LCD computer displays with a 16:10 ratio first rose to
mass market prominence in 2001. By 2008, the 16:10 aspect ratio had become the most common aspect ratio for
LCD monitors and
laptop displays. After 2010, however,
16:9 became the mainstream standard. This shift was driven by lower manufacturing costs and the 16:9 aspect ratio being used as a standard in modern televisions.
Rise in popularity from 2001 Until about 2001, most computer monitors had a
4:3 aspect ratio, with some using a
5:4 ratio. Between 2001 and 2006, monitors with 16:10 aspect ratios became commonly available, first in laptops, and later in display monitors. Such displays were considered better suited for word processing and
computer-aided design. From 2005 to 2008, 16:10 overtook 4:3 as the highest-selling aspect ratio for LCD monitors. At the time, 16:10 made up 90% of the notebook market, and was the most commonly used aspect ratio for laptops. The primary reason for this move was considered to be production efficiency: Since display panels for TVs use the 16:9 aspect ratio, it became more efficient for display manufacturers to produce computer display panels in the same aspect ratio. A 2008 report by DisplaySearch also cited several other reasons, including the ability for PC and monitor manufacturers to expand their product ranges by offering products with wider screens and higher
resolutions. This helped consumers adopt such products more easily, "stimulating the growth of the notebook PC and LCD monitor market". On the other hand, there was criticism towards the lack of vertical screen real estate when compared to 16:10 displays of the same screen diagonal. For this reason, some consider 16:9 displays less suitable for productivity-oriented tasks, such as editing documents or spreadsheets and using design or engineering applications, which are mostly designed for taller, rather than wider screens.
Resurgence from 2020 Throughout the 2010s, virtually all consumer monitors and notebook computers were not using the 16:10 ratio, exceptions for major laptop OEMs being
Apple (who continued use of 16:10 on their
MacBook lineup) and
Microsoft (who adopted the even taller 3:2 ratio for their
Surface products). In late 2019,
Dell released an updated convertible model of their popular
XPS 13 productivity laptop that moved away from the 16:9 aspect ratio to 16:10, using a new display panel developed with
Sharp Corporation. Dell also made the change to their standard XPS 13 notebook offering in 2020. The XPS 13 influenced a number of other OEMs starting to offer portable computers in 16:10 (or 3:2) ratio as opposed to 16:9 in 2020 and 2021, including
Acer Swift 3,
LG Gram, Asus
ProArt Studiobook, HP's 16-inch
Spectre x360, and even gaming computers. By 2024, much of the computer industry were once again making use of 16:10 ratio displays. In late 2021, Apple's MacBook changed to slightly taller 1.54:1 (16:10.4) and 1.55:1 (16:10.3) ratios for the 14-inch and 16-inch models respectively. == On tablets ==