GLAS's main job was measuring the height of ice sheets, but the data that came back from forested areas contain a lot ofinformation about the height of the canopy and the densityof the vegetation there.
Additionally, the 16:9 ratio allows for viewing more information at a glance and the device's high pixel densityof 313ppi and Stripe RGB IPS Panel offers sharper and crisper text.
One sacrifice for that density might be in the viewing angle, with colours starting to fade at a relatively small amount of angle, although information does remain readable.