Sunday debate: Classic 16:9 vs. Taller screen ratios
- K
- Kangal
- uCX
- 05 Jun 2018
16:9 is better.
Weird, long aspect ratios (and a notch) don't give you more content. In fact, they take screen away and actually make it SMALLER. The only time they make it larger is when reading a book. Not to mention MOST phones are LCD, so this means that the unused pixels, which take a large 13% of space are WASTING BATTERY LIFE. And one thing that no-one notices, talks about, but FRUSTRATES me is that when you take a photo with this "new trend" you cannot view it natively on your device.
Here let me explain:
- You spend thousands of dollars on an iPhone X. It has a curved screen, with a notch, and a weird 19.5:9 ratio. You take a photo with the cutting-edge camera. However the photo is actually in the industry standard 16:9 ratio. You look at the screen to know what the camera is seeing. And you frame your shot to exclude some things appearing on the top and bottom (and notch). And you look at the photo, and it looks perfect. There's no letterboxing. You go home, transfer the photo to your PC. Bam! You realise there was the unwanted subject protruding in the notch, from the top, from the bottom. Now you cannot go back and reshoot that photo. So your only recourse is to crop the photo. So you now have lost detail you could've had. And during cropping you realise you have to crop much more than you wanted so you can hit the industry standard 16:9 to share to other people (and not just iPhone X's).
Then why did the industry move this way?
Greed. Having screens that are more rectangular means area-wise they are smaller, so the screens are cheaper to manufacture. On top of this, it means the OEMs don't have to make innovations. They simply mask/hide those large top and bottom bezels with a thin screen on top. This tricks people to think the bezels have shrunk, and that the Screen to Body ratio has shot-up from ~70% to ~85%, when in reality it hasn't, when in fact the phone grows longer in physical size. And even more salt to the wound, this comes at the cost of one of the biggest innovations in smartphone history: loss of front-firing stere loudspeakers (which can double as two earpieces).
- ?
- Anonymous
- tDP
- 05 Jun 2018
It's all too late, nearly all OEMs produce new phones in 18:9 ratio, from low-end to flagships. No new, internally capable phones in 16:9 save for some such as Xiaomi Mi A1 and some others. The newest bet is Nokia 6.1 and 8 Sirocco.
- ?
- Anonymous
- IV8
- 05 Jun 2018
18:9 only works when the top and bottom bezels are close to zero.. Nowadays phones becomes elongated giraffes because they used the 18:9 screen whilst maintaining huge swath of top and bottom bezels! They should have stick to the 16:9 instead.
- N
- Noel
- Tfj
- 05 Jun 2018
Like i have said a million times...i'm not a fan of all these narrow elongated 18+:9 aspect ratio screen phones that look like remote controls.
I will take a flagship phone with top specs, 16:9AR, slim bezels, a 85+% stb, top cameras and huge 4000+mAh battery any day b4 any 2:1 aspect ratio phones.
Also a 6 inch 16:9AR phone has more usuable surface area than a similar a 6 inch 18:9AR phone. I find it much better to consume content than these narrow elongated 18:9AR phones. The only good thing with 18:9AR phones is that they fit easily in your hand but on the flipside they are extra tall..making it hard to reach the top of these devices.
I can also live with 17:9AR devices with 85+% stb ratios.
I am not pleased seeing nearly all flagships coming in the narrow elongated 18+:9AR.
Pleassss who is the OEM who will give us a flagship with 16:9AR---17:9AR, 85+% stb rario, good camera, top specs with a huge 4000+mAh battery?????? Mate 20 vaiant or Razer phone 2?????
- S
- S6 User
- F3y
- 04 Jun 2018
Plus Sized Flagships: Max 18:9 Screen Ratio:
IMO: 18:9 (2:1) screen ratio should be the maximum for flagships.
Anything taller than this is the more niche phablet territory, not mainstream & therefore shouldn't be flagship.
If it doesnt fit in my pocket with a case on, I'm not gonna buy it.
Okay Samsung's flagship S9+ is 18.5:9 (2.056:1) screen ratio & I was surprised that I can fit it (cased) in my Levis jeans pocket & manage to sit down & lean forward, but only just! (I'm 6'2"), some people may struggle.
Manufacturers need to bear in mind that we're having to buy cases to house these increasingly expensive flagships (which makes them even less pocketable) to protect the devices against drops & micro scratches from keys, charger banks etc, because drop & scratch proof still isn't good enough.
I'm certain that a S9+ rechargeable case would be too tall to fit in my (& most) pockets, so manufacturers should make sure that these power hungry screens are supplied with enough power.
Maybe it's a cost saving/ profit making exercise, but 4,000 mAh is better than 3,500 mAh.
Even better, make it a user replaceable battery :) & buyers could proceed with greater confidence & they would sell loads more units, win/win.
Standard Size Flagships: IMO 16:9 Ratio is Best:
Ivan, you said it yourself, 'Nowadays we mostly use our phones in portrait orientation, browsing the web'.
18:9 seems to skinny for reading in portrait on smaller phones, you can't get as much of a sentence across each line of text.
So I'm watching a film or TV catchup in landscape mode on a standard size 18:9 phone, most video content is 16:9 & will be for many years, probably at least until we have 18:9 TV's in our homes.
I've got wasted black bars on the Left & Right, when I could do with the screen being higher instead of a narrow strip,
Standard size flagsips should be available in 16:9 screen ratio.
Looking at the 16:9 phone in portrait position:
It fits better in the hand & pocket, the wider avalable space can be used for better components, e.g. better battery, larger sensor, better optics, beefier speakers, etc.
