Question about Wii HD output to TV ....

EffBee · 29 May 2009 at 19:26

Could someone offer some advice please.

My lad currently has his wii connected to a CRT TV which is not HD, via the red, white and yellow cable. It works OK but the quality is not perceived as being too brilliant.

He wants to buy an HD TV and connect to to it for improved image quality.

I am in no position to advise on this as I am not into consoles.

Could someone offer advice please. What outputs are on the wii, what extra cables and adapters are necessary, what kind of TV would be suitable.

Price is a MAJOR consideration.

He is beginning to think a 16" TV is too small - having almost decided to buy one.

Thanks in advance.

da_mic_1530 · 29 May 2009 at 19:33

IIRC you need the HD cable thingy, it will output at 480p and is around £30

Component

Awaits someone who actually knows what they are talking about

Streeteh · 29 May 2009 at 19:36

At the moment you are using Composite, the poorest video cable. For the SDTV you could upgrade to a Scart which would offer a minor improvement.

For a HDTV a Component connection is indeed probably the most viable option. It is similar to the composite connection you are using now but has 5 plugs instead of three.

Many people praise the unofficial VGA cable but i have had no experience with it. I believe Kreeeee has though so hopefully he'll be able to offer more educated advice on that front.

[EDIT] I use a very popular highstreet stores' own brand component cable. It can be bought for £9.99 online and is in stock right now. The picture quality was a marked improvement over the scart cable which, as stated previously, is superior to what you're using now anyway. The official Nintendo component cable may offer slightly better picture quality, however it is very hard to find in stock and when it is it costs around £20.

ic1male · 29 May 2009 at 22:15

As above - whatever you do, you won't get anything more than 480p (or perhaps 576p) from the Wii as it doesn't do HD resolutions.

biron_w · 30 May 2009 at 11:13

I think the wii outputs at 576p as stated above.I've used one on my viera plasma.It looks alright.
If you look on the internet you can get them for around £5.

Streeteh · 30 May 2009 at 11:51

It outputs at 576i or 480p. Having tried both i feel 480p is better due to the progressiveness of it

Nah seriously i know nothing of how the technologies differ between interlaced and progressive but despite the lower resolution, 480p does look better than 576i.

james.miller · 30 May 2009 at 11:54

i would think a crt with a decetn rgb cable would probably look better than a cheap lcd and a component cable lol. The wii is never really going to look brilliant but they arent half bad on a crt

Streeteh · 30 May 2009 at 11:57

james.miller said:
i would think a crt with a decetn rgb cable would probably look better than a cheap lcd and a component cable lol. The wii is never really going to look brilliant but they arent half bad on a crt

This is true tbh, since the Wii doesn't display in HD anyway, hooking it up to a HDTV won't really make that huge a difference in comparison to the cost for doing so now i think about it.

Side5wipe · 30 May 2009 at 17:08

When i hooked mine up to my LCD 32" it now looks worse IMO. I was playing on a 28" CRT. The image has been stretched to fit the screen and some games look really bad.

Streeteh · 30 May 2009 at 17:09

Side5wipe said:
When i hooked mine up to my LCD 32" it now looks worse IMO. I was playing on a 28" CRT. The image has been stretched to fit the screen and some games look really bad.

What cable are you using and what video setting is it on? I would never run the Wii off of a HDTV on anything but component @ 480p.

aleco · 30 May 2009 at 18:13

I've got a component cable on my Wii connected to a plasma tv (42"), and an LCD tv (24") prior to that. The picture quality improved over the standard connection, and seemed like there was less fuzz/interference, but it wasn't anthing dramatic, and I wouldn't imagine on a small tv you'd really noticed a whole lot of difference. I'm glad I got the cable tho as the fuzzy pictures was slightly annoying, just don't expect anything miraculous!

Side5wipe · 30 May 2009 at 19:17

I'm using component and i've tried all the settings res4 looks so bad and has 2 black bars on the sides like it cant fill the whole screen but mario looks amazing :confused:

any tips would be great.

ic1male · 30 May 2009 at 20:02

Some of the Wii games don't support widescreen so you'll get the black bars unfortunately.

dalin80 · 30 May 2009 at 20:29

sorry to say there is very little that can be done to improve the image quality past adding a component cable.

the wii does not work well with hdtv's only 480p with no real widescreen support.

EffBee · 31 May 2009 at 18:21

Thank you for all the help on this. I am always impressed by the speed with which people respond with good advice on practically any subject on these forums.

My lad is pretty much sorted now thanks.

He was using a 14" or maybe 15" CRT TV with the composite cable - and the quality wasn't too brilliant - even I could see that.

He is set on wanting wide screen - or the wii equivalent of it - so a scart cable to the existing TV was not an option. He bought a nintendo component cable for about £13 taking the view that for a few extra pounds over the cheap 'n' cheerful it may be a bit better. He then borrowed his brothers (wharfedale) 15" widescreen LCD tV and played around with it. He noticed some games had some problems but generally the picture (and sound too actually) is much better than he has been getting with the old set-up. His next step is to find a 16" max widescreen TV to buy for himself on his somewhat tight budget. He sits quite close to the screen - 3' to 4', so a huge screen isn't really necessary, and as some people pointed out smaller screens tend to make the picture look better if viewing area is not important. The important thing is that lad number 2 is very happy now

Thanks again for your help.

Streeteh · 31 May 2009 at 18:24

Good to hear.

madmaxx · 3 Jun 2009 at 11:18

I was just going to ask exactly the same question as EffBee, as we've just bought a Sony Z series Bravia screen, and my son's Wii looks terrible on it using the supplied cable. Time to go buy a component cable methinks

Thanks for the help everyone.

TerryWogan · 3 Jun 2009 at 11:29

The component cable offers a great improvement on a HD telly, but it's still not exactly awesome to look at.