The Review: A Detailed Analysis of the ViewSonic G220fb Monitor

As I unboxed the ViewSonic G220fb, I couldn't help but notice how buttery smooth-looking this monitor is. With its impressive 180Hz vertical refresh rate, it's clear that this is a high-end gaming display. I've never seen a monitor with such a high refresh rate in the vertical sense before, and I'm excited to put it through its paces.

Upon initial setup, I noticed that the monitor was set to 170Hz, which was disappointing given its advertised 180Hz capabilities. However, when I checked the ViewSonic website, I saw that Windows was actually set to 180Hz, but the drivers were not detecting it correctly. After trying a few different driver versions from ViewSonic's archives, I was still unable to get the monitor to recognize its full potential. Despite this limitation, the G220fb still performs admirably in most games, with most defaulting to refresh rates between 60-75Hz.

When it comes to display settings, the G220fb offers a plethora of options on its on-screen display menu. From contrast and brightness adjustments to horizontal and vertical size and position controls, users have plenty of flexibility to fine-tune their viewing experience. The monitor also features zoom capabilities, allowing for easy resizing of the image to suit individual needs.

One of the more interesting features of this monitor is its ability to adjust convergence. This allows for precise alignment of the left and right eye to create a seamless viewing experience. Additionally, there's a purity adjustment feature that can help minimize color fringing around the edges of the screen. These advanced features are sure to please enthusiasts who want a high level of image quality.

Geometry is generally well-handled on this monitor, with only minor distortions in certain areas. However, I noticed that some parts of the screen exhibit a faint blurriness when viewed closely, which may be due to manufacturing tolerances or other factors. Furthermore, there's also an issue with color accuracy around the edges, where chromatic aberration can sometimes cause the colors to shift slightly.

In terms of focus and sharpness, the G220fb has some minor issues. Depending on the viewer's position, certain areas of the screen can appear slightly blurry or out of focus. This is somewhat mitigated by adjusting the focus settings in the monitor's service menu, but it's still not a perfect solution. The warm-up period for this monitor takes about 30 minutes to reach full effectiveness, which may be a consideration for users who need instantaneous performance.

Despite its minor flaws and limitations, I found the ViewSonic G220fb to be fully usable and enjoyable. With its high refresh rate and advanced display features, it's well-suited for gaming applications that require smooth motion and detailed images. However, for professionals working with graphics-intensive content or requiring ultra-high image sharpness, this monitor may not be the best choice.

It's worth noting that ViewSonic has a reputation for producing monitors geared more towards gamers than graphics professionals. While the G220fb is certainly a powerful display, it seems that the company's target market is more focused on gaming enthusiasts rather than serious professionals. For users who need to work with high-end graphics or require absolute image sharpness, there are other options available in the Professional Series of monitors.

