Choosing the right LCD monitor

I have thinking lately about buying a new LCD monitor and/or TV.
I started by looking at the usual suspects, such as maximal resolution, refresh rate, contrast etc.
As it turns out, it's a lot more complicated than I previously envisioned.
For starters, there are companies that use "dynamic contrast", which makes it impossible to compare their monitors to monitors from other companies.
And there is also the matter of the monitor's panel, which determines the refresh rate, but also the color depth. As it turns out, TN panels, used by ultra-fast monitors (2ms and less) actually show only 6 bit of colors, instead of 8 bits or more.
And since most comparison sites don't have the a "panel" parameter, and it's something you usually need to dig for in the manufacturer's site, it a pain to sort monitors by this criteria.
You can read about panel here and here.