monitor. I doubt that vertically written languages are significantly different.

  5. Rotated by The+Raven · · Score: 1

    I rotate my screens vertically at work (where I don't watch videos, I work on documents and sites, and horizontal space is often a waste). A square screen is a similar trade-off, but I find the utility of choice that rotation offers probably outweighs the value of a square form-factor.

    --
    "I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
    1. Re:Rotated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It depends on the monitor. At work, we're issued HP monitors that are supposedly rotatable, but they are very thin such that when you rotate them to e.g. read an 8 and 1/2 by 11 letter, vertically, the text is too squished.

      And goddess forbid using a tracked changes type of feature which uses the horizontal space and squishes the text even more.

      This square monitor sounds like heaven in comparison.

    2. Re:Rotated by Per+Wigren · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't worry, you can probably rotate this screen also.

      --
      My other account has a 3-digit UID.
    3. Re:Rotated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seconded.

    4. Re:Rotated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It depends on the monitor. At work, we're issued HP monitors that are supposedly rotatable, but they are very thin such that when you rotate them to e.g. read an 8 and 1/2 by 11 letter, vertically, the text is too squished.

      And goddess forbid using a tracked changes type of feature which uses the horizontal space and squishes the text even more.

      This square monitor sounds like heaven in comparison.

      Assuming the actual pixels are 1:1 ratio then the monitor itself shouldn't make any difference. Unless the software is crap and insists on stretching both axis to fill the entire screen.

    5. Re:Rotated by OzPeter · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, you can probably rotate this screen also.

      Years ago I was shoot a square format film camera (Holga @ 6cm) and when a friend looked at some of my negatives they commented "Why the hell did you rotate the camera for some of your shots????".

      --
      I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    6. Re:Rotated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hipster alert.

    7. Re:Rotated by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      So why are you still adhering to narrow output when so many of your end users have switched to wide screen. Having a quick browse around, I find it unfathomable why so many tech sites stick to narrow format suited to old CRT displays when the world has moved on, must be the 'qwerty' effect, stubbornness bound to ignorance, don't worry it's not so much an individual problem but an industry delusion.

      PS don't try to make output that suits a full sized display suit a mobile phone or vice versa.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    8. Re:Rotated by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      You're probably not old enough, but there used to be something called the 80 column mind. This was something that affected programmers who had learned how to use computers back in the days when the punched card was king, and were still writing programs that expected all input and output to fit into that medium's 80 character restrictions. I worked for JPL for a few years in the mid-80's, and even then many of their newer programs used what were called "cardimages:" computer records that were designed to mimic a punched card either because they received input from a program that was a legacy from the old punched card days or who's output would be fed to one. And, of course, sometimes both were that way. I'm sure that they've moved past that by now, for the most part, but I know that their main space probe navigation system was written with cardimages in mind and I doubt that they've ever gone to the expense of having something that works so well re-written.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
  6. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by gavron · · Score: 0

    They will announce a square monitor with rounded corners.

    Patent and trade dress protection pending, of course.

  7. Hooray! by mccrew · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Finally get back some of the vertical space lost when every laptop and desktop downgraded to "HD".

    --
    Hey, Windows users, there is no such thing as "forward" slash, there is only slash and backslash.
    1. Re:Hooray! by unitron · · Score: 1

      Finally get back some of the vertical space lost when every laptop and desktop downgraded to "HD".

      Absolutely. I mourn the dearth of tall-screen monitors. When I want to watch TV, I use a TV.

      --

      I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.

    2. Re:Hooray! by Noah+Haders · · Score: 1

      the apple macbooks are the best because they are still 16:10 ratio. it's an extra inch taller than the standard 16:9.

    3. Re:Hooray! by mrprogrammerman · · Score: 1

      For desktops you can always pivot to portrait mode if you're doing alot of document/scrolling work.

    4. Re:Hooray! by mister_playboy · · Score: 1

      Finally get back some of the vertical space lost when every laptop and desktop downgraded to "HD".

      It's time to retire this complaint because the fact is that screen resolutions have started to increase again

      Your old 1200 pixel tall non-16:9 display isn't anything to brag about anymore. 1440p is quite cheap nowadays and 2160p is gaining traction.

      --
      Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
    5. Re:Hooray! by rHBa · · Score: 1

      WOW, I know big is 'in' this year in the world of Mac but I didn't realise they did 16 inch wide laptops! How do you carry it anywhere!?!

    6. Re:Hooray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or is it an inch narrower?

    7. Re:Hooray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know you think he's making a mistake assuming he's comparing the ratios directly into physical dimensions. But assuming he means a 15" MacBook, he's only off about 0.13 inches. IMHO rounding from 0.87 inches to 1 inch is forgivable.

    8. Re:Hooray! by donaldm · · Score: 1

      Finally get back some of the vertical space lost when every laptop and desktop downgraded to "HD".

      Absolutely. I mourn the dearth of tall-screen monitors. When I want to watch TV, I use a TV.

      Ah but do you predominately watch shows with a 4:3 aspect ratio or 16:9 or 2.4:1 or 2.35:1 or ..? Well you get the picture :)

      --
      There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
    9. Re:Hooray! by donaldm · · Score: 1

      For desktops you can always pivot to portrait mode if you're doing alot of document/scrolling work.

      It's pretty hard to do this with a 28in 4k monitor so is vertical letter-boxing OK on an A4 document ?

      --
      There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
    10. Re:Hooray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WOW, I know big is 'in' this year in the world of Mac but I didn't realise they did 16 inch wide laptops! How do you carry it anywhere!?!

      Valid question...if you've got the intellect of Barbie shopping for a laptop.

      Sad. It's not even an intelligent jab at Apple.

    11. Re:Hooray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's a little much, though. a 3:2 would be more practical.. on a pivot would be perfect.

    12. Re:Hooray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your old 1200 pixel tall non-16:9 display isn't anything to brag about anymore. 1440p is quite cheap nowadays and 2160p is gaining traction.

      A computer monitor being spoken of as "1440p" or "2160p" is asinine. The pixel width is relevant information. Anyone who ignores it doesn't know what they're talking about. It's important not to make assumptions about aspect ratio.

      The fact is, the only reason to talk about scanline-height measurements is when you're receiving a time-sensitive stream with a fixed scanline-height and variable client size. That is to say: streaming video with no return communication path or metadata header stream (so, not internet streaming video in any of its forms). This allows a common timing mechanism to feed video to a tiny screen at the same rate and quality as a huge screen.

      "1440p" is not a computer monitor resolution. It could be 1600x1440 (16:9) or 2304x1440 (16:10) or 1920x1440 (4:3) or 1800x1440 (5:4), or with the 1:1 aspect ratio from this article's focus, it could be 1440x1440. Notice how 16:9 is the crappiest aspect of all of those. It's not useful like the 1:1 ratio, and it's fewer pixels than any of the others.

      As a TV resolution, "1440p" is a shorthand way of saying 1440-rows-of-however-many-pixels-the-screen-can-draw-in-roughly-11-and-a-half-microseconds. Yes, that's how much time a 1440p (NTSC, color) TV has to draw a scanline, including the hblank and 1/1440th of the vblank (so actually not quite even that much time). The formula is time / refresh-rate / scanline-count. 1 second / 59.96 NTSC color framerate / 1440 scanlines = 0.00001158-ish seconds per scanline.

      Anyone that uses scanlines to describe screen resolution for a computer monitor immediately comes off to me as easily-swayed by marketing and a non-technical user that doesn't have any useful insights into the technical workings of the real world.

      Just sayin'.

    13. Re:Hooray! by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      Depends on the monitor - of the 4 I have available to me now, only one pivots. Coincidentally, it's the closest to square as well. 5:4 ratio.

    14. Re:Hooray! by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      Finally get back some of the vertical space lost when every laptop and desktop downgraded to "HD".

      Only if this monitor is cheaper than a similar-quality 4K/UHD monitor. UHD buys you 2160 vertical pixels compared to 1920 for this monitor, plus a hell of a lot more horizontal space to boot.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    15. Re:Hooray! by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      "1440p" is not a computer monitor resolution. It could be 1600x1440 (16:9) or 2304x1440 (16:10) or 1920x1440 (4:3) or 1800x1440 (5:4), or with the 1:1 aspect ratio from this article's focus, it could be 1440x1440. Notice how 16:9 is the crappiest aspect of all of those. It's not useful like the 1:1 ratio, and it's fewer pixels than any of the others.

