From Folding Casino Games to Widescreen Television: How Have Screens Changed?

The basic idea of a screen or monitor for a computing device is that they give us a portal into the digital world. For a long time, it was believed that the one 4:3 aspect ratio form was superior to all others, but this idea has since been challenged. Today, there are a huge number of different setups that cater to uses as traditional as watching television to as modern as playing online casino games, where each use is only going to become more specialized.

Screens by the Systems and Usage 

To start with an example the world has quickly grown to accept, consider mobile phones and the experiences they offer. This is a world where we once thought screens and phones would only grow smaller, but as demands changed, so too did the design standard. Instead of a small square display, the industry has opted for a tall vertical layout that is perfectly suited to mobile content.

A prime example of this effectiveness is demonstrated by how Paddy Power slot games and the surrounding website operate on mobile systems. Games like Fire in the Hole and Slotting Slopes translate well to a standard modern vertical display, without compromise. As screen technology has evolved, notably in the direction of folding screens, so too has the game and display relationship. Live titles like blackjack and roulette are especially strong in this regard, with the extra viewing space of these new phones unfolding more visually striking experiences for players on the go. These changes have been unusually rapid in the tech world, where development tends to be much slower.

In past entertainment on television, changes to the standard were much slower. When television first reached the mainstream in the 1930s, television sets were locked to a 4:3 aspect ratio. This was called ‘full-frame’, because it matched the standard of output utilized by the films of the time, according to Film Lifestyle.

Although widescreen had seen significant use in the late 1920s with films like Abel Gance’s Napoleon, it wasn’t until the 1950s that it became standard. Despite this new standard in film, however, television sets and then computer monitors would stick with a 4:3 layout until the mid-2000s. At this point, as Studio Binder explains, the digital move towards high-definition fit the new standard perfectly, giving widescreen the final push it needed. This broad display and high pixel count of these systems also make them flexible enough for uses that excel on smaller screens too.

In work uses, especially for those in IT areas, the idea of using just one screen is rapidly falling out of favor. Instead, many relying on data-heavy forms of computer use are increasingly adopting multi-monitor setups with two or three connected displays. This can add appreciably to efficiency and convenience and is rapidly becoming the new status quo. Multi monitors are so popular today that even laptops are getting in the game with systems like Lenovo’s new Yoga Book 9i.

In the space of digital display, form follows function. If history has taught us one lesson, however, it’s that the momentum of established systems can build slowly over time until production costs drop or overwhelming advantages of newer systems begin to appear. We saw this with mobiles and TVs, we saw it with casino games and Netflix, and on this trajectory, we’ll soon see it in the mainstream with multi-monitor setups. As for what comes next, and what part VR could play in this equation, that’s for the 2030s to answer.