Manufacturers marketing & P.R. departments getting involved with research & development, should be listening to & relaying & implementing their customer's user experience for improvements, maybe they do listen more nowadays, a replaceable battery would make it easier to sell our old flagships and buy a new one, win/win.
Practicable useful substance over style not vice versa gimmicks instead.
I'll edit, copy & paste this text on the E.U. Samsung Community Forum:
https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S9-S9/bd-p/uk-galaxy
Whoever your phone maker is, maybe it's worth having your say & giving them feedback of your thoughts & ideas for improvements.
- ?
- Anonymous
- pdH
- 04 Jun 2018
Jamesschwarz987, 04 Jun 2018Seriously, but what's future on 18:9?
It's not like tho... moreYep 16:9 now and some content is moving to 21:9... nobody use 18:9 for content creation...
there Are now tv or movie made in that format. Not even in the future. Most tv Are for far future 16:9. Some movie projectors have 21:9 mode. Movie Theater Are... well even wider.so there is zero content to 18:9... it is just the reality of things.
- ?
- Anonymous
- vV5
- 04 Jun 2018
Biz, 04 Jun 2018Do you like to get those black bars on your bezeless screen... moreYes the taller screen ratio has ugly black bar and notch, even more user have to stretching finger more strained, I don't think people will really love it, so please cherish the 16:9 screen ratio, before the trends blowers mislead the people minds.
- S
- Smartphones Fan
- 3aE
- 04 Jun 2018
want 100% screen cover front
- B
- Biz
- mr}
- 04 Jun 2018
gibsonlogic, 04 Jun 2018I have just upgraded from my S7 edge to an S8+. I have noti... moreThere will be more mobile content for other aspect rations, but you shouldn't wait that movies and video content is going to switch other aspect ration.
Computer screens and televisions aren't going to adapt to 18:9 as they are using 16:9 and 21:9 already.
Why would you use aspect ration between those two? It really gives you zero improvement to get 18:9 computer screen over The 21:9, if you wanted ultrawide experience and 21:9 supports already way more content.
Also the reason why I'm talking about computer screens is b/c most of the content is and will be created with computers (especially high-end rendering stuff) b/c they are and will be way faster for content creation due to MUCH higher computing power.
- B
- Biz
- mr}
- 04 Jun 2018
Anonymous, 04 Jun 2018My hobby is playing piano I want longer finger I can practi... moreDo you like to get those black bars on your bezeless screen when consuming video content?
- g
- gibsonlogic
- 7Mq
- 04 Jun 2018
I have just upgraded from my S7 edge to an S8+. I have noticed a couple of pros and cons.
Firstly the S7 edge did conceal itself completely in the majority of my trousers pockets whereas the S8+ does poke out a little - which means I do feel a little more security conscious out in public areas with the S8+, not to mention it is a more valuable phone.
Most video/media and gaming content fills the display of the S7 edge's 16:9 - although I am sure this will change to suit the new aspect ratio.
Nonetheless I do ultimately prefer the functionality of the taller aspect ratio on the S8+ as multitasking is much better - the multi-window function I always felt was squashed on the S7 (e.g. watching a video while trying to text/message) and on the S8+ the taller screen really improves upon this. I prefer the S8+ with games as the controls aren't in the way - even with my fingers on the virtual buttons/joysticks I can see much more of the action. I've found actually many films fill the display better if not completely. I think it is the best ratio at this moment - however this may change again with time.
- T
- Tonberry
- 0Ep
- 04 Jun 2018
I'd call 18:9 the present, not the future. The future will be much weirder, with foldable screens, and I can't wait to see it.
- ?
- Anonymous
- vV5
- 04 Jun 2018
My hobby is playing piano I want longer finger I can practice on a taller smartphone!
- ?
- Anonymous
- KAx
- 04 Jun 2018
I don't mind the tall screens. But stupid phone manufacturers put notches on phones and claim higher aspect ratios which I absolutely hate.
To me, rectangular tall aspect ratio > 16:9 >>>>>>>>>>>>>> anything with notch. Since tall aspect ratios without notches are becoming hard to find, I voted for 16:9
- ThisIsYordan
- 3FJ
- 04 Jun 2018
FullmetalJun, 04 Jun 2018What phone is it in the bottom left of the 5th picture wher... moreThat's the Oppo R15 Pro with Android P Beta.
- F
- FullmetalJun
- Nve
- 04 Jun 2018
What phone is it in the bottom left of the 5th picture where all the phones are displaying settings?
I like its screen calibration
- S
- Sherlock Mix
- J4B
- 04 Jun 2018
It all boils down to what you use your device for.
Social/work/browsing = 18:9
Games/movies/videos = 16:9
Don’t expect movies and games to suddenly get out of 16:9. Not happening anytime soon.
We would have to change the TV before the phone. TVs will never change to adapt to “phones”, it’s the other way around.
- M
- Max
- Mvv
- 04 Jun 2018
The only thing tall screens are good at is displaying messages (and you can keep every single one of those thankyouverymuch). No sane website fits readably in portrait mode and as soon as you turn to landscape you're left with all of three rows of text on your suddenly mega-wide but ultra-short screen. Screw that crap! Even 4:3 screens were better at this. How about you try making some 18:9 format paper, see how well it sells...?!?
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- Anonymous
- vV5
- 04 Jun 2018
I choose 18:9 or even taller ratio. My hobby is playing piano so I can stretch my fingers and thumb all the time, it is really a good design and I really like it!
- d
- dreamlord
- nnQ
- 04 Jun 2018
16:9 all the way... lg, huawei and nokia proved that we can have 16:9 screen with full vision.
18:9 is total bs.