      Errr no, that would actually be 2560x1440, the best aspect ratio of those possible options, with the most overall screen space. I should know, I have a 27" monitor with that resolution.

      This 1:1 monitor from Eizo will only ever be relevant if it's significantly cheaper than a comparable-quality 4K/UHD monitor. 2160 versus 1920 vertical pixels, with a hell of a lot more horizontal space as a bonus.

      Just sayin'.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    16. Re:Hooray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wish my laptop was HD; 1366 x 768 is awful.

  8. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All the Apple fanboys will then insist that round monitors are great.

    Only if it is overpriced. Nothing makes an Apple fanboy happier than emptying their wallets on garbage.

  9. Yes, useful indeed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's going to look a bit strange at first, and it's not so useful to watching video. But if you're reading all day, or writing, then oh yes, this is useful. I won't be able to afford one (n'mind two or three) but it's good to see manufacturers recognising there's more to computing than playing games or watching movies.

    Now won't someone bring back the 4:3 laptop with trackpoint and no windows keys, please.

    1. Re:Yes, useful indeed. by davydagger · · Score: 1

      its going to be very useful for watching video, being you can do something else with the other half of the screen.

  10. Photo Editing by Anna+Merikin · · Score: 1

    Yes! Vertical (portrait format) photos would get equal screen area as horizontal compositions.

    This reminds me of the old (name forgotten) rotatable displays. Or are they still around?

    1. Re:Photo Editing by firewrought · · Score: 1

      Radius made for the Macintosh in the long, long ago.

      They're not in the biz anymore, but you can find plenty of pivoting monitors sold by the major brands. Some of my coworkers really like having one monitor in landscape (for spreadsheets, coding, etc.) and one in portrait (for documentation, web pages, etc). If you want one, do your research: portrait mode may not support wide viewing angles well, and font rendering may be screwy (because sub-pixel rendering assumes horizontal sub-pixels, not vertical ones). Also, unlike your smartphone, pivoting monitors don't necessarily contain a sensor to automatically detect changes in orientation: you have to tell the OS to display output for you, then physically rotate the display.

      --
      -1, Too Many Layers Of Abstraction
    2. Re:Photo Editing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Any monitor can handle displaying information rotated 90 degrees (or 180 degrees). It is just a matter of whether you can physically get the monitor to rotate as well (maybe need different mountings, different stand, prop it up against a wall, duct tape, etc).

  11. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Round, phft. That's 2 dimensional thinking. Now a spherical monitor,...where's Tim Cook when you need him?

  12. 26.5 diagonal? or per side by rossdee · · Score: 1

    or how about a square tablet? Then you wouldn't have to rotate it all the time

    1. Re:26.5 diagonal? or per side by trampel · · Score: 2

      It exists! It's called the Blackberry Passport :-)

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...

    2. Re:26.5 diagonal? or per side by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This screen should look great on the HDMI output from that phone.

  13. Is a 16:9 monitor of benefit to anybody? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Even when watching films, the stuff on the sides is irrelevant. I keep to 4:3 as much as possible.

  14. ObFry by ihtoit · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Shut up and take my money!

    I do my DTP on a Pentium IV with a 4:3 screen because the simple fact is it's far more comfortable looking at a document on a 4:3 screen than it is a 16:9 or a 16:10. Pisses me off that personal computing has gone the way it has, that being steered to moving media consumption - if I wanted to watch movies 24/7 I'd've bought a fucking £60 portable DVD player not a £500 laptop! This TV comes with a keyboard so I can fucking TYPE on it! I want my squarer screen back!

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    1. Re:ObFry by Walter+White · · Score: 1

      Pisses me off that personal computing has gone the way it has, that being steered to moving media consumption

      PC displays are not so much being steered toward media consumption. Manufacturing TV panels dominates the supply chain so to take advantage of that economy of scale the PC manufacturers adopted the same aspect ratio.

      That said, I'm happy to have two 1600x1200 LCDs that are a few years old now. Two wide screen displays arranged side by side in landscape mode are IMO excessively wide. I've seen more than one person rotate one (of a pair of screens) vertical on which to view vertical oriented content (like documents, spreadsheets and web pages.)

      I would be happy with a couple square displays side by side.

    2. Re:ObFry by Wing_Zero · · Score: 1

      for me, My laptop is 16x10, And my favorite part of it is that I get a full size key and a REAL number pad. It always annoys me that you see a wide screen laptop and a freaking huge dead-space around the (3/4 key size)keyboard! the widescreen is nice for the occasional movie, and makes side by side file manager windows less squished. but I WANT FULL SIZED KEYS

    3. Re:ObFry by Noah+Haders · · Score: 1

      Shut up and take my money!

      I do my DTP on a Pentium IV with a 4:3 screen because the simple fact is it's far more comfortable looking at a document on a 4:3 screen than it is a 16:9 or a 16:10.

      you don't have to keep every window maximized to the full width of the screen... you can have multiple windows, each with a 4:3 ratio. Just a suggestion. #NOOB

    4. Re:ObFry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ok, you lost me at Pentium IV...

    5. Re:ObFry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My laptop is 16x10, And my favorite part of it is that I get a full size key and a REAL number pad

      I own three laptops with 16:9 aspect screens and they all have full sized keys and real numpads. They aren't features of 16:10 laptops.

    6. Re:ObFry by donaldm · · Score: 1

      Shut up and take my money!

      I do my DTP on a Pentium IV with a 4:3 screen because the simple fact is it's far more comfortable looking at a document on a 4:3 screen than it is a 16:9 or a 16:10.

      you don't have to keep every window maximized to the full width of the screen... you can have multiple windows, each with a 4:3 ratio. Just a suggestion. #NOOB

      Careful you may give the poor guy a brain aneurysm with that logic and whatever you do don't mention the command line much less a visual editor ... Oh! sorry. :)

      --
      There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
    7. Re:ObFry by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      I do my DTP on a Pentium IV with a 4:3 screen

      If you do any notable amount of DTP, you should be investing in a big pivot display, anyway. I got mine used, it's 1920x1200 and it's pretty to look at all day. But I seldom pivot it, because I usually work with facing pages, and widescreen is awesome for that. But I could :p

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    8. Re:ObFry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. Another dumbass that can't resize a window.

    9. Re:ObFry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pisses me off that personal computing has gone the way it has, that being steered to moving media consumption

      PC displays are not so much being steered toward media consumption. Manufacturing TV panels dominates the supply chain so to take advantage of that economy of scale the PC manufacturers adopted the same aspect ratio...

      How are you taking advantage of economies of scale when you have two totally different product lines for two totally different products?

      That's like comparing monster-truck tires to racing slicks. There's a reason both kinds of tires exist, much as there is a reason a separate manufacturing line can exist to punch out 50" LCD screens vs. 19" monitors. Different refresh rates, different interfaces, and different end-use, as only one of those devices also has an antenna input.

      Guess I'm not finding the economies of scale argument. They could have easily continued to make square displays for computers instead of placating to the movie industry and their 16:9/16:10 ratios. It's pretty damn sad that any computer vendor would want to pimp their product as nothing more than a plastic box to watch Netflix.

    10. Re:ObFry by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Why don't you use a 16:9 monitor in portrait mode for DTP? Most printed material is taller than it is wide, so a portrait widescreen monitor will let you see the entire page at once without zooming out so far it is tiny.

      You could also just buy a 16:10 monitor. There are plenty of them about. If you feel adventurous you can get 16:10 2.5k screens from Korea very cheaply, and the use the same high end panels as Dell and Apple do. Search eBay for "catleap".

      --
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      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    11. Re:ObFry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Somehow I think if youre keeping a power guzzling P4 around, this display will be way out of your price range.

    12. Re:ObFry by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      >I do my DTP on a Pentium IV with a 4:3 screen because the simple fact is it's far more comfortable looking at a document on a 4:3 screen than it is a 16:9 or a 16:10.

      I'm assuming this is a laptop, otherwise I'd wonder why you were using a Pentium 4 for DTP instead of just hooking your 4:3 monitor to a newer machine.

    13. Re:ObFry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pisses me off that personal computing has gone the way it has

      Yeah, how dare it be anything other than what you personally need?? And what's with all these damn kids on your lawn??

    14. Re:ObFry by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      How are you taking advantage of economies of scale when you have two totally different product lines for two totally different products?

      Mu.

      The reason that question cannot be answered as asked is that you have not even approached adequately describing the situation.

