Maybe they use smaller monitors in, I don't know, Myanmar, but in the US at least, most people have moved on to 19"+ monitors. LCDs are generally at 17"+, but those look about as big as a 19" (while not taking up so much space). I haven't really seen a big movement to monitors much larger than 21" in more than professional applications (DTP, photo editing, CAD, etc.).
I used to have an old 14" (more like 13") monitor lying around, it's comic to look at that big, curvy screen now.
However, I did use a 15" for the longest time. I have moved up to a 17" for the last few years now, with a fairly flat screen.
I'm not sure if they ever sold monitors as small as 10", although 12" is a possibility. I have some old CRTs which look a lot more like TVs. I imagine they can /make/ them that small, but only when the application demands it (like for cash registers). Maybe the poster was measuring the horizontal/vertical dimension, instead of the diagonal? (Including the bezel... you always include the bezel, just like the manufacturers.)
*edit*
Oh, BTW, about the virtual cockpit thing being disorienting without gravity and stuff... sure, you'll probably not being able to simulate /that/ on a home setup for at least a few decades (they have a centrifuge-simulator thing that works kinda well now), that's precisely why I keep bringing up that I wish they had an artificial horizon-type thing in space games, reading out roll/pitch/yaw with some easy-to-understand graphical (or even numerical) indicator. Instead, you have to kinda simulate it by taking a look at the radar and trying to use some of your targets as fixed references... doesn't work that well in practice.
Another fancy bit of technology you might not see for some time is a hemispherical screen (you sit at the center) which uses the projected image from a CRT to create a 180 degree FOV. It's quite immersive, from what I hear.
Another one of those toys you probably won't be able to get unless you're rich, though (it
is available to consumers). Probably the next best thing is a multiple monitor configuration, or a physical cockpit mock-up (hrm, weren't there a few screenshots of people building their own WC cockpits?).
*edit 2*
BTW, the FOV depends on how close you sit to the monitor.
Imagine WC1 projected on your wall... well, besides the fact that the FOV in the game is only half the screen, you could get the same effect by gluing your nose to the monitor (or maybe slightly back... you need to focus and all).
