The fastest monitors on the market today boast refresh rates in the region of 540Hz, with the potential to push a few hertz higher through overclocking. Much as they remain modern marvels in terms of motion clarity, an unlikely champion from a bygone era has emerged to outdo even the speediest screen. More specifically, a YouTube has managed to drive their aged CRT to run at a whopping 700Hz.
Out of the box, the 22in iiyama HA202DT Vision Master Pro 512 in question runs at 85Hz with a resolution of 2,048×1,536. While its specs don’t exactly scream best gaming monitor material, it is ahead of its time in other ways with its included USB hub. Still, its stock configuration isn’t what makes this screen so special. Free from the constraints of fixed pixel counts, unlike its LCD and OLED counterparts, this display is far more flexible when it comes to overclocking. It’s a record breaker, for sure, at 700Hz, but this feat isn’t without its follies.
YouTuber Retro Gaming Base (via Tom’s Hardware) has been pushing this HA202DT Vision Master Pro 512 to new refresh rates for a while now. After previously hitting the 500Hz mark, they decided to go even further beyond what anyone would expect from such an antiquated monitor. They did just that, hitting a world-first 700Hz. As alluded to earlier, though, this wasn’t without its issues.
Unfortunately, achieving such incredible speeds is only possible by considerably dropping resolution due to bandwidth limitations. In this case, we’re talking 320×120, making the screen akin to a wider Nintendo Game Boy. Even with these boundaries adhered to, both Windows and the monitor’s OSD display improperly to the point of being unusable.
Still, it’s impressive to see decades old beats like this punching well above their weight and (sort of) beating modern 540Hz monitors. However, it’s only a matter of time until this record breaker is usurped. After all, challengers with 1,000Hz panels and 4K resolution are in the works from the likes of TLC.
For a more contemporary recommendation with marvelous motion clarity, check out our Gigabyte Aorus FO27Q3 review. Meanwhile, if you like free stuff, next month’s Club386 giveaway is going big on monitors. So, stay tuned!