Why are 17 18 and 19 inch flat panel monitors with a 1.33 aspect ratio not available?”
Most 17 and 19-inch LCD monitors go by the SXGA standard, which is 1280×1024 (5:4 or 1.25:1) native. It is one step up from XGA, which is 1024×768 (4:3 or 1.33:1). Because of the 1280×1024 resolution, the monitors are made to have a physical 5:4 aspect ratio, preserving a 1:1 pixel aspect ratio. So, in short, because of common agreement on SXGA, they are made 5:4. To look for 4:3 monitors, make sure it says XGA, they are there, but much harder to find, and not necessary. Don’t bother to look for SVGA (800×600). For example, this is one: http://www.geminicomputersinc.com/tat-7005l.html By the way, although there are 16:9 monitors available, most wide screen LCD monitors are made with 16:10 ratio. They go by the standards of WXGA, WXGA+, WSXGA, WUXGA, …, etc.
