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Samsung has shown off a TV that can rotate into portrait orientation:
Samsung has unveiled a TV that switches from a horizontal, landscape-style orientation to vertical - so it can easily display smartphone content. The 43in device is called Sero and comes with an integrated easel-like stand upon which the screen pivots. It will go on sale in South Korea towards the end of May and cost 1.89m won (£1,250).
One TV analyst said it was an interesting concept - but might have limited applications. Sero will come with a microphone and Samsung's virtual assistant Bixby built in. It can also be set up to display photographs, a clock face or other images. Among the content users might choose to watch on it may be a new series of shows by Snapchat, designed for mobile consumption and set to be launched in May.
See also: Samsung thinks millennials want vertical TVs
(Score: 2) by vux984 on Wednesday May 01 2019, @04:58PM
"and gamers simply bought a second monitor to give the desired width."
No gamer wants a bezel smack in the middle of a dual monitor setup.
"I'm sure I'd have at least three"
Right. You'd need at least three due to the bezel issue. And that is simply not going to be more inexpensive than one small wide screen (which is what plenty of people use).
"and the result would be much better both for general computing AND for games AND even for watching movies. "
And while 3 works for first-person perspective games, it doesn't really add much to xcom2 or wargame reddragon or diablo3 etc, and the bezels would be an annoyance. Ditto bezels vs watching movies.
And if you think ... simple... no bezels... get real ... especially if you think we should have had this for the last 20 years.
Your first question was the most interesting... "But did the games come first, or the widescreens?"
I think I'd have to concede the games followed the screens. If we somehow only had 3:4 screens... we'd only have 3:4 games. BUT I really don't think that ever would have happened. Humans are biologically wired left-right not up down. We evolved in a horitontally centric environment. We primarily move around on an effectively flat horizontal plane because we can't fly, and everything we interact with is on that plane. We scan left to right for food, for prey, for predators ... not up down. Our rooms are wider than they are tall. Our lives take place in a wide horizontal bands; and that's why our movies went wide -- to match that biological reality. Its simply more natural for us.
For certain specific workflows sure portrait makes sense, but I think for immersive games and entertainment and movies we invevitably would have gone wide.