      There's a reason both kinds of tires exist, much as there is a reason a separate manufacturing line can exist to punch out 50" LCD screens vs. 19" monitors.

      There are both 50" and 19" televisions.

      Different refresh rates

      Who told you that? They do not necessarily have different refresh rates. And even if they did, there are parts of the panels which don't have refresh rates which can be shared between disparate panels.

      different interfaces

      The panels use a variety of interfaces, and the interfaces of the completed product have no relation whatsoever to the interface between the panel and the board in the complete display.

      and different end-use, as only one of those devices also has an antenna input.

      The same display can be offered with and without a tuner by placing the tuner hardware on a separate PCB which is connected to the main PCB in models where it is needed. Or, two PCBs can be made, one with and one without. Again, none of this affects the panels.

      Guess I'm not finding the economies of scale argument.

      That's because you're woefully ignorant of what's inside of televisions and LCD monitors. Once you've taken a few apart, you won't be under these various misapprehensions about what's inside of them.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    15. Re:ObFry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought you were killed, good to hear you are OK.

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1866286.stm
      [quote] A mentally-ill gunman apparently unhappy with widescreen televisions has shot himself dead in an Amsterdam office building after a seven-hour siege. [/quote]

  15. Unnatural aspect ratio by MindPrison · · Score: 1

    I don't see the purpose of this, they way our eyes are placed - we're supposed to look around ourselves (landscape aspect), this will only put more strain on the eyes as we'll have to look up and down constantly. I suppose it will have its own place in eg. the design industry where I certainly can see it as useful, but I can pretty much promise you that screen will never become adopted by the mainstream public.

    In fact, I'm a bit surprised that Philips Ultra Wide monitors didn't catch on as they're even better for our eyes than the 16:9, I'm guessing it's the price tag that scares people away as usual, but for movies...the Ultra Wide is the best option since even today....the movies at the theatre are much wider and when you get it on a DVD or Blu-Ray/streaming etc... it's still 16:9 and thus have been cropped for our viewing pleasures, which is a pity...because you lose some of the original artwork in the movies.

    --
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    1. Re:Unnatural aspect ratio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not sure this is a valid point. Our eyes are side by side, but they don't (typically) scan and focus independently, so they focus on a point. Whether the points they focus on are arranged in a square or a rectangle doesn't seem relevant. If anything, vertical scanning requires less independent focus adjustment because distance between each eye and the point of focus is kept equal.

    2. Re:Unnatural aspect ratio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't see the purpose of this, they way our eyes are placed - we're supposed to look around ourselves (landscape aspect),...

      Yeah! And since our eyes are round, the monitors should be circles.

    3. Re: Unnatural aspect ratio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No I agree with the other guy. Scanning side to side feels much "easier" to me, but it might just be because my eye muscles are used to it. But regardless, I still prefer wide screens with windows stacked horizontally. It feels more natural for some reason.

    4. Re:Unnatural aspect ratio by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      In fact, I'm a bit surprised that Philips Ultra Wide monitors didn't catch on as they're even better for our eyes than the 16:9

      What makes you say that? Why should wider than 16:9 necessarily be "better" for our eyes?

      I thought that 16:9 was chosen as the widescreen standard (partially) because it was close to our "natural" viewing range.

      the movies at the theatre are much wider and when you get it on a DVD or Blu-Ray/streaming etc

      Movies are almost always released on DVD/Blu-ray at the same aspect ratio they were in at the cinema.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    5. Re:Unnatural aspect ratio by war4peace · · Score: 1, Funny

      Asians would feel offended by your remarks.
      They definitely need slit monitors.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    6. Re:Unnatural aspect ratio by hey! · · Score: 1

      There's no such thing as a "natural" aspect ratio, because sitting with your eyes glued to a monitor isn't what we evolved to do.

      Years of designing software have taught me one thing, which is that interfaces have to suit the task. When I'm writing or reading, I like a vertically oriented monitor. When I'm watching a movie, I like wide aspect ratio monitor. When I'm programming, I like a moderate aspect ratio landscape monitor, but very, very big. Bigger than I'd want to read a book on or watch a movie on.

      So every monitor used for every kind of task is necessarily a compromise, but some monitors may be just the thing for a certain task. Maybe there's a task or mix of tasks where an 19" x 19" sqauare is a good compromise, or a single task where it's ideal. They seem to be pitching it at CAD users. I can see that. I've got my bridge drawings in a rectangular area on screen, but I still have another generous rectangular area for property sheets, tool palletes etc. When I'm working on my tower I arrange things into vertical rectangles.

      Or this thing could be a nutty idea in search of a use. But there's probably one out there.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    7. Re:Unnatural aspect ratio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, but for many tasks vertical space on the screen is more useful, such as editing a word document. If you go to wide monitors, then you also need to go to at least 27"+ to get a useful height.

    8. Re:Unnatural aspect ratio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why isn't this racist post modded down? I bet if someone mentioned blacks it would be.

    9. Re:Unnatural aspect ratio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I thought that 16:9 was chosen as the widescreen standard (partially) because it was close to our "natural" viewing range.

      It was chosen as a compromise between then common 16:10 computer aspect ratio and the 21:9 aspect ratio of cinemascope.
      It turned out to be one of those compromises that didn't fit anything very well.

    10. Re:Unnatural aspect ratio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Niggers, niggers, niggers, niggers.

      Happy now?

    11. Re:Unnatural aspect ratio by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure 16:9 TV came first.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  16. 16:9 by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

    Some people use their monitors for doing work and 16:9 displays are awful. 16:10 is where its at.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:16:9 by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Yeah, huge difference that.

      Is it a gradual increase in awfulness from 0 to 1 between 16:9 and 16:10, or does it jump up when it gets to something like 16:9.375?

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    2. Re:16:9 by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      Put the same diagonal size 16:9 and 16:10 monitors side by side and the 16:9 is a few inches shorter. That is a ton of screen real estate.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    3. Re:16:9 by fnj · · Score: 3, Funny

      Preposterous. Review the Pythagorean Theorem. The diagonal is the square root of the sum of the squares of the sides. A 24" 16x9 monitor is 20.9x11.8". A 24" 16x10 monitor is 20.3x12.7".

      11.8" vs 12.7" is 0.9". How do you get "a few inches" out of that? The difference is about the size of a stamp.

    4. Re:16:9 by ArchieBunker · · Score: 3, Funny

      I was told there would be no math.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    5. Re:16:9 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was told there would be no math.

      ROFL!! BEST possible response! Kudos to you. I wish I had mod points.

    6. Re:16:9 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The difference is about the height of a stamp, but the width means the it's the size of 11 sq. inches.

    7. Re: 16:9 by bazorg · · Score: 1

      Is that USA inches or UK inches?

  17. Websites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Given that websites seem to have these giant bars/banners at the top that hover over the page as you scroll down, I imagine that more vertical space would be beneficial in that respect. Combine this with how much space the menu bar, find bar, etc., takes up when browsing too.

    1. Re:Websites by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      Run Gnome 2 / Mate on it with top and bottom panels, browser that still has a title bar. There's room to fit everything without making it feel busy, cramped. If a smaller 1440x1440 variant was made you would also have something about perfect to run a maximized browser without messing with scaling etc., which I guess is what most people do regardless of the monitor.

    2. Re:Websites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I go with 1024x768 for my resolution on a 5:4 17". I think I'd go for 1152x864 on a 5x4 19" if I could.

      On a 1:1, I'd probably opt for 1024x1024 or 1024x960 (same vertical stretch ratio I use now I think).

  18. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by davester666 · · Score: 1

    The great big balls of Apple!

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  19. Not 1:1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But I have received a great benefit from running my second 30" display in portrait orientation. 1600 x 2560.

  20. Sounds nice for programmers by zwarte+piet · · Score: 1

    lots of code on one page

    1. Re: Sounds nice for programmers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed! At work I use 3 16:9 monitors side by side all in vertical orientation. I can see about 120 lines of code on one screen. It also works great for most web pages, pdf docs, ... The only significant drawback is when I have to prepare PowerPoint presentations. On my laptop I feel very limited by the vertical space and I miss my old 4:3 monitor. If a company makes a decent laptop with a 1:1 screen, I'll get one.

    2. Re: Sounds nice for programmers by grumpy_old_grandpa · · Score: 1

      Are you the guy who keeps writing those 200-line methods? If so, please break it up, even if you can see it all on one screen.