Overall, the ViewSonic G220fb offers an excellent viewing experience for those looking for a smooth and responsive display. While it may not be perfect, its features and performance make it a solid choice for gamers and enthusiasts who demand high-quality visuals.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Greetings, and this time on LGR,it's another trip back to the mid-2000sby way of old computer equipment.This is the 21-inch ViewSonic G220fb,the highest-end display inViewSonic's Graphics Seriesof CRT monitors at the time.That time ranging from late 2002when it first hit the marketuntil early 2006 when itfinally left store shelves.And depending on the point inits lifespan you bought it,its original price was roughly $500-600.Actually on the more affordableside for CRT monitorsof this size and spec.And this is from a fascinating periodin computer display techwhere the industry wasrapidly transitioningaway from cathode ray tubes,phasing them out in favor ofsignificantly thinner LCDs.But they were both onthe market simultaneouslyand the choice wasn't always a no-brainer,with larger LCDs hovering aroundthe same $500-600 price pointas the G220fb for the handfulof years it was manufactured.And those panels generally maxed outat 19 inches in size witha 1280x1024 resolutionand had the usual caveatslike a 500:1 contrast ratio,16-millisecond response times,85-hertz max refresh rates,and iffy resolution scaling.So if that kind ofcapability just wouldn't do,then a CRT like thisremained mighty tempting,for a few years.Whether your needs came fromgraphic design, CAD work,enjoying multimedia, or playing PC games,the G220fb would've been a prime contenderfor your next monitor back then.For one thing, it's biggerthan many LCD monitors were,with a 21-inch CRT and a20-inch viewable area on screen.And it boasts an impressive2048x1536maximum resolution on Windows PCs.This is with a refreshrate of 68 hertz as well,and on lower resolutions,that can go all the way up to 180 hertz,according to the documentation.Allowing three times thenumber of frames per secondcompared to the usual 60.It's also pretty sharpwith a .25-millimeter diagonal dot pitch,leading to crispy text andwell-defined graphical details.And all this in a packagethat won't immediately break your back,weighing only 27 kilograms,or just about 60 pounds,relatively lightweight for a 21-inch CRT,around 25% less thansome of its competitors.Now, you do only get astandard 15-pin VGA connection.No DVI, BNC, or anythingmore exotic like 13W3.This still provides morethan an acceptable image,in my view, enhanced even furtherby ViewSonic's trademarkARAG screen treatmentproviding an anti-reflective,anti-glare coating.And of course, this is a flat screen CRT,the trendiest of early 2000s trendsin cathode ray tube tech.So there's little to nocurvature around the edges,and instead the phosphorsare more rigidly spreadacross a squared-off slab of glass.Now, ViewSonic marketing referred to thisas being one of their PerfectFlat tubes,but that seems to have causeda bit of confusion at the time.I saw a number of oldforum posts refer to thisas being a derivative ofMitsubishi Diamondtron,especially the NF, orNaturally Flat, variety.But those, to my knowledge,used an aperture grille inside,similar to Sony Trinitron tubes,which this G220fb definitely doesn't have.Contemporary reviews mention ithaving an Invar shadow mask instead,and yeah, that matchesup with what I'm seeing.I'm guessing there may havebeen some confusion back thenbetween the G220 and P220 displays,which ViewSonic sold side byside for a number of years.Now, both are branded asbeing PerfectFlat displays,but the G, or GraphicsSeries, used a shadow mask,and the P, or ProfessionalSeries, had an aperture grille.They're each housed in the samebeige or black plastic too,so they look basically the same, but yeah,up close the aperture grilleand shadow mask displayslook quite different.Neither are intrinsicallybetter or worse overall.Personally I go back andforth between using each typequite often here on LGR.But with the similarmodel names and design,it's no wonder folks gotmixed up online sometimes.Speaking of which, I'mgetting all mixed upin technical details here.Where are my manners?I have to give a bigthanks to LGR viewer Mitchfor giving me this thing, in person!I recently attendedSoutheast Game Exchangein Greenville, South Carolina,and he was kind enoughto bring the monitorand give it to me thereso we wouldn't have to deal with shipping.Apparently it had been sitting unusedat his workplace for a long timeand he knew I'd mentioned mysearch for a good 21-inch tube.And yeah, here we are!Thank you for your generosity, man.I appreciate it. And it's in great shape,other than the typicalscuffs, dust, and grimefrom years of use and subsequent storage.Nothing a brief cleaningsession couldn't fix,which resulted in onelovely-looking exampleof a ViewSonic G220 series.An ideal display for allsorts of VGA-driven systems,to be sure. But *ideally* idealwith a Windows XP PC from the mid-2000s.So with this all cleaned upand connected to the LGR XP Dream PC,let's power it