hi JohnnyG. The models suggested here are certainly good options. If you're looking for a gaming screen
this article should help
It covers all the best models including the VP930. The VP930 is a good choice and i think you'll notice an improvement in performance in some areas when compared with your current screen. Most notably, the P-MVA panel technology used will offer much wider viewing angles, deeper black depth, better colour quality and smoother movie playback. Responsiveness should be a little better, but not majorly faster in real practice. Since you're used to your current screen this probably won't make any difference really. It would be a good upgrade.
However, as igors has suggested, since the budget is quite high, it might be worth looking at the 20"WS market.
this article might help you there, and this might seem like much more of an upgrade thanks to the extra size and resolution compared with your current TFT. For gaming, the NEC LCD20WGX2 would be a very good choice, but you'd have to stretch the budget more.
I want a really good sharp image, what makes that, is it dot pitch, response time, contrast etc?
dot pitch isn't important on a TFT since it is fixed due to the number of pixels in the screen. Ie all 19" TFT's have the same dot pitch. Response time makes no difference to image clarity, only to performance in moving images and the level of blurring and/or ghosting that the user may or may not see. Contrast ratio is important in regards to colour quality but mostly for black and white levels. None of these really impact clarity, that is more controlled by the conversion of the signal from the graphics card. DVI can help here as it will allow a pure digital to digital connection, and the image will be very sharp. Image sharpness isn't really something you need to worry about on modern screens, they are all very good in this area
Regarding which screen to go for. The VP930 would be a nice choice if you want to stick with 19" screens. It isn't the fastest (see that article) but it is much stronger in other areas than screens which are faster. If you find that your current TFT is fine for the gaming you do then the VP930 would be fine. If you wanted something faster then the VX922 might be a good choice, and if you were a first time buyer, looking for a pure gaming TFT, this would be my recommendation. However, coming from a 16ms TFT you perhaps don't need the brute gaming power
of the VX922, and the VP930 has it's clear advantages in other areas. If you can stretch the budget, the 20"WS sector has some interesting models to offer. Keeping the budget low, the Belinea 102035W is pretty much a scaled up version of the VP930 (same panel technology and similar performance). Same goes for the Viewsonic VX2025WM. If you can push the budget then the NEC LCD20WGX2 is a very good choice. All these are covered in that second article linked to above
anyway, hth
