Do You Want a Double-Height Monitor?

LG announced a new, weird-looking monitor this week that could create a new segment of the monitor market. Or it could be a gimmicky relic that no one will ever use. Either way, the LG DualUp is unique: It’s double-high, offering a taller-than-it-is-wide aspect ratio of 16:18. You can use it like a couple of 21.5-inch wide-screen monitors stacked top of each other, or just one gigantic, squarish screen.

The company is aiming at home office workers, touting their new monitor as a “multitasking powerhouse ideal for all kinds of tasks such as content creation and coding,” and points out the advantage of reducing “side-to-side head movements, the main cause of neck pain.”

I’m not sold on the ergonomic angle — are people really whipping their heads around from screen to screen so much that it’s causing neck pain? — but it seems like a good choice for some purposes. I like that the shape frees up desk space, and that the stand clamps to a desk to combat the high centre-of-gravity. But as a professional blogger, this monitor would offer me little professional advantage (beyond being able to say “I bet you haven’t seen a monitor like this — my neck is totally not in pain!” to anyone foolish enough to enter my home office).

I ran it by David Schneider, a home-working video editor for Fender Musical Instruments Corp., because the guy in the promo photo is clearly spending New Year’s Day editing a video entitled “Lonely Recipes: Salmon for One” while listening to the world’s smallest radio.

“My first instinct would be to say that a tall monitor like that is of more use to an artist or photographer, who tend to work in portrait mode,” Schneider said. “Video editors tend to want wide-screen monitors. But looking at how the dude has the setup in the photo, I could see some use … In short, it wouldn’t be first on my list of desired monitors, but I’m intrigued and want to learn more.”

We’ll all have the chance to learn more at CES, the annual trade show run by the Consumer Technology Association. LG is planning to offer more details at the tech conference in early January, including, I assume, the price. In the meantime, what do you think?