      Think of code like a story: It needs paragraphs, chapters, a table of content. Section and split it up like that, and it will be a lot easier for everybody, including you, to maintain. Code has the additional benefit that similar "paragraphs" can be parameterized, and reused, rather than copy-pasted. (You don't copy-paste code, do you?)

    3. Re: Sounds nice for programmers by fnj · · Score: 1

      Or maybe functions are chapters, not paragraphs. Ever think of that? Chapters are not neat little things you can see all at once.

    4. Re: Sounds nice for programmers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All my methods are 199 lines long, so i guess i dont have to break them up then?

    5. Re: Sounds nice for programmers by zwarte+piet · · Score: 1

      I'm writing 300 line methods on a widescreen monitor. I have a 4:3 also that my 3 y/o son uses for cartoons, but the vertical resolution on the widescreen is 26 pixels higher.

  21. 26.5 diagonal = 18.4 horizontal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Near ideal for mounting in a 19" rack. My workplace will want 50, at least.

    1. Re:26.5 diagonal = 18.4 horizontal by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) for HP servers was a godsend back when I managed a reasonably-sized server farm. Being able to completely re-install a whole rack of servers remotely was extremely nice when the server room was a 15 minute drive away and someone else had the IT department car.

      --
      Eat the rich.
  22. Pivot Stand? by marciot · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hope it comes with a pivot stand for landscape and portrait mode.

    1. Re:Pivot Stand? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      Damn, I'm too late to post that and I don't have any mod points for you either.

    2. Re:Pivot Stand? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Maybe it could do diamond mode.

      Hey, it worked for Shreddies.

  23. MFD by Garybaldy · · Score: 1

    Could really use an 8 inch 1:1 for uses as MFD's in my Simulators.

  24. Bring back 16:10 laptops/mobile workstations! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We want our screen real estate back and to be able to upgrade our 3..4 year old workstations!

    Bring back 16:10 laptops/mobile workstations!

    1. Re:Bring back 16:10 laptops/mobile workstations! by Noah+Haders · · Score: 1

      get a macbook

    2. Re:Bring back 16:10 laptops/mobile workstations! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bring back 16:10 laptops/mobile workstations!

      Most portable Macs are 16:10. iPads are 4:3.

      Apple's desktop displays are all 16:9, but a Thunderbolt Display with 2560:1440 pixels is still more vertical pixels than the average 1920:1200 16:10 display, and you can buy a standalone Dell Ultrasharp U3014 or something if you really want the 16:10 ratio.

    3. Re:Bring back 16:10 laptops/mobile workstations! by rHBa · · Score: 1

      He said "to be able to upgrade our 3..4 year old workstations", not replace them.

    4. Re:Bring back 16:10 laptops/mobile workstations! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      macbook is not compliand software-wise and btw, mac ended 17" 16:10 line, too

    5. Re:Bring back 16:10 laptops/mobile workstations! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plus, Apple does not make any MacBooks with number pads.

    6. Re:Bring back 16:10 laptops/mobile workstations! by Hamsterdan · · Score: 1

      Please explain why a MacBook wouldn't be compliant while running Windows or Parallels? I'd like to explain that to my friend running Windows CAD software on his...

      --
      I've got better things to do tonight than die.
  25. I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by BitterOak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Forget square monitors, I'd be happy if 4:3 made a comeback. Yes, I know they still exist, but they're a lot harder to find than they used to be. Go to any Best Buy or Staples and all you see are 16:9. Those are great for watching movies, but I prefer to watch movies on my TV and do work on my computer. And for pretty much all work except video and movie editing, 4:3 is better. I'm currently working on an old Samsung 4:3 which is starting to give me trouble (making strange noises and going dark at random times requiring me to cycle the power on the monitor.) I hope I won't have too much trouble replacing it when it dies.

    --
    If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
    1. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      try buying 4:3 laptop/mobile workstation ...

    2. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by unitron · · Score: 1

      Forget square monitors, I'd be happy if 4:3 made a comeback. Yes, I know they still exist, but they're a lot harder to find than they used to be. Go to any Best Buy or Staples and all you see are 16:9. Those are great for watching movies, but I prefer to watch movies on my TV and do work on my computer. And for pretty much all work except video and movie editing, 4:3 is better. I'm currently working on an old Samsung 4:3 which is starting to give me trouble (making strange noises and going dark at random times requiring me to cycle the power on the monitor.) I hope I won't have too much trouble replacing it when it dies.

      If that old Samsung is new enough not to be a CRT, then you've probably got "capacitor plague" going on in the power supply.

      Plug the Sammy's model number in at lcdalternatives.com and see if they already offer a replacement cap kit for that model.

      If they do, that most likely means that model was produced with the "plagued" caps and lots of other people have had the same problems as you.

      --

      I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.

    3. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by toygeek · · Score: 1

      Indeed, re-capping the power supply is cheap and easy.

    4. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by donaldm · · Score: 1

      Forget square monitors, I'd be happy if 4:3 made a comeback.

      You should know that 16:9 screen aspect ratio is really a compromise out of all of the other aspect ratios out there. Personally I have never had a problem with working on a 16:9 aspect ratio screen since all you need to do is resize your windows (I use Fedora 20 with KDE) to the appropriate aspect ratio that suits what task(s) you are currently doing. So you may have some so called "real estate" left over is that such a big deal.

      I have for many years going back to the very early 1990's used multiple virtual screens which allow me to create tasks particular to what I want. It must be noted that a particular task may take up one or more virtual screens out of which I can create or delete (normally I have four default virtual screens) accordingly in less than a second. Switching between virtual screens takes approximately half a second and if I want I can display all windows on my physical screen, again within half a second.

      So all this ranting about how people would like a specific aspect ratio screen is to me rather childish since it is possible to be comfortable with any reasonable aspect ratio screen providing it it of a size that will let you do what you wish to do. Basically aspect ratio, pixel density and screen size are all important however there is still a need for compromise.

      --
      There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
    5. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Buy a 16:9 and put some masking tape down each side.

    6. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eizo has been doing 4:3 monitors all along. Assuming 1600 x 1200 pixels is enough for you. They're specced for graphics professionals though, so expect them to cost more than your $150 chinese TN panel display.

    7. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by toddestan · · Score: 1

      That's almost certainly what's going on. Even if it's not listed on there, it may be worth cracking it open and taking a look, especially since I've seen enough Samsung LCDs with bulging capacitors made long after everyone else seemed to have solved their capacitor problems.

    8. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      And for pretty much all work except video and movie editing, 4:3 is better.

      Why? You can most likely get a 16:9 format monitor with more vertical resolution than your old 4:3 monitor, and you'll be getting more horizontal space to boot. It's almost like having a dual-monitor setup in one monitor, what's not to like?

      --
      Eat the rich.
    9. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      But who would want a 1600x1200 monitor when a 1920x1200 or even 2560x1440 monitor is cheaper these days?

      --
      Eat the rich.
    10. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by rdnetto · · Score: 1

      You're conflating aspect ratio and resolution. If the 16:9 monitor is 1600x900, then a 4:3 with equivalent vertical resolution would be 1600x1200.

      I use 2x 1280x1024 on my desktop, and 1x 1920x1080 on my laptop. I agree that 16:9 is almost like having dual screens, but it's just not as good. If you're going to use dual screens anyway, then it makes more sense to go with 4:3 and have one window per screen.

      A semi-related issue is that Linux HiDPI support isn't quite there yet (KDE5 and Wayland aren't mainstream yet), so there's little reason to upgrade until then.

      --
      Most human behaviour can be explained in terms of identity.
    11. Re:I'd be happy if 4:3 came back! by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      No, if a 16:9 monitor is 1600x900, a 4:3 monitor with equivalent vertical resolution would be 1200x900.

      I completely agree that 16:9 monitors with too low resolution are annoying. 1920x1080 really is the minimum for single screen setups and 2560x1440 is so much nicer. 3840x2160 is obviously even better. Once you get decent vertical resolution, the widescreen format makes sense.

      And personally, I work with both. At home I have a single 27" 2560x1440 monitor, which is great for what I do at home, ie. web surfing, watching movies and playing games. At work I have a 20" 1600x1200 and a 22" 1680x1050, which works really well for monitoring, email/calendaring.

      I could easily do all of my work tasks on a single 27" widescreen instead, but my dual monitor setup would be less than ideal for my home use.

