Hardware 4:3 monitors

Are there any 4:3 monitors available at a sensible price nowadays? My trusty Iiyama is finally dying, and all monitors now seem to be 16:9 aspect. That's great for watching TV, but for desktop productivity work it sucks.

If you're editing a document you're looking at a page that's going to print in portrait, so you want to see height, not width. To get the same height as my old 17" monitor requires around 26" in a widescreen - and that takes over the whole desk!

I guess the high-volume flat panel manufacturing is driven by demand for TVs, so monitors have to follow suit, but it makes for a PITA :-(

It's a serious question, as well as a grumble, so any suggestions welcome.

RickJ said:

... all monitors now seem to be 16:9 aspect. That's great for watching TV, but for desktop productivity work it sucks.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm hoping that my trusty old 4:3 Benq soldiers on for a few more years.


Looking at portrait orientated photographs on a 16:9 monitor is a complete nonsense.

Some newer models have Aspect Control with a 4:3 option such as this one:

Asus VH228DE 21.5" LED Full HD VGA Monitor | Ebuyer.com

We've been using the 5:4 19" Fujistu E19-6 LED at work for the last 6 months or so. Not a bad piece of kit: Display E19-6 LED - Fujitsu UK
Available from Laptops Direct for £100 + p&p: http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/FUJITSU_E19-6_19-INCH_LED_DISPLAY_BDLK1376V160-UK/

However, at 1280x1024 max, a 1080p monitor will show you more workspace.

There is a refurb 4:3 Fujitsu P20-1 with 1600x1200 res on amazon for £82.88: http://www.amazon.co.uk/S26361-K932-V150-FUJITSU-SCENICVIEW-P20-1-1600x1200/dp/B00BLXEC5O/

Another alternative is to get a widescreen monitor that has a stand that allows you to rotate the screen vertical, effectively giving a 9:16 aspect ratio when in portrait mode.

Him Her said:

Some newer models have Aspect Control with a 4:3 option such as this one:

Asus VH228DE 21.5" LED Full HD VGA Monitor | Ebuyer.com

Click to expand...

Well, yes, but just restricting the view to the middle of the screen isn't really the point. You've still got the hardware taking up space. I've actually grabbed myself a 20" Samsung off Amazon for £75, and that will display whatever aspect you throw at it in correct proportions, just not using the whole screen.

The Samsung is 1600 x 900, and about as big as I've got space for (small desk!), but my old monitor was 1280 x 1024, and physically smaller at about the same pixel density. So although I've got plenty of extra horizontal pixels, I've got 124 less vertically. The next common widescreen size is 1920 x 1080, but at typically 24" is a bit of a behemoth, and would elbow out the physical space I use on the desk either side of the screen.

little_pob said:

We've been using the 5:4 19" Fujistu E19-6 LED at work for the last 6 months or so. ...
However, at 1280x1024 max, a 1080p monitor will show you more workspace.

Click to expand...

Looks nice, but that resolution at 19" is fairly coarse pixel density these days. My Iiyama had the same resolution at 17", so the only benefit of that 19" is you can read it from further away

Another alternative is to get a widescreen monitor that has a stand that allows you to rotate the screen vertical, effectively giving a 9:16 aspect ratio when in portrait mode.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I was wondering about that. 9:16 for page editing could be rather nice. :Cool2: There are some used Dell rotatables on Amazon (4:3) at less than £60, or I suppose the alternative is to get a movable VESA mount for the 16:9 Samsung I've just bought - if I can manage to fit it in!