Speed and value don’t often have the same meaning when it comes to gaming monitors. Attractive prices are even rarer with ultrawide monitors. But there are exceptions. If you’re willing to go with a slightly smaller screen and a bit less pixel density, Viotek may have the best gaming monitor for you.
The Viotek GNV30CBXA is a 30 inch curved VA panel with a refresh rate of 200 Hz. The 2560 x 1080 resolution may sound low, but a pixel density of 94 pixels per inch (ppi) isn’t bad for a screen of this size. With good contrast, DCI-P3 color and Adaptive-Sync, it’s a decent package for a suggested retail price of $320. That makes the GNV30CBXA one of the cheapest and fastest 21:9 displays available today.
Viotek GNV30CBXA Specifications:
| Panel Type / Backlight | VA/W LED, edge array |
| Screen size, aspect ratio and curve | 30 inches / 21:9 |
| Curve radius: 1800mm | |
| Maximum resolution and refresh rate | 2560 x 1080 @ 200 Hz |
| FreeSync: 48-200 Hz with LFC | |
| Original color depth and gamma | 8-bit / DCI-P3 |
| Response time (GTG) | 5ms |
| Brightness (mfr) | 300 nits |
| Contrast (mfr) | 3,000:1 |
| speakers | New |
| Video Inputs | 1x DisplayPort 1.2″ |
| 1x HDMI 2.0 | |
| 2x HDMI 1.4 | |
| audio | 3.5mm headphone output |
| USB 3.0 | New |
| Energy consumption | 36w, brightness @ 200 nits |
| Panel dimensions WxHxD with foot | 27.6 x 15.3 – 20.5 x 9.1 in (701 x 389 – 521 x 231 mm) |
| Panel thickness: | 3.5 inches (90mm) |
| Border width | Top/sides: 0.4 in (9 mm) |
| Bottom: 0.8 inch (20mm) | |
| Weight | 12.4 pounds (5.6 kg) |
| Guarantee | 3 years |
Viotek is relatively new to the world of gaming monitors, but has already shown that it can deliver good performance for the money. Monitors like the Viotek GNV34DBE and Viotek SUW49DA performed well in our benchmark tests, delivering solid gaming experiences and even better value.
The GNV30CBXA sets a new low price for ultra-wide 21:9 monitors. At 30 inches, it is also one of the smallest. The category usually starts at 34 inches and goes up from there. We haven’t seen a wide panel of this size since they first appeared in 2013. The radius of curvature sounds tight on paper at 1800mm, but at this width it’s subtle. You can barely see it from some angles. But in practice it is clearly better than a flat screen for gaming.
The big story here, of course, is the 200Hz refresh rate. We’ve only found one other ultra-wide monitor in our database that works that fast, the Acer Predator X35, which will set you back about $2,000 if you can find one. The GNV30CBXA also features AMD FreeSync with Low Framerate Compensation (LFC). It works from 40-200 Hz. This monitor is not G-Sync certified, but we ran Nvidia G-Sync over the same refresh rate range. (See our article on running G-Sync on a FreeSync monitor for more information.)
The only thing missing here is HDR, and that’s no surprise or negative considering the price.
Mounting and accessories
The GNV30CBXA assembles without tools. All that is required is to secure the solid metal base to the upright with a locking bolt. The panel is already clicked on the stand. But removing it reveals a 100mm VESA mount.
Cables included are DisplayPort and an IEC power cord for internal power.
Product 360
The GNV30CBXA is simply styled with just a small red border to indicate game intent. You can see it around the cable hole of the upright and on the back where there are two chevrons to set off the sides. The red ring around the tripod mount is illuminated with LEDs that glow red when the power is on. You can turn off the lights, but there are no options for color or effect – sorry, RGB fans. The back of the panel is formed with a combination of curved and flat surfaces. A small group of cast-in lines creates a futuristic look.
At the back are the control buttons on the side. They click firmly but are a little too close together to make menu navigation easy. We are spoiled these days by the joysticks that most high-end monitors use. You may have noticed what looks like speaker grilles on both sides. While that would be a perfect place to put speakers, the GNV30CBXA doesn’t have one. Audio is routed through your PC’s video inputs, but you’ll need to plug in your best gaming headset or powered speakers to hear it.
From above you can see the subtle 1800R curvature. It’s just enough to create a little extra immersion, but there’s no chance of image distortion. The screen’s anti-reflective coating works well at controlling ambient light and does not cause graining or other artifacts.
The stand is rock solid, a clear improvement over the other Viotek monitors we’ve tested. Movements are very firm and there is no wobble at all. The pack is lighter than most, but not flimsy. The height adjustment is 120mm, with 45 degrees to each side and -5/15 degrees tilt. Unique is that there is a portrait mode, something you do not often encounter with 21:9 monitors.
