New In Box 22" Viewsonic P220FB Perfect Flat CRT Unboxed

C

cesarioFL71

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 26, 2021
Messages
378
Just a public service post for the crt enthusiasts in the forums. I just received a brand new 22" crt after months of searching for one. Finally found this unicorn in the wild from this Ebay seller. Highly recommended! I purchased two units from him. Perfect condition! Beautiful Image! Will use it for gaming at 1600x1200@85hz.

https://www.ebay.com/usr/tekrefurbs?_trksid=p2047675.l2559


He frequently will list NIB crt monitors for sale.
 
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Can't say I miss those heavy CRT beasts (good way to destroy your back), but it does bring back the memories!
 
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carce2428 I managed to nab one of these as well! Unfortunately I’ve got a bit of a shake between 70-85hz refresh rate. Curious if you are seeing anything similar? At 60Hz or anything 90Hz+ I can’t see it.
 
ChadTi99 said:
carce2428 I managed to nab one of these as well! Unfortunately I’ve got a bit of a shake between 70-85hz refresh rate. Curious if you are seeing anything similar? At 60Hz or anything 90Hz+ I can’t see it.
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Congrats! Sorry to hear about that. I have not experienced it with my unit at all. I run the gamut of resolutions and refresh rates using a cheap HDMI to VGA convertor with a gtx 3060ti. Let me know what happens.
 
carce2428 said:
I run the gamut of resolutions and refresh rates using a cheap HDMI to VGA convertor
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I doubt you are. Most of those converters cap out at 1600x1200 ~ 60hz, when your monitor can probably do 90hz or more at that resolution. Check the FW900 thread to learn about some better converters.
 
Enhanced Interrogator said:
I doubt you are. Most of those converters cap out at 1600x1200 ~ 60hz, when your monitor can probably do 90hz or more at that resolution. Check the FW900 thread to learn about some better converters.
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My converter allows me to go up to 2048x1536 @ 60hz. I have no need to run it beyond 1600x1200@ 85hz. I am quite satisfied with the image quality at that resolution. I've been following the thread you refer to since 2007. That being said I notice no shakiness at any resolution up to 2048x1536.
 
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carce2428 said:
My converter allows me to go up to 2048x1536 @ 60hz. I have no need to run it beyond 1600x1200@ 85hz. I am quite satisfied with the image quality at that resolution. I've been following the thread you refer to since 2007. That being said I notice no shakiness at any resolution up to 2048x1536.
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I just looked up your monitor and it could do 2304x1728 @ 60hz. That would be a really useful mode to have for games that are locked at 60fps. You adapter won't support that though.

Likewise, your monitor could do 1856x1392 @ 75hz but the adapter won't

If I had a 3060Ti I'd definitely be looking to squeeze every bit of juice out of the monitor
 
I had this exact monitor new and used it for years. At some point the higher resolutions don’t look that great due to dot pitch, going by memory.
 
sethk said:
I had this exact monitor new and used it for years. At some point the higher resolutions don’t look that great due to dot pitch, going by memory.
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Yeah. I like the image and text at 1600x1200@85hz. Anything higher and it's diminishing returns as far as image quality.
 
Unfortunately my "NEW" crt has stopped working. I get a black screen only with no OSD displayed. There's a solid green light so there's a signal but that's it. I hate to lose this unit as it has less than a couple days of usage on the tube. I can't see myself ever finding another unit like this NIB. I tried contacting Steve from Retrotech to see if I could ship the unit for service but he hasn't responded to any of my emails or messages. If anyone knows where I can ship my unit to be serviced please point me in the right direction. Shipping costs is no problem!!!!!
 

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I had that monitor, it was one of the best at the time. It's crazy you were able to find a new one.
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I stopped using it around 2009
 
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carce2428 said:
Unfortunately my "NEW" crt has stopped working. I get a black screen only with no OSD displayed. There's a solid green light so there's a signal but that's it. I hate to lose this unit as it has less than a couple days of usage on the tube. I can't see myself ever finding another unit like this NIB. I tried contacting Steve from Retrotech to see if I could ship the unit for service but he hasn't responded to any of my emails or messages. If anyone knows where I can ship my unit to be serviced please point me in the right direction. Shipping costs is no problem!!!!!
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I have a NEC Diamondtron with this same problem. I haven't cracked it open to fix it yet.

I'll let you know when I do. My best guess is some of the high voltage caps are too old and need to be replaced.

Dont' forget that the early 00's were the height of the "capacitor plague"

kindasmart said:
I remember 21" CRTs. 2048x1536 was godly when I was rocking my 14" no-name at 1024x768.
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It's still pretty godly, considering most people are still rocking 1920x1080 LCDs.

My 21" CRT supports resolution that even my modern 5700xt can't drive in some games.
 
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That will be much appreciated! Bad caps were my first thought but I don't have the expertise to even begin to diagnose the issue. I've actually been looking forward to running Stalker 2 with DLSS on this monitor. Can't wait to crank the res all the way up on this baby combined with DLSS and ray tracing FTW!
 
