Why this webite?
This website is dedicated to informing people about the benefits of LCD screens that have an aspect ratio of 16:10 (sixteen by ten) – i.e. resolutions of: 1280×800 / 1440×900 / 1680×1050 / 1920×1200.
In the past two years there has been an almost complete transition from the 16:10 aspect ratio to the 16:9 aspect ratio, not to mention that the 4:3 and 5:4 aspect ratio which many companies work with has all but vanished. Unfortunately, the new 16:9 aspect ratio is by no means superior to the 16:10 one. The main reason why this change was done is because it is slightly cheaper for companies to make wider LCD screens. However, this has also resulted in a loss of screen space, especially in terms of height.
Currently, the most common resolutions on the market are 1366×748 / 1600×900 / 1920×1080. As it can been seen, these resolutions are slightly smaller than the ones used in 16:10 LCD screens, resulting in a loss of vertical space. In order to market these lower resolutions, companies invented the HD standard with the Full HD standard being 1920×1080, which is actually smaller than the previous standard high-end resolution of 1920×1200 pixels.
Our purpose is not to have the industry switch from the 16:9 resolution back to the 16:10 resolution but to at least provide some LCD displays and laptops with 16:10 resolution screens for those who actually prefer and need more vertical space. We are committed to show that there is a large number of consumers who want to have LCD screens with a 16:10 aspect ratio as well as 5:4, the reasoning being that manufacturers cannot ignore the market forever!
If you would like to know more about this issue and what can be done, please read this website and have a look over our letter of complaint.
Sixteen By Ten 
Ah, so here is it 😀 – still empty though.
Just testing 😉 🙂 – Maybe I should cook something up for a start 🙂
Wouldn’t 16:10 ratio on laptops make then bigger?
Like the LCD screen on the home page is bigger when it’s 16:9?
Yes.
Yes, they are bigger… 🙄
Screen will be bigger only if we want to make it bigger. Screen size and aspect ratio are independent things – you can easily make 16:10 screen that is smaller than 16:9
Actually it makes them slightly smaller. A 17 inch laptop with a 16:9 screen is 17.3 inch in diagonal, a 16:10 screen is 17.1 inches in diagonal.
I believe this depends of what you consider “smaller”. Smaller in _diagonal_, yes. Smaller in _area_, no. And area is more important than diagonal – after all, its possible to make screen with HUGE diagonal, but TINY area, by squishing it ever more.
Wow, I thought for a second that you actually advocated for 4:3 aspect ratios. 16:10 is just as shitty as 16:9 when it comes to real work getting done.
Actually, there has been a study that showed productivity can increase with a 16:10 screen over 4:3.
If your point is, that a higher vertical (and overall) resolution was available with 4:3 or 5:4 then you are right, however I wouldn’t see 16:10 to be as bad as you make it out to be.
The average laptop screen went from 1024*768 to 1280*800.
And I don’t think there were 2500-something*1200 laptop screens.
Yeah? Well I would like to read that study. Has it been peer reviewed? How was “productivity” defined? To claim that 16:10 is “better” than 4:3 is basically the same as claiming that 16:9 is “better” than 4:3. There are hardly any differences between 16:9 and 16:10. Most widescreen monitors today are 16:9 and while I dislike widescreen, I understand there is a niche for it. 16:9 screen resolutions are popular with widescreen users, while 16:10 has the most weird and exotic resolutions.
I also can’t see how a widescreen aspect ratio can improve my productivity when working with office suites, IDEs, DTP tools etc.; vertical space is very valuable and widescreen simply takes it away from me.
Increased screen resolutions don’t really improve my productivity, as long as the aspect ratio of the physical screen is not 4:3. Widescreen is just something to use when watching movies.
Be my guest to find the link in this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/392545-official-16-9-screen-protest-thread.html
What you also need to remember is, that the average user gained width and did not loose height in the switch to 16:10, thus enabling him/her to view 2 side by side documents should this be required.
Also, I can’t see much of an issue with Word on 16:10 rather than 4:3 – I can’t see a gain from 4:3 either, unless maybe you had the largest resolution 4:3 screen and are blind, thus magnifying text by a factor of 4 (400%) – but for plain text a bit more than 800 pixels should be enough…
Looking at Programming – Java Eclipse, Visual Studio or Dreamweaver all work very well on 16:10, I’d even say better than on 4:3.
Considering the average computer user gained from 16:10 over 4:3 I can’t really understand your hate of 16:10.
Or do you belong to the maybe 1% who used the maximum resolution available on 4:3? – In this case, and only this case I can understand where you are coming from.
Now with 16:9, the average user (across all resolutions) is loosing height, and nobody is able to gain anything at all (except maybe the video crowd, but even that is dubious.)
