I made the switch to wide screen a couple of years ago with some trepidation, but I have really been enjoying it ever since. While I was unsure about making the switch at first, since doing it I have only encountered pros for the wide screen format and have yet to find any drawbacks (I use a large enough screen that the web page formatting isn't an issue for me).

You can fit two windows/documents side by side:
This is a huge improvement if you ever find yourself working in one application while trying to look at an instruction document or web page in another window. It's also great if you do a lot of writing or blogging and would like to refer to source material on one side of the screen while writing on the other.

* * * Reduces Neck Strain:
I find that with tall monitors, I need to tilt my head up or down to read the top and bottom of the screen comfortably. I find this less comfortable than leaving my head stationary and letting my eyes scan the width of a wider screen. Even when dealing with extremely wide or dual monitors, I prefer to turn my head from left to right rather than tilt it up and down if I am stuck in front of the computer for several hours.

* * * Better for Gaming:
I find that any any sort of first person shooter, a wider field of view is more helpful as it is more difficult for people to sneak up on me. In most games, the threat isn't going to come at an extreme angle from the sky above you, so having wider rather than taller is more useful.

* * * Better for TweetDeck:
If you use TweetDeck for Twitter, having a very wide screen lets you take in a lot more information at once. It formats information into columns, with the most recent information at the top of each column. Wide screens allow for more columns, which significantly reduces the amount of scrolling you must do in order to follow all of your streams.

* * * Better for Movies:
Wide screens let you view films in a format much closer to what the directors envisioned with the recorded the movie.

* * * More Natural:
The shape of the human face allows people to take in more visual information from the sides than above and below without moving the neck. Your brow ridge prevents you from looking up very far unless you tilt your head back, and your cheeks prevent you from looking straight down without tilting your head down. You eyes can look quite a ways to either side without moving your head, resulting in a "wide screen" style point of view. I suspect this would mean that our brains are optimized for processing visual input from a "wide" perspective and thus a wide screen might allow you to process more information faster than a regular screen. (Disclaimer: I've got no scientific data to back this up)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljhRr5bxWYs

* * * Have Your Cake and Eat it Too:
In case you didn't realize it, there are a number of wide screen monitors on the market that let you rotate the screen 90 degrees to easily and instantly go from wide screen to portrait format. This might be a good choice for you, as it lets you use a tall narrow screen for viewing long web pages and then a wide screen for everything else. See the source links for details. I had one of these, and after a few weeks found that I stopped using the portrait mode because I just preferred the wide screen. Perhaps this rotating option would be your best bet as you could have the best of both worlds.

Note that if you use a PC and keep a lot of icons on your desktop, rotating the monitor to switch between portrait and wide screen will rearrange everything. It does an on the fly resolution switch when you rotate the monitor to a new viewing mode, and that can move all of your stuff around to make it fit within the other format. This isn't a big deal if you have a tidy desktop, but it can be annoying if you keep dozens of shortcuts on your desktop and are picky about where they are positioned.
Source(s):
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SyncMaster-Panel-Monitor-Black/dp/B00019OWSQ
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1761&page=2
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Monitors/magictune/magicrotation_01s.htm

Asker's Rating:

Permalink | Report