Today, multi-monitor setups are the de facto standard in the IT industry as multiple screens or ultra-wide displays can highly increase productivity of software engineers and other IT professionals.

The issue

Most monitors are still made with gaming and multimedia in mind, which benefit of a wide display. However, when working on code, it is often vertical space that limits productivity because long pieces of code or documents require a lot of scrolling and it can be hard to maintain an overview of the code. Even a slightly greater height can make a difference.

Some monitor manufacturers have recognized the need for more balanced aspect ratios compared to the 16:9 standard and offer models with a 3:2, 5:4 or 16:10 aspect ratio. However, the selection of such models is often very limited, which also makes them pricier and prevents them from getting more widely adopted. For instance, according to price comparison websites, there is currently only a single model with a 3:2 aspect ratio sold in Germany.

Why vertical 16:9 monitors are no adequate replacement

Some professionals use secondary monitors rotated by 90 degrees to be able to display complete pages of documents or longer code sections. That comes with a few drawbacks: Firstly, a 9:16 aspect ratio is very narrow, which can be disadvantageous for many applications typically displayed on secondary screens, such as messengers. A rotated 16:10 monitor may be beneficial for that purpose.

Secondly, vertical monitors are not suitable as main screens because of their limited width in relation to the human field of vision. Therefore, they need to be positioned next to the main monitor and longer reading sessions on them may lead to unhealthy posture and consequential health issues.

About this petition

As a software engineer with a passion for ergonomy and workplace productivity, I am convinced that IT professionals need periphery that is catering to their needs, to accelerate workflows, boost productivity and increase workplace health. Currently, the lack of inexpensive models and marketing prevents most IT professionals from considering aspect ratios more suitable for coding, which in turn disincentivizes monitor manufacturers from producing such models. This marks a Catch-22.

Please sign this petition if you are interested in monitors with more balanced aspect ratios geared towards IT professionals. A significant support for this petition will signal to monitor manufacturers that there is actually a demand for such models and that they will sell if there is a greater selection of reasonably priced models.