Hello Blacky,
Love your website
Can you recommend a 17 inch Win 7 Laptop either 1680x 1050or 1920 x 1200 ?
for general purpose use
I have looked and looked cant find any new models
just 2 year old refurbished ones 1440×900 with vista which
I don’t want
Thanks
I think the only choice you have in this respect are some older workstations – these were the last laptops that carried 16:10 screens.
On that note though – there is nothing wrong with Vista itself since Service Pack 1 & 2, however it seems to me that some companies have stopped developing drivers for it…
It could be an option though, to buy a Vista laptop and then upgrading it to Windows 7 if you feel you must.
detlevcm thanks for the advice
my issue with these older laptops is not so much Vista
as they are refurbished
have you had any luck
with refurbished ones ?
Hello Robert,
I must say I haven’t yet bought anything refurbished. (And my laptop although 3 years old does its tasks well – amongst them photo editing with RAW files from a 5D MK II)
I know that with Canon cameras people are in general happy.
And that makes me think – my Seagate warranty repair is refurbished too (and works well)
In theory a refurbished laptop is supposed to be thoroughly checked and then resold – so overall, I don’t think I would worry too much if:
a) it is a reputable company
b) there aren’t many reports of badly refurbished laptops on the web (bad news always spreads faster than good news)
On that note: In Europe a refurbished laptop will possibly have the same warranty as a new one (by law – but check up on me). In the US it might be an idea to buy an additional warranty – but then read the terms and conditions carefully.
I hope this helps a bit.
Look into gaming laptops everything from MSI to Sager still carries 1680 screens they’re very popular in the 15-16″ market. You can pick used and refurbished gaming laptops that are 1-2 years old for $500-800 and their build quality and specifications are still better then any new laptop you’ll pick up in that price range.
Hello, great idea, great site, great initiative!
I do understand your protest and it is obvious some don’t get what you are trying to do and why.
Yes, people, wake up, the corporations are all trying to sell us inferior products, either by specification or by building quality/materials, and compensating this by new marketing strategies, basically just more complicated and sophisticated ways to trick us.
It is absolutely obvious that taking back from 1200 to 1080 it is profitable for them and a pain for any user who just needs to scroll more.
Hello All,
this maybe the last new 16:10 pc laptop on the market:
http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?cid=10&id=247
17 inch 1680×1050
I am interested in buying this, found it at an online store for about $1200
any experiences or opinons are welcome about MSI and or this product line is welcome
if anyone else has seen other 16:10 new laptops please share
Thank you
Cheers,
Robert
I believe there is an HP tablet with a 16:10 1280*800 screen.
Tablet as in “swivel screen” not the new tiny computers.
+1 for this site idea.
Hmm, looks like there still is no http://www.sixteenbytwelve.com
Which is just 4:3.
The “problem” with 4:3 is, that only the very highest end would have lost something – i.e. 2560*”something” (where something is more than 1600).
Nearly everybody gained resolution, vertically as well as horizontally, i.e. the screens became better to use. While certain applications will benefit from 4:3 over 16:10, the group in favour of 4:3 is small, while the downgrade to 16:9 affects everybody.
Professional monitors (such as the ones for air traffic control) will continue to be available in 4:3, but obviously at a high price.
All of this 16:9 crap has happened because of the hordes of people whining about the black bars they were getting when watching movies. This and no other reason. It just seems hopeless for 16:10 to return unfortunately, which is so frustrating.
This is why Apple increased selling macbook pro’s. I bought one only for that reason. I’m disappointed not only for the cinema ratio -useless for any type of work except watching videos- but for the resolutions avaible. There are almost only two choice:
1366×768 – really are you givin’ me 768px in height? fast forward in the 90’s!!
1920×1080 – really unreadable in 15,6 panels except zoomed html.
There are very few laptops with the right resolution (1600×900).
Really seems that OEMs, do not to want sell their product to me. The laptop market is in Apple’s hand.
LED laptops are great since they consume less electricity.*
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16:9 projects a message: Perfect for watching movies because you are a simpleton who doesn’t mind 10% less vertical space under your bloated Office Ribbon and expanded Windows useless panes around much bigger & wider spaced files list. But it’s like complaining about PageUp/Dn/Home/End (if you lucky to have them) on most laptops stuck on the top far end of the keyboard away from arrow keys, which are also shifted down to make control combination painful. Welcome to the Grand Epoch of Moronic Design.
If you want a smaller but higher quality picture then a Plasma TV would be
a good option as these can be purchased at sizes up to 65 inches, and therefore still providing you with a big screen viewing experience.
The last thing you would want is to have your viewing dominated
by an overlay large screen. There are several cinema news website which update
the photos and videos of the wedding.
Currently it sounds like Movable Type is the best blogging platform
available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that
what you are using on your blog?