      --
      Eat the rich.
  26. WANT. by Indigo · · Score: 2

    I am so, so tired of short, wide screens. My home monitor is 1600x1200. I've had one that size for years and years. When the last one - a CRT - died, it was a hassle to find an LCD monitor that wasn't either shorter (no thanks - not going backward) or far more expensive. For work - software development - a tall wide monitor would be an absolute joy. Most likely it'll be out of my price range, but we'll see.

    1. Re:WANT. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, a 16:10 1920*1200 monitor is essentially the same as yours (provided they have similar pixel densities) with 160 more pixels on each side. Just because it's wide doesn't mean it has to be shorter.

      I went from a pair of 20" 1600*1200 (4:3) lcd to a 30" 2560*1600 (16:10) one. The pixel density is really close, so the wide screen is equivalent to my two 4:3 monitors side by side in portrait mode. It's so similar that I actually put those two older displays on each side of the new one (in portrait mode) and the heights match.

    2. Re:WANT. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I took the base of my widescreen about a year ago. Rotated 90 degrees and paired with a smaller one for tool windows its just about perfect for reading/writing/rithmatic.

    3. Re:WANT. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just stay the hell away from TN panels if you're going the pivot route. There's no vertical viewing angles to speak of with TN. Try to find a monitor that uses MVA, PVA, or IPS panels.

      Hell, even if you don't intend to pivot, stay the hell away from TN panels. They're rubbish. The only thing good about them is their price.

    4. Re:WANT. by BlackHawk-666 · · Score: 2

      Why don't you just rotate a 16:9 monitor into portrait orientation, or better yet a 16:10 portrait would be both tall and wide, just like you asked for.

      --
      All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
    5. Re:WANT. by toddestan · · Score: 1

      The problem with the 16:10 1920x1200 screens is that they were for the most part 24" or larger, when they really needed to be about 22" to get the pixel density correct. There were a handful made in that size, but they were from companies like Eizo with a matching price tag. Never did figure that out, because 4:3 has it right with the 1600x1200 at 20", and 16:9 has the popular 21.5" models which are also very close.

    6. Re:WANT. by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      Go 2560x1440, then. A 27" monitor with that resolution is right around 108dpi, which is pretty darn nice. Or go for something like Dell's 4K/UHD 27", that's 163dpi. or 140dpi if you go for a 31.5" model.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    7. Re:WANT. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, I had to resort to repairing my 1600x1200 LCD rather than go with some 1080 monitor, since I would lose quality when I... uh, look at my many portrait images

  27. The return of vertical screen space? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is one of the most interesting monitor announcements I've seen in years. After the loss of height at least pixel density is increasing lately. Hopefully this is a sign of the return of at least some options for people who do more than watch movies with their computers.

  28. Nestalgia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I suppose this would be beneficial to those working with GIS data and the like. But personally, I would buy this monitor for nostalgic reasons.

  29. How does this compare to 4K by cerberusss · · Score: 1

    i wonder how this compares to 4K monitors. It seems this 1920 resolution has a relatively low DPI. I can get a 5K iMac, the whole 1920x1920 thing comes across to me as rather outdated?

    --
    8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
    1. Re:How does this compare to 4K by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's no comparison since 4k is merely a measurement of pixel density. The argument here is rectangular versus square monitors...I never really thought about it, but rectangular monitors are mainly geared towards media consumption while one could argue that square monitors could be most beneficial for work related tasks.

  30. Providing the price isn't insane? by Chas · · Score: 1

    Yeah. I go through an INSANE amount of vertical text every day. And every day I miss my old 4:3 tube monitors (but not a hell of a lot, fracking boat anchors...)

    If the pricing on these sorts of monitors is reasonable, I'd find it a suitable alternative to jumping to a 4K monitor.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
    1. Re:Providing the price isn't insane? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      How about using your 16:9 or 16:10 monitor in portrait mode? You'll have more vertical workspace than a square display.

    2. Re:Providing the price isn't insane? by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      My guess is $1000. It's where some desirable and uncommon high end stuff is priced (30" monitor, GTX Titan, Intel i7 5960X and Eizo monitors in general)

    3. Re:Providing the price isn't insane? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah. I go through an INSANE amount of vertical text every day. And every day I miss my old 4:3 tube monitors (but not a hell of a lot, fracking boat anchors...)

      If the pricing on these sorts of monitors is reasonable, I'd find it a suitable alternative to jumping to a 4K monitor.

      I'd only jump to a 4K monitor if it gave me other aspect ratio options besides the official "Movie nerd" ratio which sadly has become a single universal standard.

  31. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Round, phft. That's 2 dimensional thinking. Now a spherical monitor,...where's Tim Cook when you need him?

    I'm still waiting for the cylindrical display.

  32. "4:3" vs "4x3" by DrYak · · Score: 1

    It's not 4:3, it's 1:1

    Yes. And he was saying "4x3". As in "put 12 display in an array. 3 row of 4 screens each."
    You end up with a giant wall, with 4:3 aspect ratio (as each tile is square).

    Then you buy 132 more displays, arrange them in 16 columns of 9 (16x9) and you can cover a building's facade with your very own 16:9 tiled jumbo diplay in LD ("ludicrous definition") and create an open-air cinema with your neightbours

    But, as he mentionned, driving 144 display tiles in total is going to be a little bit complicated.
    (5 display max per Radeon card. 4 Radeon cards per motherboard. 20 displays per PC Tower. You could probably driver 2 tiles per display port using splitters like matrox is down, so you need 1 PC tower per 40 tiles. So at least 4 bit PC towers to drive all this).

    But totally worth so you and your neighbours can together brag about being the first "Ludicruous Definition" cinema of the city (256x the resolution of Ultra HD).

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
    1. Re: "4:3" vs "4x3" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      then they just have to strap a couple of cameras together to produce that resolution.

    2. Re:"4:3" vs "4x3" by sconeu · · Score: 1

      Go to 8:5 (16:10) ratio. Uses 40 monitors, and you can drive from a single PC, by your own count.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    3. Re:"4:3" vs "4x3" by discorob3 · · Score: 1

      Wrong! You failed to take into account the bezel... This would look like shit!

    4. Re: "4:3" vs "4x3" by wed128 · · Score: 1

      Or render at that resolution, the input doesn't have to be video :)

  33. Side by side on 1920x1080 by tepples · · Score: 1

    1280x1024 to 1920x1080 is still an upgrade, and your window manager should let you divide it into two 960x1080 areas so that you can refer to docs while writing code or whatever.

    1. Re:Side by side on 1920x1080 by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      2560X1440 is an upgrade. 1920X1080 is only good for laptops and casual use.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    2. Re:Side by side on 1920x1080 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly! 1920x1080 is a fucking joke, but so is 16:9 .. yes im still on a 21" CRT 5:4 style. and im not giving it up until it blows up in my face!

    3. Re:Side by side on 1920x1080 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly! 1920x1080 is a fucking joke, but so is 16:9 .. yes im still on a 21" CRT 5:4 style. and im not giving it up until it blows up in my face!

      I have my 21" CRT next to me, still in use. And an UltraHD display in front of me. 3840x2160 is a marvelous thing.

  34. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Urquhardt · · Score: 1

    Spherical, Schmerical, I'm all for one of those fandangled new 4D Hyperspheres they keep talking about.

  35. Back in 1968... by Big+Nemo+'60 · · Score: 1

    ...most (simulated) displays appearing in "2001: A Space Odyssey" were square. (I just checked pictures on IMDB for reference.)

    Retro future?

    I think I could get used to it.

    --
    In the long run we are all dead. - John Maynard Keynes (1883 - 1946)
  36. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Luckyo · · Score: 1

    A monitor with spherical back. Then they can sue anyone still using CRTs.

  37. Square? No Thanks by tompaulco · · Score: 1

    Square doesn't help me any. 16 high by 9 wide suits my needs reasonably well. Almost as good as the Apple monitors we had back in the 90s for publishing applications.
    Oh, God, I said something positive about Apple.

    --
    If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    1. Re:Square? No Thanks by donaldm · · Score: 1

      Square doesn't help me any. 16 high by 9 wide suits my needs reasonably well. Almost as good as the Apple monitors we had back in the 90s for publishing applications. Oh, God, I said something positive about Apple.

      Have you ever thought of sizing your work window to the appropriate aspect ratio. You know you can get fairly cheap screens that have a vertical hight greater than A4 if you really need that height. You may have "real estate" left over but is that such a big deal.

