Greetings,

Any recommendation on a flat panel monitor in the 5oo price range.

Cheers,
-dave

It's a little above your desired price, but I recently got a 20" Viewsonic VP201s for my editing box; 16ms, 1600x1200 native, thin edges, and pivots. No built-in speakers. You can sometimes find them for about $850 after mfr discount. Been very happy with it so far -- can't wait to get a second one so I can ditch the CRT as a second display!

I have seen 19" generic flats on www.ecost.com for a bit over $300. I don't know if it is a holiday special or how they perform.

I have a BenQ monitor I bought online last year and I have been extremely happy with it. They have a 19" model with a 700:1 contrast ratio and I have found the color and quality of mine to be fantastic!

AND... it's under $500.00

http://www.benq.com/index.html

The model is the FP992, just click on the picture of the monitor and it will take you there. They have other monitors as well and I really like mine.

edit: You should look around at their other offerings as well because they have some with faster response times but lower contrast. For the money I've been very impressed with the product line they offer. They even have a 23" 16:10 ratio model for just under $1500.

Any recommendation on a boom mountable one ?

Dave, I just purchased a Sony HS94p 19inch LCD which has their new Xbrite technology and a 12ms response time. It was the first LCD I have experienced that has no ghosting or echos on fast moving video (ie. video editing and cutting or if you prefer first person video games). The monitor is EXTREMELY bright if you set it to be but is just a tad bit out of your range at $599 after rebates. No LCD should be used for color correction etc. but I have a 19inch CRT for that. Don't take my word for it, see Cnets review: (US site hasn't reviewed but Cnet Asia and Australia have). My only complaint is some backlight spill so that blacks may not be faithful, but again, you should be color correcting on a CRT.

http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/peripherals/monitors/0,39034702,39075100p,00.htm

I have a 18" Mitsubishi Diamondpoint NX86LCD that cost me a little over $450.00 last year on NewEgg.com

It's been great working on video but I also use a 13" Sony for color corrections and fimnal work.