Flat Panel LCD's

When choosing a 19 - 21 inch LCD monitor, what is most important? The contrast ratio, response time and or resolution. I work with movies and text a lot. I saw two models that caught my eye...Westinghouse and LG.

Thank you for any advice you can give me.

Resolution is often the most important factor. Don't settle for anything less than 1600*1200 or 1680*1050 if you are willing to pay more than US$150.

I think Response Time is important, as is pixel density / resolution.

So, when I went and bought one, that's what I looked for and got the Samsung 204b - 20.1" LCD with 800:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time and 1600x1200 with a true 4:3 aspect ratio - around $300 USD after $60 rebate.

But that's just what I liked. Each person may prefer different things.

I'm considering these 3 models, 2 are widescreen, but none will do 1600x1200. Westinghouse 19" LCD Model LCM-19W4 - $179...Westinghouse 20.1" LCD Model LCM-20V5 - $249 and LG 19" LCD Model L1932TQ - $249. I don't mind spending money, but the performance must be awesome.

I forgot one item...aspect ratio...where can I find it?

I just bought that exact same monitor on a Black Friday sale at Staples for 179.00 204bw. I love it.

That's the aspect ratio of resolution. 1600*1200 is 4:3 and so is 800*600 and so is 1024*768, but 1920*1200 is 16:10.

By now, that must have become the reasonable price point for good and modern 20-inch LCD monitors. LCD panel and monitor (and TV) markets have been very confusing and growing so rapidly that it's difficult even for the OEM buyers and wholesalers to keep up with. Sometimes... it's cheaper for end users to buy from retail or OEM than for the wholesalers and OEM buyers to buy from the panel manufacturers of South Korea and Taiwan and panel distributors due to some unexplained craziness in the market. So I think the only way not to be cheated in any way when buying a LCD monitor is to find an unbelievably low price. But then just like CPU, if you have money enough to spend on US$1,000 quad-core Clovertown processors, you don't have to find the best performance/cost products available in the market like Celeron D/M, Sempron, etc., you can just look for the largest and highest-quality monitors. Sharp will soon probably begin selling 8-million-pixel LCD's for the first time, welcoming the true post-HDTV era.

Is the higher numbered aspect ratio, 4:3 vs. 16:10 better quality? This is an area I know nothing about.

No, each can be high or low quality. 4.3 is the aspect ratio of all older CRTs and TVs (squarish). 16.10 is the approximate ratio of most of the newer flat panels and TVs, that is, WIDESCREEN, the "next generation". But you must also consider resolution.

You got the widescreen. I got the regular 204B - the 20.1" that does 1600x1200.