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If you have used computers, you have used monitors.
From tube CRTs to razor-thin OLED panels, screens are ubiquitous.
But there are lots of not-so-common display types for various niche purposes.
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Monitors higher than wider are practical, e.g., for writers and developers.
They may also help yousave desk space.
However, for the most part, “everything that came after it” used horizontal displays.
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Many office-grade monitors can be made into vertical screens without much effort.
You’ll have to do a bit of searching for thosethey’re not rare, just less common.
Otherwise, you may end up paying a premium for gaming-oriented features you don’t need.
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Oneuse for curved screensis when you want to save horizontal desk space.
Lastly, there are the viewing angles.
Color-Graded Displays
Curved monitors are considered expensive, but wait until you see the prices for color-graded ones.
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That’s different fromcalibrating high dynamic range(HDR) andmatching monitor colors.
Color-graded screens have the highest quality panels, fine-tuned to perfection, and with more controls than regular monitors.
Color-graded monitors retail for several thousand dollars,with models over $10,000.
Some brands don’t even “retail”, only selling their products through inquiry forms.
Think of multimillion-dollar blockbusters or a Louis Vuitton photoshoot.
But some cutting-edge models deserve a place on this list.
Likemonitors with extreme refresh rates, say, 500 Hz.
If you want averyverywide screen, consider gaming monitors with 21:9 or 32:9aspect ratios.
Like curved panels, ultrawide ones aren’t exclusive to gaming displays.
One feature that’s usually only noticed by gamers isvariable refresh rate(VRR).
This technology dynamically adjusts the panel to match the onscreen content.
Game frame rates usually aren’t fixed, so VRR is useful to prevent screen tearing.
E-Ink Screens
E-ink’s shortcomings and benefits may be comparatively significant.
Front-lit panels cause less eye strain, while lower refresh rates are great for saving power.
Even so, e-ink panels are useful.
Portable Displays
Until recently, multi-monitor setups required fixed workstations.
Also USB-C and Thunderbolt 3/4 ports are becoming more common in computers.
They have faster data and charging rates and are thinnerthough the latter is also achievable with Mini and Micro-HDMI.
Such screens may also be touch-sensitive, a nice addition if your laptop’s isn’t.
Is a single portable display not enough for your on-the-go work?
Witha double extender, you could use atriple-monitor setupwherever you want.
If you don’t mind the bulk and weight.
Wireless Monitors
Displays are among the most data-hungry computer parts.
Thecalculated bandwidthfor a 1080p screen at 60Hz, pretty mundane for current standards, is almost 5 Gbps.
Therefore, using a wireless connection for a display may seem impossible.
Windows has a built-in feature touse computers as wireless monitors.
Macs running macOS 12 or later can beused as wireless monitors for other Macs, iPhones, and iPads.
Justenable the Airplay Receiver featureand cast the content.
To go the other way around, Sidecar lets you use an iPad as a wired or wireless monitor.
There are also dedicatedwireless HDMI transmittersthat often do a better job of cutting down on latency.
That doesn’t mean you’re free to’t consider some less commonmonitor types.
Better yet, if you have the means to, why not mix and match?