on and test it outwith a variety of software,resolutions, and refresh ratesand enjoy a relaxingafternoon of computer gameson a big, beefy monitor.All right! Well, the lovelyG220fb is looking lovely.All set up. I got it calibrated,much as I can anyway.We'll get to that in a second.And yeah, I wish I could getacross or just truly conveyhow much of a presencethis thing has in person.It is truly magnificent.I mean, you saw that comparison earlierwhere I had it beside myusual ViewSonic, a 17-inch,which seems plenty bigenough, and then you see this.And, you know,zoomed in on a video justthrough YouTube watching this,it may not look any differentat all, I don't know.It's all relative whenyou're watching a video.But yeah, I do have this hererunning at the maximum refresh rate.Again, you're only watchingthis at 60 FPS, but I swear,in person, this is the mostbuttery smooth-looking thingI think I've ever seen.I've never had a monitorthat refreshes this high,in the vertical sense.So 180 hertz verticalis what the maximum is.It only seems to go up to 170 though,at least according to this Viewmeter.Even though in Windows, itis actually set to 180 hertz.I don't know if that'sjust a driver limitationor something like that holding me back,because yeah, it just shows upas the generic plug and play.I have found some drivers from ViewSonicfrom back in the day that should work,but it's still coming up as undetectedwhen I install it thatway, so I don't know.I just haven't been able tofind the exact G220fb driver.But anyway, it stillseems to work as intended.It's just not 180, it's 170according to the monitor.Anyway, yeah, most games tend to defaultto running between 60 and 75 hertz anyway,but yeah, there's ways around that.This looks fantastic, for the most part,and when it doesn't, there'splenty of options hereon the on-screen display.So contrast and brightness,horizontal size/position,vertical for the same.Also a zoom, which just zoomsin and out the entire thing.Your standard pincushionand other balancing.Trapezoid. You know, your hook.Horizontal/vertical convergence,that's kind of interesting.So... I mean, I'm not gonna mess with it'cause I have it in theright spot right now.But yeah, it's nice to havesome additional things,like convergence, and purity as well.You can also mostly adjustthe redness around the edges.Horizontal/vertical moirepattern adjustment as well,just in case things get a little off.And of course, justdegaussing on command is nice.Geometry is mostly okay.You have these little bits here and therethat just sorta go in a little bit.I don't know, it's not 100% flat,squared off as it should be.And then there's also just...It's hard to notice here.It's probably impossible toeven see on video at all,but there is a bit ofblurriness in certain areaswhere it's just not even.And there's also the factthat some of the colorstend to distort a bit around the edges,not just in terms of purity,but also a bit of chromatic aberration.Not really visible on thistest necessarily, but...Uh, let me see here.All right, so here you can seejust a little bit of the purityissues, mostly in the red.Yeah, green and blue look perfectly fine.It's just this little bit right here.And no, it's not 'cause of these.These are fully shielded speakers.It's like this before I even got it,so I'm assuming maybe somethingwas just sitting here.Or who knows, these thingsget outta wack after a while.But yeah, even adjustingthe purity on here, so...You can see there, maybe.I don't know, it...Yeah.Go down here, nyah...It never really fixes this one corner.So right about here is just about the bestthat I have been able to get it.But yeah, the other issue isthe inconsistent sharpness,or really, the focus is slightly off.Either in the middle itcan get really sharp,but then the edges, you getthat little bit of softnessand some aberration going on,or you can flip it the otherway around in the service menu,which you can see here,and adjust the focus,but then the center of thescreen gets a little blurryand the outsides are really clear.So you kinda have tosettle for a middle groundof slightly blurry all over the screenand then sharper in the middle,which is how I have it set'cause a lot of things aregonna be in the middle,for gaming, or the otherway around, and then...Yeah, it's just not 100%.So yeah, there's a warmupperiod of about 30 minutes.It definitely improvesafter it's fully warmed up.And you know what, this is fully usable.Really, it's fine.But this is also mentionedin certain reviewsback in the day as well.So folks were justsaying this is not reallyan ideal option for professionals,especially if you're doingfull-screen graphics workor just need to have very sharp imagery.You know, go for theProfessional Series of monitors,like the P220fb.Which, this is theGraphics Series, which...You'd think maybeit's meant for graphic work,but apparently they meanlike gaming graphics?I don't know.This was often recommendedas like \"the gaming option.