With the falling prices of large LCD/HD moniters, even the Independent videographer should be able to afford a decent sized flat (thin) LCD or HD moniter.
As previously stated having an external source to view (particularly one that has been tuned to the proper color setting prior to the shoot) can save you and your projects loads of time and money. The investment is definitly worth it. If worse comes to worse, go out buy a cheap tv, adjust the color in a controlled setting, and use that as your external.
Except for the Iraq cenario, it’s not that absurd to have one around all the time. If you’re really confined to a space consider using a uhf broadcaster/receiver setup and have your DP/etc view the moniter up to 200 feet or more from the camera. This style of setup is used prominently in the news medias and ENG shooting.