      --
      There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
    2. Re:Square? No Thanks by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      That is certainly possible with some software. On other software, it is not so easy. For example, the latest Microsoft Office seems bound and determined to waste screen space, and in particular to waste it in a horizontal fashion. The big issue with office and other products lately is they want you to have a "unified view across platforms". This means, that since phones have such tiny screens and have to have huge ugly buttons and giant fonts to be remotely useful, now your desktop has to have huge ugly screen wasting buttons and giant fonts as well. It used to take 5 times as long to perform a task on a phone versus a tablet because of the limitations of working on a small screen with limited input options. They have rectified this problem by making it take just as long on a desktop computer as it does on a phone.
      Back in the 90s our company first got 17" desktop monitors. The size and resolution allowed us to work efficiently and without need of more screen real estate even in a single monitor system. Now, we have dual monitors, one of which is usually 24" or larger, and there is not enough screen real estate. This is due to application real estate bloat and waste.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
  38. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I got one. It's rubbish.

    Pixels keep dropping out of my light cone when I'm looking at it unless I keep my head on just the right geodesic.

  39. Maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All I know is that I hate widescreen.

  40. Yes, please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hung on to my 1600 x 1200 4:3 displays as long as I could (until the shity electrolytic capacitors gave out). Replacing those with a pair of 1080P displays sucks as I end up constantly flipping between portrait mode for coding and landscape mode for testing. I'd love to take a pair of 1:1 displays for a test drive.

    1. Re:Yes, please by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      Your error was that you replaced your monitors with new ones of lesser vertical pixel count. You should have bought 1920x1200 or 2560x1440 instead. Never skimp on monitors, keyboards and mice. They will generally outlast every other PC component you buy.

      --
      Eat the rich.
  41. Re:Are you American, perchance? by unitron · · Score: 1

    "it's not so useful TO watching video"

    I think you mean "FOR watching video", but then, those damn two and three letter prepositions are just SO difficult for you Americans, aren't they.

    You moron.

    Or should I say "moran", since that seems to be have most Americans spell it, the irony being lost on their tiny brains. And let me add in 'definAtely', 'rEdiculous', and 'could care less' to that long list of words and phrases that moronic Americans can't spell or write correctly. You fucking idiots.

    At least those of us who know not to say "different than" know that when things differ, they differ "from" each other, not "to" each other.

    --

    I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.

  42. Re: Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    also, apple will fuck your mom and fanboys will pay for it, moron.

  43. Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > They already make a round PC, after all.

    Really? I thought they quit making that one. I'm pretty familiar with their product line and I don't know of any round form-factor currently being made.

    Or were you just taking a weak cheap shot at Apple because you can?

  44. Reading portrait-mode paper-shaped documents, duh by billstewart · · Score: 1

    Yes, it's much nicer to read portrait-mode documents on a portrait-mode or at least square display, not on landscape. It's especially the case for PDF files in multi-column formats where you otherwise have to scroll up and down and up and down to read the things.

    But that's not a friendly shape for a laptop, unfortunately. I'd probably be ok with a tiltable display to get 4x3 or 16x9-10 portrait mode, though it seems manufacturers assume you're going to be using displays to watch movies on so the default position is landscape.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  45. yup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    modern software should be as display agnostic as reasonably possible, although legacy support is overrated, and that's the best you can say about it.

  46. Double page width 16:9 by Whiteox · · Score: 1

    With a 27"+ monitor at a reasonable ergonomic distance away and at a suitable magnification, you can easily read 2 pages next to each other on the screen, like a book.
    My old 19" 4:3 monitor died a few years ago and the 27" 16:9 works a treat for my uses.

    --
    Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
  47. Monitors for publishing by billstewart · · Score: 1

    I did some work with the publishing industry back in the 80s, and one of the projects had some portrait-mode 200dpi monitors for editing. Absolutely wonderful things; we're only now starting to get that kind of resolution again.

    As it was, I found it annoying enough to go from 1152x900 in 1992 down to 640x400 in 1993, and didn't get as good a monitor on my main work machine until maybe 2009 or 2010. (There were laptops with 1280 or more pixels before then, but we didn't have them; our Corporate IT department always preferred to get hardware with more color depth instead of more pixels, thinking for instance that 640x480 with 16-bit color was better than 800x600 with 8-bit color. Nope.)

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  48. Hasselblad, anyone? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    How long before they slap some wooden panels onto it together with a triple price tag? ;-)

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  49. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    Except emptying their wallets even more on the latest version of (the same) garbage next year!

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  50. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by cmseagle · · Score: 1
  51. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That is how the first Ultra HD camera worked, several sensors and some complicated optics.

  52. Eizo Auditore by MrEricSir · · Score: 2

    Does it come with dual hidden blades?

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
  53. Fill the TV hole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Our motor home has 2 holes left by analog TVs with bottom front speakers & controls. 1:1 monitors would be good for us. 1980 X 1020 video with captions below video plus more stuff below video is good too.
    if cost is not too high, we will buy 2 units.

  54. 26.5 diagonal = 18.4 horizontal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope it is not for managing your computers, but for something like a tv-broadcasting truck.

    If it was for managing computer, ask your manager to buy computers which you can manage remotely. Yes, there are even computers you can manage during installation remotely, even graphically.

  55. A little extreme by russotto · · Score: 1

    I remember some old CAD displays in the 80's which were square (1024 x 1024 I think). That's a bit extreme for me; I think the sweet spot was around 16:10.

  56. Vertial space by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Time to install some toolbars

  57. Re:Reading portrait-mode paper-shaped documents, d by sribe · · Score: 2

    Yes, it's much nicer to read portrait-mode documents on a portrait-mode or at least square display, not on landscape. It's especially the case for PDF files in multi-column formats where you otherwise have to scroll up and down and up and down to read the things.

    There's nothing inherently wrong with landscape-mode displays for reading PDFs. For instance, my 2560x1600 display is just fine ;-)

    Really, what you need is 1200 high or better.

  58. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    OK, a square monitor. Now maybe Apple will announce a round monitor. They already make a round PC, after all. All the Apple fanboys will then insist that round monitors are great.

    That is not how it works. This will become a niche screen, used for years in a subgroup. Then Apple will make a square display and Apple users will buy them and proclaim that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, that Apple invented them and that Eizo just copied Apple.

  59. Yes. by ThePhilips · · Score: 1

    Would a square display be of any benefit to you?

    Most definitely yes.

    WA displays are simply too wide. And in portrait orientation, they are too narrow.

    I want my 4:3 or 5:4 back. 1:1 seems like a good compromise.

    But I doubt that I will get one. For home, I want a WA for movies/etc. For office... I have little control over what junk IT buys. I bet the monitor would cost premium, and as such ordering one would be out of the question.

    --
    All hope abandon ye who enter here.
    1. Re:Yes. by Lawrence_Bird · · Score: 1

      I agree with your sentiments as most of my use of the desktop pc is for work and not movies/media. While I would consider a 1:1 format, I would probably not want it this size - its too tall at nearly 19". I'm looking at my two 1600/1200 100dpi monitors now and I think going more than another 4" (16x16) would in the end be uncomfortable to use on a daily basis.

      My ideal monitor then would be something like 32Wx16H @ about 150dpi, eliminating the bezel from two mons and giving a bit better resolution. And it would be great if the OS would allow you to virtually split the screen in two when desired.

    2. Re:Yes. by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      WA displays are simply too wide. And in portrait orientation, they are too narrow.

      Don't think of them as widescreen displays. Think of them as two portrait-mode displays side-by-side with no annoying bezel.

      For instance, with a 2560x1440 monitor, I have two 1280x1440 portrait-mode monitors built into one monitor. It's brilliant.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    3. Re:Yes. by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      A 31.5" 4K/UHD 3840x2160 monitor hits ~140dpi and fits pretty well within your size constraints.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    4. Re:Yes. by ThePhilips · · Score: 1

      Think of them as two portrait-mode displays side-by-side with no annoying bezel.

      Those are two *very* *small* portrait-mode displays.

      I know some people do not mind squinting at monitor whole day - heck, some even like the light background. But I like my bgs dark and fonts large. And you can't fit that on a small display. Even if you have two of them.

      --
      All hope abandon ye who enter here.
    5. Re:Yes. by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      So buy a 4K/UHD display and regard it as two 1920x2160 portrait-mode displays? There are plenty of options, even up to 39" before you get into TVs, and then the sky's the limit.

      Aspect ratio fanaticism is nothing but neo-luddism.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    6. Re:Yes. by ThePhilips · · Score: 1

      So buy a 4K/UHD display and regard it as two 1920x2160 portrait-mode displays? There are plenty of options, even up to 39" before you get into TVs, and then the sky's the limit.

