I've done a bit of research on this because of frustration with my current monitor (IPS).
Each panel type has its pros and cons.
IPS has become the standard for high end monitors. Colour accuracy and viewing angles are very good. Response time of the panel is a little slow compared to TN, but overdrive features have significantly improved this over the years. What bugs me about them is IPS glow. This is a glow when not viewing pixels from dead straight, most noticeable in the corners during normal use. You will often see user reviews complaining of back light leakage, but true back light leakage is a defect you can return under warranty. The real problem is just IPS glow which is by design. This glow means that dark areas are washed out, particularly near the corners.
TN panels have the lowest response time, which allows high refresh rates and low image blur. Colour accuracy isn't as good as TN even when viewed straight on, and you don't have to get far off centre before the colours are badly shifted. High quality TN panels find their way into expensive gaming monitors (e.g. Asus ROG PG278Q) and can actually have pretty reasonable quality. TN panels also find their way into the cheapest and nastiest monitors.
VA has actually been around longer than IPS. Older generations of these panels had poor viewing angles but better colour accuracy than TN. The newer AMVA panels have viewing angles and colour almost as good as IPS. Response time is similar to IPS and they don't suffer from IPS glow. Where these really excel is black levels and contrast. A good AMVA monitor has static contrast of 3000:1. Good IPS and TN panels are up to 1000:1. These numbers are in real world tests, not like the dodgy "20000000:1 dynamic contrast" numbers in the marketing material. There has been a renewed interest in VA panels for smart phones, and there are a number of computer monitors coming on the market with these AMVA panels. Dark areas are actually dark on a VA monitor and you get a lot more detail in these areas without turning them grey.
A great article on the different panel types:
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/panel_technologies.htm
A detailed review of the BenQ BL3200PT VA monitor (32 inch 2560x1440 60 Hz):
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/benq_bl3200pt.htm
A detailed review of the Dell U2713HM IPS monitor (27 inch 2560x1440 60Hz):
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2713hm.htm
A detailed review of the Asus ROG PG278Q TN monitor (27 inch 2560x1440 144Hz):
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/asus_rog_swift_pg278q.htm
I currently own the Dell above and am seriously considering replacing it with the BenQ above.