Know this: Laptop screens are changing like never before for good
The new year just kicked off, but it’s already been an eventful few weeks for 2021. Thanks to all of the current events dominating the news cycle, CES 2021 was kind of an afterthought this year. The fact that this huge consumer electronics show was virtual didn’t help.
There were plenty of big headliners from the show, though, like robot butlers and brighter TVs with micro-LED technology. However, one of the latest trends basically went overlooked — and that’s the change in aspect ratios on popular laptops. Missed the show? Tap or click for show-stopping smart home tech innovations from CES 2021.
Rather than wide-but-short displays, laptop screens are getting taller again, which means you’ll have more real estate to work with. Want to know why these changes could benefit you? Here’s the information you’re looking for.
Here’s the backstory
For the last several years, 16:9 has been the most common aspect ratio for laptops. While the most common, this standard is also the most cramped, thanks to limited vertical space. However, it appears that gold standard sizing is about to be replaced — and the new display sizes that are rolling out will offer users an upgraded amount of space.
We saw plenty of evidence of new display sizing during CES 2021. Nearly every new premium laptop unveiled during the show — from Lenovo to Asus and LG — had moved away from using the 16:9 standard display to more proportional screen sizes.
These new laptops are primarily slated to come with 16:10 and 3:2 displays. This is the first time in recent history that we’ve seen flagship laptops from large tech companies come with tall and wide screens rather than wide and short displays.
One of the new aspect ratios’ main perks is that they give you more vertical space to work within, so there should be plenty of room for both work and play.
The new rollouts include:
- HP Elite Folio — 3:2
- Dell Latitude 9420 2-in-1 — 16:10
- Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 2 — 16:10
- Lenovo Legion 7 and Legion 5 Pro — 16:10
- LG Gram 17 and Gram 16 — 16:10
- Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro — 16:10
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga — 3:2
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 and X1 Yoga Gen 6 — 16:10
- Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable — 3:2
- Asus ROG Flow X13 — 16:10
And those are just the announcements from CES 2021. Chances are good that we’ll see other manufacturers follow the same trends as new products continue to roll out.
One thing to note, however, is that there were some holdouts during the show. The majority of the new gaming laptops that were unveiled had stuck with the 16:9 display. That’s because most games are written for the 16:9 aspect ratio, so a change to the gaming laptops’ display sizes would not be ideal.
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