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...when standard monitors have more pixels and display area (for the same diagonal size)? This has been so in the last few years and this is so now.

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Please give examples. – Daniel Beck Jun 15 '11 at 14:03
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Weird, to me a widescreen monitor of equivalent vertical size would have more pixels, hence wide -screen.... – Mokubai Jun 15 '11 at 14:05
Comparing diagonal size is only relevant for devices that share the same aspect ratio. – Mokubai Jun 15 '11 at 14:23
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closed as not a real question by Mokubai, Gareth, Linker3000, Journeyman Geek, Sathya♦ Jun 15 '11 at 14:42

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It's because widescreen is more popular. There are several reasons for this.

There's a prevailing idea that you can 'get more done' on a widescreen monitor.
You can fit more windows side by side on a 16:10 or 16:9 monitor than you can on a 4:3 monitor. Because not everyone has the eyesight to be able to read tiny fonts and windows when using a 4:3 monitor at the native resolution, most people don't care as much about the number of pixels.

Widescreen monitors use the same 16:9 ratio as the widescreen DVD format. Having a monitor that can display this format without the 'nasty black bars' makes having a 16:9 monitor, even with a lower resolution, attractive to the average buyer.

It costs a lot less to make a lower resolution monitor, yet they're perceived as a more advanced piece of technology, so they cost more.

It's like the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The iPhone 4 retails at over $600 with no contract, yet the same equipment without a phone antenna retails for around $200.

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Although some of what you say is true, none of it explains the price difference (in fact, the original poster's assertion that 4:3 monitors are cheaper isn't true) – bwall Jun 15 '11 at 14:17
Just answering the question to the best of my ability what has been asked. – Kalamane Jun 15 '11 at 14:20
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