The Portable Monitor Setup I Now Use on Every Shoot

For the past few years, I’ve been using portable monitors on set, both on a cart workstation and on a laptop plate. I'm far from the first to do so a lot of people are doing the same. The combination of small size, odd aspect ratios, and lightweight makes them surprisingly useful on set.

Portable monitors are essentially laptop display panels in a standalone housing. They come from countless brands and range from small single panels to large folding displays. One of the biggest advantages is that they are USB-C powered. In most cases, a single USB-C cable provides both power and video from a laptop.

Choosing the Right Monitor

Initially I went with a 16-inch monitor that matches the aspect ratio of the 16-inch MacBook Pro I use on set. The brand is Uperfect, which I chose after seeing consistent positive feedback from others. I now own three. One lives on my desk, and two are dedicated for on-set use. While there's some wild options out there like this dual panel. I just went with what made the most sense and was easy to transport.

Brightness is often the biggest limitation with portable monitors, usually topping out around 350 to 500 nits. However, recently Uperfect and few other brands released  16-inch 4K models rated at 1200 nits. These immediately caught my attention. So I grabbed one to test out, after calibration, I measured it at around 1100 nits, which is impressive for a monitor in this category and a great step up over my previous option that was ~400nits.

Color has also been solid. Many of these monitors claim 100 percent sRGB coverage or other color spaces. In my testing, they typically hit around 98 percent or better for sRGB. For on-set monitoring, that is more than sufficient.
(I should note you'll need play around with the configuration and create a custom profile to get the max brightness out of these.)

How I Use Them on Set

On my cart, the portable monitor acts as an extra display. I use it to keep tools visible or to mirror the feed from my wireless HDMI system so I can see exactly what the client is seeing. I toss it on the Baby Pin Mount or mount it on the Whaley Rail system that I have on my cart.

When I’m working on sticks with a laptop plate, I mount the monitor off to the side using an Accessory Mount Pro. Depending on the job, I either mirror the laptop display or extend it for additional screen space, whatever is best for the workflow that day.

But What About Mounting and Power?

Mounting turned out to be the most important detail for use on set. I made sure to choose a monitor with 75 mm VESA mounting, which opens up a lot of flexibility. (Many of these portables are designed to use a case or kickstand and offer no VESA option) For mounts, I tested several options and made a few custom solutions, including this CAMVATE cheese plate. Which was fine for a quick release and cable management but I needed more.

 CAMVATE cheese plate I found a bit lacking

So, when I wanted to pair the 4K 1200-nit monitor with a Hollyland Pyro H receiver, it became clear that I needed a way to mount a receiver and a battery directly to the monitor. Nothing that was available off the shelf did exactly what I wanted. So I had to whip something up.

The VESA Cheese Plate (75mm)

The VESA Cheese Plate (75mm). It is a scaled-down version of the larger VESA Cheese Plate. This 75mm version focuses on being lightweight while adding flexibility. The plate weighs about 130 grams with the removable handle and provides multiple mounting points that can be used for batteries, receivers, cable management and more.

Stand mount paired with the male side of a Kondor Blue Mini Lock

For quick release, I use a Kondor Blue Mini Lock paired with this stand mount. From there, I can run either an NP-F plate or a V-mount battery mount. There are plenty of ways to configure power, but I prefer using the Cheese Plate Mount. for the setup. I grabbed some U-shaped mini HDMI and USB-C adapters to help withe cable management and 

In summary, Portable monitors have earned a permanent spot in my kit. And now with a bright panel and a flexible mounting solution, they become a compact, wireless monitor that works just about anywhere. Now onto making a custom sunshade...