What is the best monitor out there - that isn't a monitor?

[David D]

I was thinking of alternates to the Marshall monitors that are really expensive. There seems to be a big push in phones and gaming towards small hand-held devices with great resolution on the screen (like the iPhone).
Do you think something like the Helius Ocean or even a PSP could double as a monitor for HD shoots? The price point would be nicer and the screen is made to be clear and crisp...

Any thoughts?

[Jon Wolding]

If you're just looking for something to help you frame (b/c cam is on a jib or you want an external monitor for the director to watch), then you can use just about anything.

If you're looking for a field monitor for focus and exposure, then you really only have a handful of options. Panasonic has a 8.4" and a 7.9", ERG has an 8.4", and Astro makes a ~8". With the exception of the Panasonic 7.9", all these monitors have a resolution around 1024x768 pixels (the ERG is 700h?). The Panasonic 7.9" is 800x480, but it actually is the best option of these because it has focus-in-red and pixel-to-pixel (which actually lets it display higher res that all the other monitors)... this is also currently the cheapest HD field monitor solution.