The G220f CRT Monitor, Windows 7 and the Coveted 100 Hz Refresh Rate

Even though I built a new PC, I did not want to purchase a LCD monitor, preferring to squeeze more life out of my aging 21” Viewsonic G220f CRT monitor. (Edit 1/16 – Okay, I did buy one.) I always set the monitor resolution to 1280×1024 @ 100Hz. Windows XP has a 100Hz screen refresh rate option available but this option is missing for Windows 7.

Windows 7 looks for a special signal coming from monitors that list their supported screen resolutions and refresh rates known as EDID. LCD monitors send EDID information whereas my CRT monitor does not, causing Windows 7 to default to a generic monitor with a limited set of refresh rates.

This walk-though enables the 100Hz refresh rate option and assumes you use the following:

1. Windows 7, 64-bit
2. A 21” ViewSonic G220f CRT monitor
3. A video card based with a Nvidia chipset.

The following steps will set the resolution to 1280 x 1024 @ 100 Hz. If you desire something different, then use your preferred settings. Be sure that these are valid for you monitor.

Part 1 – Installing the ViewSonic Driver in Windows 7 (64-bit)

Using the CD that came with the monitor, copy the following files to a sharable directory:

• G220f_WB.icm
• G220f_WB.inf

If you don’t have the original CD, these files are available here. (Labeled 05/23/02 A-CD-G220f/fb)

I copied these files to a sharable directory, C:\Users\Public, so that my administrator account can also access these files.

Two changes are required to G220f_WB.inf to make the driver installable in a 64-bit operating system. (source link)

Find:

[Manufacturer]
%ViewSonic%=ViewSonic

Replace with:

[Manufacturer]
%ViewSonic%=ViewSonic,NTamd64

Find:

[ViewSonic]

Replace with:

[ViewSonic.NTamd64]

To install the modified driver, you cannot right-click on the .inf file and choose install. You must do the following:

1. Right click on a empty spot on the Desktop.
2. Choose Screen resolution.
3. In the Screen Resolution window, Choose Advanced settings
4. In the Generic PnP Monitor and video card properties window, click on the Monitor tab.

   

5. Click on Properties that appears to the right of Generic PnP Monitor.
6. In the Generic PnP Monitor properties window, click on the Driver tab.

   

7. Click on Update Driver…
8. In the Update Driver Software window, choose Browse my computer for driver software.
9. Choose Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.

   

10. Click on the Have Disk button.
11. In the Install From Disk window, click on Browse…
12. Navigate to the location of the modified G220f_WB.inf file, select the file and click Open.



13. In the Install From Disk window, click OK.
14. You will be returned to the Update Driver Software window.

    

15. The ViewSonic G220f monitor is listed with a warning that the driver is not digitally signed. Click Next.

    

16. Because the driver is not digitally signed, as it predates the concept of driver signing, a Windows Security dialog appears. Choose Install this driver software anyway.
17. After a minute, you should see a Windows has success updated your driver software window.
    

Close out of all windows created from the above steps. The careful observer may notice the Generic PnP Properties window has changed to Viewsonic G220f Properties (step 6) but the Generic PnP Monitor and video card properties (step 4) does not reflect the new monitor driver name. It will after rebooting; however, reboot is not necessary to continue.

Troubleshooting:

Once the drivers are installed, you can undo this change by clicking on the Roll Back Driver button (this will no longer be grayed-out) in step 6.

Part 2 – Creating a Custom Resolution

The video card drivers from the Nvidia website come with a vendor specific control panel that allows setting of custom screen refresh rates. Access this control panel by clicking on an empty spot on your desktop and choose Nvidia control panel. At the time of this writing, I am using version 2.8.254.08 of the control panel.

1. In the Nvidia control panel choose Display -> Change resolution.
2. In the Change resolution window click on Add Resolutions… If the Add Resolutions button is grayed-out, click on the Cancel button in the lower right hand corner.

   

3. In the Add Resolutions window, check the following check-boxes:
   • Show 8-bit and 16-bit resolutions.
   • Enable resolutions not exposed by the display.
4. Click on the Create Custom Resolution… button.
5. In the Create Custom Resolution window, enter 100 into the Refresh rate (Hz) field and ensure that a Color depth (bpp) is set at 32. If you have another screen refresh preference, enter that value into that field. Just be sure that the value is within range of your monitor specification.
6. Click on the Timing button.

   

7. Leaving the Standard to Automatic will change the refresh rate from 100 Hz to a lower value. Change the Standard from Automatic to DMT.
8. Click Test.
9. If the monitor display looks fine, click Yes.
10. You will be returned to the Add Resolutions window. The custom resolution that you just added is not visible in the Resolutions area (probably a bug in the software). Click OK.
11. You will be returned to the Change Resolution window. Scroll to the top of the Resolution list, and you will find a new resolution in the Custom section. Clicking on this item should display a refresh rate of 100 Hz on the Refresh rate to the right.
12. Click on the Apply button in the lower right hand-corner of the window.
13. If the screen looks okay, click yes.

Enjoy.

Troubleshooting:

If 100 Hz did not display as a valid refresh rate in step 11, choose the resolution of 1280 x 1024 in the PC section of the resolution listing of the Custom Resolution window. Click Apply in the lower-right corner and choose Yes. When you click on the Add Resolutions… button and the Add Resolutions window appears click on the Pencil icon next to edit the custom entry.

Return to step 5 of part 2 in this walk-through.