      Aspect ratio fanaticism is nothing but neo-luddism.

      "Well, that escalated quickly." (c)

      --
      All hope abandon ye who enter here.
    7. Re:Yes. by Lawrence_Bird · · Score: 1

      Getting close but I'd be giving up about 4 or so inches width and gaining quite a bit in height, perhaps too much. I think a lot might depend on bezel sizes and ability to position on desk - its easier to look a little lower than higher.

  60. Google Play Store doesn't run on square tablets by tepples · · Score: 1

    You won't see Google Play Store (lawfuly) on any square tablet. Google licenses the Google Apps only to hardware makers who agree to make all their Android devices meet the Android CDD. And the Android CDD specifies a display aspect ratio of at least 6:5.

    1. Re:Google Play Store doesn't run on square tablets by Drinking+Bleach · · Score: 1

      Can the requirement be worked around by advertising the aspect as 6:6? (What does "at least" mean for aspect?)

    2. Re:Google Play Store doesn't run on square tablets by tepples · · Score: 1

      It means that the ratio of the long side to the short side is no less than 1.2:1 and no greater than 1.85:1.

  61. Math is *HARD* by swimboy · · Score: 1

    The author writes " It's 1920 x 1920 pixel square resolution is said to offer 78 per cent more pixels than a traditional Full HD monitor." Is it so hard to calculate the number of pixels in a traditional HD monitor and divide the number of pixels in this monitor by that number to actually *confirm* the fact?

    I swear journalists get lazier every day.

    --
    Ask me how the Heisenberg Principle may or may not have saved my life.
    1. Re:Math is *HARD* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So is it, or isn't it? Don't make us do the math.

    2. Re:Math is *HARD* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Horizontal resolution is the same, so only the vertical resolution matters.

      Increase in vertical resolution = 1920 - 1080 = 840.

      Increase versus reference = 840 / 1080 * 100% = 77.78%

    3. Re:Math is *HARD* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The author writes " It's 1920 x 1920 pixel square resolution is said to offer 78 per cent more pixels than a traditional Full HD monitor." Is it so hard to calculate the number of pixels in a traditional HD monitor and divide the number of pixels in this monitor by that number to actually *confirm* the fact?

      I swear journalists get lazier every day.

      I guess 78 percent smelled clean enough, like no one pulled that out of their ass...

  62. 16:9 is two 8:9 windows side by side by tepples · · Score: 1

    Don't think of it as 1920x1080. Think of it as twice 960x1080, with one nearly square window on each half of the monitor.

    1. Re:16:9 is two 8:9 windows side by side by toddestan · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but who wants a monitor that's only 960 pixels wide? That's the problem with 16:9. It's too wide, but at the same time not wide enough. If it was wider, you could replace a dual 4:3 or 5:4 set up with one screen and lose the bezel running down the middle. But it's not, so you end with two 16:9 screens which is just stupidly wide. The 21:9 screens are more interesting than the 16:9 screens to me.

    2. Re:16:9 is two 8:9 windows side by side by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but who wants a monitor that's only 960 pixels wide? That's the problem with 16:9. It's too wide, but at the same time not wide enough. If it was wider, you could replace a dual 4:3 or 5:4 set up with one screen and lose the bezel running down the middle. But it's not, so you end with two 16:9 screens which is just stupidly wide. The 21:9 screens are more interesting than the 16:9 screens to me.

      It's no problem with 2560x1440, it's wide enough to fit 2 full-size documents with room to spare for toolbars etc. on a single monitor. Or putting it in other terms, I have two 1280x1400 monitors side by side with no annoying bezel in the middle.

      1920x1080 is bargain bin crap for anything other than laptops these days. 2560x1440 is standard and 3840x2160 (or 2x 1920x2160, better than two of these Eizo monitors) is quickly gaining ground.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    3. Re:16:9 is two 8:9 windows side by side by tepples · · Score: 1

      How wide is a typical source code window? How wide is an A4 or US Letter page at 96 dpi?

  63. 80% of people think they are above average by lucm · · Score: 1

    How can you say you are familiar with a product line that has FIVE computer models and not know that one of them is round? And it's not like you would have had to break into their secret R&D center to find out, the thing can be found in ONE CLICK on their fucking website.

    You should revisit every single thing you think you are pretty familiar with.You may also want to reconsider situations where you felt people were taking weak cheap shots at something. Because fundamentally, your knowledge is weak and your ability to judge it is even weaker.

    --
    lucm, indeed.
  64. Re:Reading portrait-mode paper-shaped documents, d by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I prefer to read ebooks or rarely PDFs (yuck) in book mode, where I can see two pages side by side. Scrolling vertically through documents is so passe.

  65. I have an Eizo FlexScan L568 in front of me by blind+biker · · Score: 1

    It's a 4:3 monitor with a fantastic colour and contrast. It's also been serving me faithfully for 6 or 7 years without causing any problems.
    So needless to say, I am both a fan of Eizo monitors and lesser-than-HD aspect ratios. I am intrigued by this 1:1 aspect ratio Eizo monitor, but 26" is too big for my home. It is, however, almost ideal at work, where I do research: reading scientific articles and doing MEMS design would benefit a lot from this very monitor.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  66. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Blasphemy! there is only the HYPERCUBE!

  67. Portrait mode? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And this is why working in portrait mode is better, unless you're a bookkeeper or financial manager and need to see large numbers of columns across the sheet.

    1. Re:Portrait mode? by turning+in+circles · · Score: 1

      Stop whining. You can buy a Dell Ultrasharp U2311H monitor and run it in portrait mode today.

      --
      Might as well face it I'm addicted to data.
  68. 1920x1200 by dltaylor · · Score: 1

    Dell U2412M

    Within the range of older video cards, although it has to scale the Ouya.

  69. Finally a moden display for my arcade cabinet by cadeon · · Score: 1

    I've been looking for a square (or 4:3) ~27 inch display forever, for an arcade cabinet build. There are CRT SDTVs out there but they are horrible and getting rare. This may do the trick.

  70. Take my money PLEASE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I HATE 16:9 monitors I am currently using 3 old 19" 4:3 monitors that are not the best looking I would love to upgrade to 3 of these bad boys.

  71. Older games by Chas · · Score: 1

    Because the monitors I currently have don't support portrait mode.

    The other reason is I run a few older games that handle widescreen by rendering 4:3 and then chopping the top and bottom of the screen for 16x9.

    A 1/1 monitor would restore that lost portion of a rendered scene.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  72. Linux kernel is mostly 80-column by Chirs · · Score: 1

    It is arguably easier to read code that can fit in 80 columns. That way I don't have to scan side-to-side as much, and I can fit multiple editor windows side-by-side simultaneously.

    1. Re:Linux kernel is mostly 80-column by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the other hand, limiting to 80 characters forces you in to (sometimes) writing less comprehensible code. Of course, 160 character lines are also a no-no but I find the Kernel coding standard results in less readable code (to my eyes, and I grew up with 80 character displays)

    2. Re:Linux kernel is mostly 80-column by Mr+Z · · Score: 1

      Yep, I'm with you here.

      I did a stint with 132 columns awhile back (back when I was running Linux on a machine that wasn't quite powerful enough to run X11), and I found the extra horizontal space to be mostly wasted. If I did start putting comments or code over there, it'd often get "lost".

      Now, I do use a wide format for certain debugging applications. It also works well for spreadsheets. But for source code? I've definitely got an 80 column mind, despite ever having used punch cards or paper tape. I went from 28 columns to 40 to 80 as I learned programming in the 1980s. 80 columns is a very comfortable width. 132 pushed it too far.

      80 columns actually corresponds pretty well to the amount of text you'd have on a type-written page on standard letter size paper (or A4, if you prefer). You get 60 to 72 characters across (assuming 1" margins) depending on whether you're 10CPI or 12CPI, and that's roughly how wide programs are when written within 80 column boundaries.

    3. Re:Linux kernel is mostly 80-column by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      When it comes to coding, I wonder which is the best format, word processor style or spreadsheet style. Years ago, you could do lots of interesting things with spreadsheet style and old macro language. Test outcomes in adjacent cells, track variable outputs, plan out modules across a full 3D format, with lots of width, length and with multiple aligned 'sheets' lots of depth. They seem wedded to the word processor though.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  73. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That is actually sort of amazing.

  74. Re: Now Apple will announce a round monitor by GrahamJ · · Score: 1

    It sucks not having a 5k monitor eh?