The input panel is well stocked, with one DisplayPort 1.2 and three HDMI ports. One is 2.0, limited to 120 Hz, and the other two are 1.4., limited to 75 Hz. To get 200 Hz in addition to Adaptive-Sync, you need to use DisplayPort. Also here is a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones or speakers.
OSD Features
Pressing the top control button will bring up the GNV30CBXA’s on-screen display (OSD). The other buttons provide quick access to input selection, picture mode and game aids. When the menu is up, the buttons act as select, up, down and cancel.
The Image menu has simple sliders for brightness, along with dynamic contrast (DCR). DCR slightly increases the contrast, but locks the brightness and contrast sliders. It also severely crops details in dark images. It’s way too dark to play when the scenery is dark. We recommend to leave it.
Here is also the Eco section, where there are 6 picture modes. The picture modes are mostly game specific, with Standard being the default and the best. For the best picture, adjust the color temperature (see Recommended Calibration Settings section).
The three preset color temperatures are all too green or too blue. User is the default and is too green, but with a few tweaks you can get good performance and an accurate picture. What this monitor could really use is additional gamma presets. The standard luminance tracking of the GNV30CBXA is a bit too light.
Pressing the fourth control button displays a game assist menu with four reticles and seven countdown timers. These are useful for FPS beginners and those who need an alarm to tell them when playtime is over.
Viotek GNV30CBXA Calibration Settings
The GNV30CBXA needs some adjustments to get the best possible picture. In the default standard picture mode with an unadjusted user color temperature, the grayscale is distinctly green. Gamma is also slightly light, but unfortunately there are no gamma presets to correct this. The RGB sliders work well, but you have to be careful not to stray too far from the factory values. We’ve made several attempts to improve the gamut by trying different parts of the RGB range, and we’ve only managed to make it worse. A few clicks are all it takes to get good grayscale tracking.
Below are our recommended calibration settings for the Viotek GNV30CBXA.
| Photo mode | Standard |
| Brightness 200 nits | 56 |
| Brightness 120 nits | 26 |
| Brightness 100 nits | 18 |
| Brightness 80 nits | 11 (min. 48 nits) |
| Contrast | 50 |
| User color temperature | Red 48, Green 42, Blue 41 |
Gaming and hands-on
The GNV30CBXA is a competent monitor for everyday tasks. It is bright enough for any room with moderate ambient light. Since it hits just over 300 nits, sunlit windows can overwhelm the image when shinned on the screen. The contrast is solid for Windows apps where black text is clearly displayed against a white background. The color is natural and vibrant without being too harsh. You can get a little more depth by using the DCR feature, but it’s best to leave that feature out as it locks in the brightness and contrast control. More importantly, it makes dark images too dark and severely crushes shadow details.
With a resolution of 2560 x 1080, you might think pixelation would be a problem, but it isn’t. 94ppi gives a sharp image with no dot structure visible at 2-3 meters away. The stand also allows you to set the screen to the ideal height without tilting it. We’ve found that a perfectly vertical orientation is the best way to use and enjoy curved monitors.
The GNV30CBXA offers quite a bit of contrast without help. However, it would benefit from a darker gamma option. night scenes in Call of Duty: WWII made us think we were playing on an IPS instead of VA. The advantage of VA is the low black value, but Viotek has not made use of that. The image has good depth, but not as much as it could with a little firmware tuning. Highlights, however, are suitably bright. Sunlit scenes looked vibrant and saturated with solid detail and texture. The color was natural and well saturated.
Tomb Raider showed us the texture qualities of the GNV30CBXA in bright outdoor scenes. Plants and rocks looked three-dimensional. Viotek did a good job with the color palette of the GNV30CBXA. It’s a little more lively than standard sRGB, but doesn’t go too far. The monitor uses the wider DCI-P3 color gamut, but does so gently.
We’ve noticed a video processing issue when playing games. While the GNV30CBXA scored well in our response test, objects smeared slightly when we moved our best gaming mouse quickly. The overdrive made a difference, but wasn’t aggressive enough to completely eliminate this artifact. Blur Busters tests showed subtle black trails behind the moving UFOs. The overdrive option is on or off; there are no levels to choose from. It’s better to leave overdrive on, but it’s not as effective as it could be.
Adaptive-Sync worked perfectly. We’ve never seen a screen tear. We tried turning it off to see if the overdrive would improve, but it made no difference. Frame rates remained high thanks to the GNV30CBXA’s 2560 x 1080 resolution. You don’t need an expensive PC to achieve 200 frames per second (fps) and take full advantage of this monitor’s highest refresh rate.