\"Anyway, I just havesort of a middle groundset here for the desktop at 800x600.You go really, really, really highand then the blurrinessbecomes even more apparentbecause everything is much smaller.Oh man, I also meant tosay earlier in the videothat there is a USB option for this.Check out around back here on the monitor.There's a little cutoutwhere you can add a USB hub, I suppose.It seems to be related tosomething ViewSonic soldcalled the USB hub add-on.And yeah, apparently it wasa USB hub compatible basewhich I can only assumesat underneath the monitor,I can't find any pictures,and then maybe it would pluginto an extra USB add-on thing.I don't know, there werethings you could add to this,which I just don't see thattoo often on older CRTs.So I thought that was kindof interesting, but whatever.Let's just take a look at some games here,'cause the games look amazing.And I'm gonna go up theladder of resolutions.We'll start at 320x200and we'll go all the way upto the highest supported 1536p resolution.So let's just start withsomething at 320x200.Yeah, good ol' \"Crystal Caves.\"And again, this...Aw man, it just looksso good at this size!The color reproductionand everything on hereis just phenomenal.And yeah, seeing this resolutionso cleanly and crispilytaken up to this size...Oh!It's just a treat.\"Crystal Caves\" hasnever looked so crystal.Yeah, I know this is justsuch a high-resolution large monitorthat it makes sense to runhigh-resolution large stuff, but, eh...I'm almost more impressed by the lower resanytime that I get a larger display,because then it just looks so much better.Any kinda retro just looks greaton a nice, big display like this.And, you know, I have larger CRTs,Sony Trinitrons and whatnot,but they're TVs and you'resitting farther awayand, you know, sitting here,it's like maybe 20 inchesaway that I'm sitting.And sitting up closewith a desk like this,it's just a different experienceand I enjoy the crap out of it.Okay, so let's move on up to 640x480,and for that I'm going to runUbisoft's \"POD\" from 1997.Lemme get the refresh rate.It just changes dependingon the game, you know.So this one goes back down,all the way back down, to 75 hertz.- Five,four,three,two,one,go!- Ah, once again,kinda lower res blown upthis crispily and cleanly,these fantastic colors.I really hope it's coming across.I don't know, man.I also saw some complaintsin older reviews of the...Need to put the volume down abit. I think that might work.Yeah, there we go.Yeah, some complaints in older reviewssaying the black levelsweren't very good on here.I mean, yeah, it's alittle bit more than, say,my Gateway VX700.It's a little bit more graythan that, just a little bit.But, you know, the VX700,that has a Trinitron aperture grill thing.That's actually what I showed earlierwhen I was doing a comparisonbetween shadow mask/aperture grill.I don't know.This is on par with myother ViewSonic monitors,so I don't know.No real complaints.But yeah, I think it looks great.Especially in the dark.I've got some light going hereand it's the middle of the dadgum day,so there's all kinds of lightmaking things a littlebit washed out, perhaps.But dude.Love this game!And just seeing it likethis is phenomenal.I only ever played this, Ithink, on a 15-inch CRT as a kid.And then predominantly on17-inch CRTs ever since,so going all the way up to20- to 21-inches...It's just great.All right, let's takeanother step up the ladderto 800x600 resolution.Not a huge bump up from 480p, but what isis the refresh rate that wehave \"Half-Life 2\" running here,and that is the full 180 hertz,or 170, as it's reading it by the monitor.So, uh...Let's see which one I wanna load. Yeah.So...Oh my goodness. The smoothness of this!It is really hard tojust even describe.It feels more real than real.And, like, I've played at...Oh gosh, you know, likereally high-refresh rate OLEDsand LCDs and whatnot over the years.I've got a 120-hertz display upstairsand I've played at 240.But somehow this...This even feels more smooth than that?I don't know, maybe it's justlike the low persistence,or even the fact that there's justlike a zero-millisecond response timein terms of, yeah, justthe way the phosphors work.And like just the verynature of reality with CRTs.I don't know.It's smoother than smooth,is how this comes across.Especially running at, youknow, 300 frames per second.Again, probably not really coming acrosson video or whatever.Man, if I could upload thisat like 200 frames per second, I would.Course, I would need a camerathat recorded that fast.All right, let's crankthings up a good waysin terms of resolution,going all the way up tothe manufacture-recommendedresolution for the monitor, 1600x1200.And not only that, but I'mpushing things even furtherin the Nvidia Control Panelhere on \"Midtown Madness.