  75. Interactive tiles by technosaurus · · Score: 1

    I wonder how well they stand up to mortar and grout?
    Put some gorilla glass on them and sensors and Wal-Mart could pester us with ads on every step instead of just the few annoying end caps.

  76. 1:1? by Swampash · · Score: 1

    shut up and take my money!

  77. Re:Now Apple will announce a round monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    More like sue every goddamn charlatan who uses an LCD to display old arcade games...

  78. FINALLY! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am so sick and tired of being locked into the widescreen world, obviously catering to movie watchers, and pushed onto us by the movie industry. This is a step in the right direction for those of us who are productive in society.

  79. Great idea... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...shit resolution.

    I want my 4k or 5k at a decent price.

  80. A lot depends on size of the monitor by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 1

    The bigger it is, the wider that is useful. Basically you find that you need a certain amount of vertical real estate to work effectively. So on a small screen like a laptop, a 4:3, or even more square, monitor can be of use. However when you start getting large desktop displays, wide is very nice. Personally I like 16:10 displays for the desktop, in part because I find them aesthetically pleasing (likely because they are near the golden ratio) but also because for the large sizes I like (30" currently) it provides a good amount of vertical real estate, but plenty of horizontal to fill my field of view and allow for multiple things to be displayed at once.

    For TV, heck I could go even more than 16:9 if such a thing were standard. I was always partial to 1.85:1 3 perf and 2:1 Superscope for movies myself.

  81. The pixels must be tiny by ayesnymous · · Score: 0

    If a standard 1920x1080 monitor is 24-27" nowadays, then a 26.5" 1920x1920 is going to have a much smaller pixel size. Good luck trying to read any text.

    1. Re:The pixels must be tiny by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      At 1:1 ratio you maximize the area for a given diagonal. 26.5" 1:1 is much bigger than 27" 16:9.

    2. Re:The pixels must be tiny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      102 dpi. Very close to the (unfortunately low) standard of 96 dpi. My CRT does 110 dpi while still looking good. Many laptop displays are around 120-150 dpi.

      1920 / ( cos atan (1/1) * 26.5) = 102 dpi

    3. Re:The pixels must be tiny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No one cares about this. The diagonal is not an important measurement. The restrictions on a monitor size might be height, width, or cost, not diagonal. People choose the diagonal that corresponds with their restriction.

  82. Re:Reading portrait-mode paper-shaped documents, d by rthille · · Score: 1

    At work I've got two 2560x1440 displays (27" dells). I run one horizontal, and one vertical. It works out pretty well.

    --
    Awesome furniture, accessories and cabinetry in Santa Rosa, CA: http://humanity-home.com/
  83. Side by side on 1920x1080 by gnite · · Score: 2

    Right, but going from a 1600x1200 monitor to 1920x1080 is not.

  84. 4:3, anyone? by sgunhouse · · Score: 1

    These days, a typical monitor is likely to be 16:9 or maybe 8:5 (aka 16:10).

    In terms of viewing area, for the same diagonal measure an old-style 4:3 monitor has a larger viewing area than a widescreen. Basic math. Yes, a square would be optimum, but in recent years we have been heading in the opposite direction.

  85. Eizo by ssam · · Score: 1

    Eizo have been making lots of interesting monitors including 1x1 for a long time, eg
    http://www.eizoglobal.com/prod...
    http://www.eizoglobal.com/prod...

  86. Yes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, it's too bad they don't show up in their online shop already.
    They have other monitors in the square series, but they are too small (total area is good, but not enough width).

    For programming it is excellent. It also reduces the calculations necessary for image conversions. Bring it on.

  87. A biological explanation for wide screens. by pigiron · · Score: 1

    The human field of vision is wider than it is tall.

  88. Traditional display vertical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just like in the olden days I would like to have a vertical format traditional monitor or have a device to rotate it.

    https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=940&bih=533&q=rotating+monitor&oq=rotating+monitor&gs_l=img.3..0l3j0i5l4j0i24l3.1339.5149.0.5986.16.14.0.0.0.0.524.2569.0j1j6j0j1j1.9.0....0...1ac.1.58.img..7.9.2548.D_vHn5_m8hg

  89. Micromonitor tiling! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about 1"x1" displays? Or 2"x2" displays With no bezel, of course.

    With all these people debating, moaning and complaining about monitor sizes, surely an industry push for modular displays would be well-received. Build little square display tiles by the trillions and let people click them together to produce a display of whatever size and aspect ratio they prefer. When they change their mind, they change their layout.

    Build them in power of two dimensions and you can quickly get the exact size that you want with the fewest square tiles. That's assuming that larger tiles are cheaper to make per surface area. If not, just crank out the 1"x1" jobbies.

    From there, somebody will come up with a motorized reconfiguration of the display. Hit the gaming button and the tiles slide around to form a curved 5:1 aspect ratio screen. Hit the coding button and the screen breaks up into separate areas that are used for separate functions. Hit the video button and you get a screen that matches the dimensions of the show you're watching.

  90. 4:3 FTW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The human visual field is wide, but the sides of that field are pretty much useless for READING. There's a reason that books are not printed in landscape format.

  91. Vertical space is a premium and developers (Micros by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've got two large 16x9 monitors and still cannot get enough vertical display pixels to see a 8x11" size document in 100% aspect. My monitor is tall enough, but what with the unmovable ribbon and toolbars and window decorations and status lines, it cannot be done. Browser windows face the same issues.

    I've got oodles of space on either side, but I cannot get a browser to put the toolbars and tabs on the side, pop up the url bar on demand. Site designers fill the top 1" or so with ads too.

    A few programs have undockable toolbars that can be moved off to one side or the other.

  92. Definitely :-) by Richard_J_N · · Score: 1

    Great that they are making these (though it would be nice to get them in HighDPI too). I'll certainly be getting a few.
    (Currrently using 3x 1600x1200 20.1" screens, which is an excellent productivity setup, though the backlights are all beginning to fade).
    While we're talking wishlits, give us a monitor that can go to 1200 lumens+ for outdoor use - I'd love to work outside in the summer time, though I need a monitor that can be viewed with sunglasses on, in partial/direct sunlight.

  93. Fill my visual cortex by Newtonian_p · · Score: 1

    I can't wait until we can just plug the display output directly to our brains and set the resolution so that it fill's our brain's entire video frame buffer.

    --

    There are 2 kinds of people in this world: Those who write in decimal and those who don't

  94. Re:Reading portrait-mode paper-shaped documents, d by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    I have a 2560x1440 with a 1440x900 in portrait mode. If I ever upgrade, I'll get a second 1440x900 on the other side. They can be used for surround view, but nobody takes advantage of that, so instead, it usually holds a game on the main and a guide or IM on the side.

  95. Back in my day by vandamme · · Score: 1

    We had Xerox word processors that had screens in portrait orientation. You could see exactly what your document would look like when printed.
    They used 8 inch floppies for storage.

    Now, get off my lawn.

  96. Perfect for the Passport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seems like it would go perfect with a BlackBerry Passport.

  97. It's not for personal viewing by sim2com · · Score: 1

    The purpose of a square screen is clearly not for personal viewing, but as a "module" for creating very large, giant screens (such as one would find in baseball stadiums, etc.). With a square screen as basic building block module, one can make any dimension, large screen. Usually giant screens are rectangular portrait or landscape orientation, but it can be any shape... even a circle if the circle size is extremely big, but that would probably be an unrealistic shape for a screen.

  98. they know thie market by K10W · · Score: 1

    I'm a big fan of eizo monitors and they tend to produce stuff they know there is a niche for. This seems perfect for mfd use for a lot of different applications. I'm mainly familiar with the coloredge cx and cg series but most of their range ticks all the boxes for many people. I tend to design/edit/grade on a 27" screen and use a 20" just for tool panels and common controls I use whilst wanting to see adjustments large screen. I can utilise the screen realestate on the bigger screen for just workspace/pasteboard/footage and so on and declutter but have instant access to controls at the same time this way.

    Thing with this kind of setup is the bigger the primary screen the better and the other screen doesn't matter so much and I'd rather have a CX271 or CG277 and 1 or 2 smaller screens than shrink the primary display to fit slightly bigger secondary/tertiary monitors onto my desk. Side monitors in portrait orientation doesn't always work well either so this seems like a good idea and that is just for my personal needs so I'd consider it but there are probably many more uses.

  99. RIP: Daryl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    erau qssi dlro weht