Well I've decided to grab the bull by the horns and teach myself basic crt repair. It seems no reputable technician can be found in my area and Steve from Retrotech has not responded to any of my emails. That said, I had no intention of learning the ins and outs of my crt boards and components but this is my hobby and I love my crt monitors enough to try and keep them in service. I understand the dangers involved so will first learn how to properly discharge a crt tube and then start reading up on the mainboard and the various capacitors that tend to go bad and what to look for when they do go bad. My intent is to diagnose the reason my screen remains black even when powered on and showing a solid green LED. Then hopefully it's just a bad cap that needs replaced and ID'ing and then replacing said capacitor. I would appreciate any help or pointers from the vets on this forum.
 
I'd almost rather you practice on something else first.

But definitely watch some Louis Rossman videos (the rare ones that are actually about soldering haha) and get an idea of the basic technique.

I tried soldering without researching it first and almost destroyed an input board on a CRT because I wasn't using flux and didn't have temperature control on my iron. Now I have all the basics and the stuff I've repaired (game controllers, consoles, PC motherobard) turned out a lot better.

For what it's worth, it seems a lot of people that re-cap CRTs don't just replace one cap, they replace a bunch. Like a whole power supply, a how horizontal deflection section, etc.
 
Enhanced Interrogator said:
I'd almost rather you practice on something else first.

But definitely watch some Louis Rossman videos (the rare ones that are actually about soldering haha) and get an idea of the basic technique.

I tried soldering without researching it first and almost destroyed an input board on a CRT because I wasn't using flux and didn't have temperature control on my iron. Now I have all the basics and the stuff I've repaired (game controllers, consoles, PC motherobard) turned out a lot better.

For what it's worth, it seems a lot of people that re-cap CRTs don't just replace one cap, they replace a bunch. Like a whole power supply, a how horizontal deflection section, etc.
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Believe me when I say I'd rather not fiddle around inside any crt but in this case it's worth it. This particular unit being NIB is as rare as it gets and it would be a shame to see it disposed of or parted out. Thanks for the pointers and the videos. I will be sure to check those out.
 
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i agree, one first worth trying step would be to try to resolder or adding new soldier, of course taking the respectve and advised cautions, in my case, when not the same issue as yours, , but for example, in one of my CRTs, the compaq 7550 , the picture area one day was displayed horizontaly narrowed, as seen in the posted picture, no OSD adjustment, no switching to other resolutions, or other refresh rates helped, not turning off, then on the monitor, nothing, that image became permament, so i searched on the internet in sites like CRT collective group in facebook and someone with smilar issue but for another brand, an apple CRT fixed his by replacing some diode.

but before learing and researching what component could be the failing one, i decided to give a try first reinforcing with a Soldering Iron and applying new soldier, over the entire board, as many soldeir points as i could, specially on those bigger ones. in my case i didnt use flux but took precautions to quickly and carefully apply new soldier, let the board get cool enough between soldierings and so on, and it fixed the issue!, after all that soldiering, the image on the 7550 got back to normal and so far still is, so far i have not need to replace any component.


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3dfan said:
i agree, one first worth trying step would be to try to resolder or adding new soldier, of course taking the respectve and advised cautions, in my case, when not the same issue as yours, , but for example, in one of my CRTs, the compaq 7550 , the picture area one day was displayed horizontaly narrowed, as seen in the posted picture, no OSD adjustment, no switching to other resolutions, or other refresh rates helped, not turning off, then on the monitor, nothing, that image became permament, so i searched on the internet in sites like CRT collective group in facebook and someone with smilar issue but for another brand, an apple CRT fixed his by replacing some diode.

but before learing and researching what component could be the failing one, i decided to give a try first reinforcing with a Soldering Iron and applying new soldier, over the entire board, as many soldeir points as i could, specially on those bigger ones. in my case i didnt use flux but took precautions to quickly and carefully apply new soldier, let the board get cool enough between soldierings and so on, and it fixed the issue!, after all that soldiering, the image on the 7550 got back to normal and so far still is, so far i have not need to replace any component.


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Thanks for your insight on this issue. I will keep your experience in mind as I go about this. Heck, might as well learn how to solder! :)
 
Enhanced Interrogator said:
I'd almost rather you practice on something else first.

But definitely watch some Louis Rossman videos (the rare ones that are actually about soldering haha) and get an idea of the basic technique.

I tried soldering without researching it first and almost destroyed an input board on a CRT because I wasn't using flux and didn't have temperature control on my iron. Now I have all the basics and the stuff I've repaired (game controllers, consoles, PC motherobard) turned out a lot better.

For what it's worth, it seems a lot of people that re-cap CRTs don't just replace one cap, they replace a bunch. Like a whole power supply, a how horizontal deflection section, etc.
Click to expand...
I remember the first time I powered her up and she was connected to a GTX 1650ti via DVI-D to VGA adaptor from Benfei. The very next time I powered her on about six months later it was with an RTX 3060ti via DP to VGA adapter. She would not dispay anything on screen after that but there was a solid green light up front. Perhaps the electronics of the monitor does not play well with DP to VGA or HDMI to VGA? Perhaps the DVI-D to VGA adaptor is the only one she will work with? I'm reaching here but perhaps someone has had a similar experience? Unfotunately, I no longer have that same GTX 1650ti with the DVI-D out to test.
 
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Well, I am starting the process of troubleshooting the issue with this crt. Upon pressing the power button the LED light will turn a solid green and the monitor turns on and degausses like normal but the screen remains blank. No "out of range" message not even the ability to open the menu. All the while the led light remains a solid green. If I remove the video source the led will turn yellow and go into sleep mode. Also, there's no static coming from the screen upon startup. Any ideas?
 
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