\"So no only do we havejust really highresolution running, but...Okay. Wow.We also have 8x multisample anti-aliasingforced through the Nvidia driver.So this...It almost looks cartoonish.Just like line art, you know.I don't know, like a pre-rendered cutscenekind of artificiality to it.I don't know, man. This is, uh...Yeah, this would've beena mighty ridiculous flexin the late '90s, or even early 2000s.Oh, man. Yeah, seriously, going from...Or just remembering 640x480 gaming.At most, when this came out.In fact, I think we played it at 320x240,then we got a 3Daccelerator and it was like,oh, 640x480 or 800x600.So 1600x1200!And then there's justthe fact that, you know,it's just such a huge monitor.Never saw it on anythinglike this back then.This is just...It's so cool. That's all it is.It's just a treat, you know?Yeah.Childhood wish fulfillment.Or really, adolescentwish fulfillment, I guess,'cause I was like 13 when I got this.But it doesn't look right.It almost looks like a...You know when you take anemulator, you got like PS2 games,and then you crank it up,and it's like, ooh, wow,4x scaling internal or whatever,and it looks ridiculous?'Cause you still have theselow-res textures and everything.The filters and stuff going on there.But yeah, everythingin terms of the models,the resolution is just so stupidly crispy.And then, yeah, theanti-aliasing on top of that.It just looks like...Almost like paper cutoutsor something like that.Ah, it's weird.It's neat though.Isn't this neat? I think it is!Dude.What a cool monitor.Okay, so let's really pullout the big guns, so to speak.\"Unreal Tournament 2004.\"And this right here, I havecustomized the INI fileto max out the resolutionto the full 2048x1536.At 1,300 FPS. Why not?But yeah, no anti-aliasing here,but you truly do not need it.You know, to be honest, youdon't even need it at 1600x1200.But yeah, look at this. 2048x1536!I only ever saw that kind of numberon the back of higher-endvideo card boxes and stuff.You know, like, \"Oh, maybe,sure, somebody could run that,but I will never see it.\"- Play!- Okay.Yeah!Again, it almost looks fakewith how high-resolution it is.Like, this is...- In position!- It's stupid.And the text is so tiny.- First blood!- Oh yeah, there we go.But yeah, in terms of...Aw man, just being ableto see every single detailso brilliantly on here, it's unmatched.Like, this resolution isstill really high even now.- Killing spree!- 1536 across.Or, you know, up and down.- Headshot!- Yeah, dude.- Blue flag returned.- And the teeny-tiny crosshair!Oh, I don't know. This just cracks me up.Again, weird boyhood-dream-come-truetype of thing,you know, just lookingat video cards and stuffin the late '90s and end of the 2000s.Seeing these bonkersresolutions listed as supported.And then, you know, evenseeing huge monitors like thisjust on display.At places like Best Buy andCompUSA and Circuit City.I don't know, man, like even then,they may have had them set upat a pretty high resolution,but I have never seen 2048x1536in person until literally today.This is my first time experiencing it.Like, you can look atevery single little detailin that sniper rifle and, like,it's so hard to even seeany individual depictionsof pixels or anything.It's just a...Aw, man.And you know, it's still not...Well, if I have to admit, 100% idealbecause of that blurriness situationand some of the slight purityissues with the redness.But, you know, when you'rejust playing like this,you don't notice that at all.It just looks so good.However...- Headshot!- I would reallylike one that was in beige,of course, just to match somany of my other computers.But this one with the Windows XP PC,which is a big black case,it's fine, you know.But yeah, I've alwayswanted one of the Sonys or the NEC ones,and in fact, I've gottensome of those over the yearsand they've never worked!This is the first 21-inchmonitor that I've ever hadthat actually works.Yeah, I thought that was a Redeemer.I just picked it up onthe ground.Anyway.Yeah, the big ol' Sony Trinitronthat I had at one point,it just made these horrible arcing noisesand then something popped and fried.It was not in good shape,outside or inside, so thatone ended up getting e-cycled.And then I got thisphenomenal huge 12-inch NEC,like a professional graphicsmonitor from 1992 or something,and it was basically new in box.I thought it would be afantastic thing to coverand I recorded a full unboxingand all this stuff and setting it up,and then it just never worked.It doesn't work at all.I don't get any kinda power.- Headshot!- All right!Well, that's pretty muchit for this video, I think.Again, thank you to Mitch.This thing is truly a treat,and I hope that I'vebeen able to convey thata little bit here on LGR.It's definitely somethingyou're gonna be seeingmore of in the future.It's just nice to havea larger display to filmwhen I'm demonstratingcertain games and things.It's easier to film a much larger CRTthan it is a smaller one.You know, you typicallyget less of a moire effect,and having a flat-screen CRT like this tooalso helps with that.Yeah, I hope that you enjoyed seeing this.Do check out some of myother videos I've doneon other retro monitors in the past.I'm sure I'm gonna bedoing more in the future.Something about cathode ray tube things,it just amuses the crap outta me.It's one of those experiencesyou can't fully emulatethrough software alone on newer hardware,and it just completes thelook of so many older machinesthat I'm constantly showing off here.So yeah, stick around formore videos if you'd like,or check out existing ones.And as always, thank you for watching!\n"