Counterclockwise: going from squarish screens to widescreen

29 October 2017
In the beginning, (nearly) square aspect ratios were common on phone screens, but now they are going wider and wider.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • IW@
  • 30 Oct 2017

I'm sorry gsmarena but 18:9 is a fad. There will be no 18:9 era. When foldable phones arrive, everything will be back to 16:9. The 18:9 insanity started by Samsung will end up like Tizen.

    Anonymous, 29 Oct 2017***16:9 was carefully created with the field of vision of a... moreLol because you're so smart that you could have done any better? Ever owned and ran a company? Ever handled marketing and tech research and business economics? Ever made a phone, gadget, or computer? Ever did anything oems do with their eyes closed and their hands tied behind their backs? No? Didn't think so. Your opinion means nothing.

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      • AnonD-417587
      • X{D
      • 30 Oct 2017

      AnonD-684709, 29 Oct 2017Yes, Root 2 is still by far the best ratio for reading, tha... moreWe get it! You are unable to accept any change from what you consider as normal. Go ahead and buy the phone you want and let the rest of us buy what we want. My LG G6 works fine for me with the 2:1 ratio. If you NEED the PERFECT 16:9 ratio for watching movies I might suggest that you buy a television as well.

      Of course you might have trouble getting a 4:3 screen to match the normal photograph ratio so you will still have something to complain about.

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        • AnonD-417587
        • X{D
        • 30 Oct 2017

        Carefully created? By who? I guess you haven't noticed that most movies are shot in a wider format than that, leaving black pixels above and below.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • N9A
          • 29 Oct 2017

          Anonymous, 29 Oct 2017the pc gaming scene has 21:9 not 18:9 screens and in gaming... more***16:9 was carefully created with the field of vision of a human being in mind,

          18:9 is a creation of lazy people to fill black glass with black pixels, so they don't have to use the lazy ass brains figuring out ways to actually shrink the phone properly

          just a few days ago I went to check older phones with the bezel race was a thing

          you can go have a look at the LG G2, LG G3 and the Xperia ZL(yes you forgot this one) if these phones where made with no logos in front with no fancy silver bottom bezel, just plain flat black glass the will 100% look better than todays phones

          *** I kid you not stare at a 16:9 MONITOR(not a phone) dead center and the space outside the screen on the top, bottom, left and right is equal on all sides, that is not the case on an 18:9

          one last thing 21:9 was created for the cinema so that the guy sitting in front of you is not blocking your view a lot more than it already still is

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • 043
            • 29 Oct 2017

            Sony Fanboy Bitches, 29 Oct 2017Nope. 1080p is still dominant, and nobody seems to be compl... moreAgreed, nobody ever needed 1440p

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • 043
              • 29 Oct 2017

              Anonymous, 29 Oct 2017*cought* 1000$ iphone still at 1080 *cough**cough* iPhone X has 1125 x 2436 *cough*

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • N9A
                • 29 Oct 2017

                Anonymous, 29 Oct 201718:9 monitors are already storming the pc gaming scene.. Es... morethe pc gaming scene has 21:9 not 18:9 screens and in gaming it does not matter which size screen you use as games are rendered in any space, the industry should not be able to force a different format upon you just because they are bored with 16:9

                they are the ones saying 18:9 looks better but have you seen that for yourself? is just more empty sand with then hero is walking in the center of the desert

                the 16:9 content will look equally better if they actually had enough intelligence to squeeze everything into a smaller phone body and have smaller bezels in 16:9

                but what has happened is people are willing to pay 200 usd more for a screen they have been told is better but its not, is just the creation of a lazy and stagnant industry which cannot make better batteries or more compact designs

                THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS PEOPLE ARE BUYING BLACK BARS FOR NO REASON

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • srQ
                  • 29 Oct 2017

                  mickyb, 29 Oct 2017This graph could have been better. The areas are ordered by... morePeople are lazy to do even a basic math.
                  If companies used 2:1 instead, many would think as inferior to 16:9.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • IVy
                    • 29 Oct 2017

                    Anonymous, 29 Oct 2017We won't, TV shows and movies will stay at 16:9 and 21:9 re... more18:9 monitors are already storming the pc gaming scene.. Especially the curved ones.. Likewise we will see HDTV follow suite.. Soon if not later

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                      • AnonD-152638
                      • mhB
                      • 29 Oct 2017

                      Kangal, 29 Oct 2017The 16:9 aspect ratio sucks as well, if you guys know the h... moreOur field of view is wider than that.
                      Even 16:9 is not wide enough to match our field of view.
                      Depending on the material consumed different aspect ratios are to be preferred.

                      For feeds it is guicker with a taller screen with short lines of texts.
                      For documents taller screens with longer lines of text are better.
                      For moving images wider screens are to be preffered, to fill out more of our field of view. Unless there is only one very specific object that needs to be in focus, then that obejct will be the deciding factor for optimal aspect ratio.
                      For still images, the aspect ratio will be very dependant on the actual content.

                      There is no simple wrong or right aspect ratio. Other than missmatching the type of content it will be used for.

                        mobi 5G, 29 Oct 2017Great article. But Blu-Ray cds should adopt 18:9 aspect rat... moreAlmost never watch videos(or movies) on phone, I use tablet, 16:9 one. But using 3:2 or 4:3 ones wont make studios to record in such aspect ratio.

                          Not really...base 18:9, 3-way unfolded 3:2. Or 10,5:9 2-way unfold to 21:9. Future's squarish, matters just how you look at device. Maybe even 2-way foldable one with 18:9 as one side, what has exactly ratio 1:1 unfolded.

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                            • AnonD-152638
                            • mhB
                            • 29 Oct 2017

                            Aren't screens today actually mostly 9:16 and not 16:9?
                            People tend to use their phones in portrait mode, even when watching videos, as they are often found in some kind of feed. And the feed fits better on a tall screen than on a wide screen.
                            When phones came with slide out keyboards on the side, they were widescreen oriented, today phones really aren't.

                            So screens aren't getting wider, really, they are getting taller.

                              • m
                              • mickyb
                              • m5p
                              • 29 Oct 2017

                              If you were told your phone was restricted by screen area, I think 16:9 would be a better choice than 18:9. More relevant, though, are it fitting comfortably into your hand and pocket. For most, the extra height of the device effectively comes for free (metaphorically, if not literally).

                                For goodness sake, it's 2:1, not 18:9. Learn to simplify in maths.

                                  • m
                                  • mickyb
                                  • m5p
                                  • 29 Oct 2017

                                  This graph could have been better. The areas are ordered by numerator, not by the decimal equivalent. Would be much more meaningful if 1:1 was at the bottom, then 5:4, then 4:3, etc. Also 16:10 and 17:10 are mislabeled.

                                  Normally it annoys me that 18:9 isn't referred to as 2:1, would have been even more silly here though!

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 3pt
                                    • 29 Oct 2017

                                    mobi 5G, 29 Oct 2017Great article. But Blu-Ray cds should adopt 18:9 aspect rat... moreBluRay or cinematic stuff in general is around 21:9 - so called ultrawide, which is fairly good. Considering that 18:9 is mostly used in phones (which are NOT meant for watching movies) there's no reason to change aspect ratio of movies.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 7k7
                                      • 29 Oct 2017

                                      Kangal, 29 Oct 2017The 16:9 aspect ratio sucks as well, if you guys know the h... moreYes..even i wondered why not A4 paper size screen ratios..http://www.papersizes.org

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • 6XU
                                        • 29 Oct 2017

                                        I don't care about screen and bezels too much. As I'm not gamer and don't watch videos. Smooth and fast user interface is more important for me. I hate laggy phone. That is why Samsung phones aren't for me.

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