Screen goes blank after 20 minutes or so

KamekSaves · 10-23-2008, 09:21 AM

Hi, I'm using LG's 24" LCD display (L246WH-BN).

When I'm playing Wii with component cable, the display goes blank after 20 minutes or so. The time is not really fixed... sometimes it takes more than 20 minutes. This is annoying as hell... In the middle of playing the picture just disappears... I can still hear the sound.

Only way to get the picture back is to change the display's input to something else (like HDMI) and the change it back to component.

So far this has happened only with 480p.

What could be wrong?

bbodine61 · 10-23-2008, 09:29 AM

I have never heard of this situation in my life! o_0

have you tried calling Nintendo? they usually can help with any problem.

hiMe · 10-23-2008, 10:10 AM

Might be ya cables mate,or the inputs. Ya know your yellow,white and reds:
Make sure their like in properly,if not they might be broken.

Cuz we had a similar problem at my house. [But that same tv broke anyway so meh]
Usually the cable has a little bit thats like broken,or loose which causes the tv to not recognise it,thus only displaying audio...and no visual.
I'm not certain which cable gives ya visiual. But you might wanna test that out.

As for HDMI, I'm sure thats a different case,but works in the same way.
Don't worry about it too much;its not a fault with the wii: most likely with ya TV's compatability or the little red,yellow and white cables.

Check the little needle bit inside of them.
Its all I can say really.

hencam[uk] · 10-23-2008, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KamekSaves

Hi, I'm using LG's 24" LCD display (L246WH-BN).

When I'm playing Wii with component cable, the display goes blank after 20 minutes or so. The time is not really fixed... sometimes it takes more than 20 minutes. This is annoying as hell... In the middle of playing the picture just disappears... I can still hear the sound.

Only way to get the picture back is to change the display's input to something else (like HDMI) and the change it back to component.

So far this has happened only with 480p.

What could be wrong?

Are you saying that when it's set to any mode other than 480p it's fine?

What kind of component cable are you using? If you are using a generic one then you'll probably need to try a genuine Nintendo Component Cable if you phone them up (they'll likely try and blame the cable otherwise).

It doesn't sound like there's a problem with your connection as you say it works for a certain period of time before you lose signal - usually time-delayed problems point to a heat-related issue (the equipment works fine when cold, but as it gets hotter the fault appears). But you say the way to fix the problem is to switch inputs on the TV then it works again, so it's not at the Wii end (as you haven't done anything to the Wii to get the picture back, suggesting it was fine all along)...

So it sounds like a TV related issue - although I've never heard of anything that would 'time-out' a signal in use! Maybe have a look for anti-screen-burn settings and try disabling them - it shouldn't make any difference but you never know!

Have you any other equipment you can connect via component to the TV to see if it does the same thing? That might help rule out whether it's the TV, or the signal the Wii's feeding it.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help,

Neil

bradleyd · 10-23-2008, 07:08 PM

I have a similar issue, and I believe I have read about others with the same issue as well. I am also running my Wii with component cables in 480p through a VGA-2000 to an LCD monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 245bw). My computer runs to the DVI port on the monitor, so the VGA box is only running the Wii and not used to switch between signals. My component cable is generic (I bought both the cable and the VGA-2000 from dealextreme).

My blanking of the screen is completely intermittent. I could play for a couple of hours one time and not once does it blank, or have it blank a couple times within an hour. I do not have to switch between sources to get it back, it only blanks for 2 or 3 seconds at a time, then returns to normal. The sound is not affected. Coincidentally, my monitor will automatically switch back to the DVI input when it detects no signal from the VGA input (ie. turn the Wii off, and monitor switches back to computer signal). It does not switch from DVI input to VGA input automatically when the Wii is turned on. This is due to DVI being the dominant input, and my monitor will not switch automatically from it when a VGA input is present, it must be manually switched to VGA. I mention this because the monitor does not switch to the DVI input when the screen blanks. I can not say for certain that the VGA signal is actually lost or not though, as the screen may not blank long enough for the timeout for the automatic switch back to DVI input.

I think it is just an issue with either the cheap cable or the cheap VGA box, although without purchasing another cable I could not say which is the culprit, and I really don't want to spend the 35 bucks for the Nintendo brand component cable just to troubleshoot it. It is not enough of a problem for me to worry about it too much.

I know this doesn't help you solve your problem, but at least you know you are not alone. If I remember correctly though, the similar problems I have read about were solved by using the official component cable, but don't take my word on that. If I can find where I have read about it, and a solution was found, I will reply again with that info.

KamekSaves · 10-23-2008, 11:20 PM

Aahh.. great! I didn't expect so many replies! Thanks!

I tested the problem today again by playing Super Paper Mario (amazing game btw). The first time the screen went blank was after 54 minutes. Then I did the input switch trick from the display's controls, and everything was back to normal again for about 1 hour and 14 minutes, then darkness

This is frustrating

I've never experienced the problem while playing Kirby's Adventure in Virtual Console. I think Kirby runs in 576i.

I'm not using the official Nintendo component cable. My cable shouldn't still be a low quality budget cable. It was fairly expensive.

Sadly I don't have other devices that can output component signal, so I can't test that.

All the component wires are firmly in the right input ports, so it can't be loose connections. And heat issue... hmmm

Tonight I will send my bedtime prayers to Mr. Miyamoto hoping he'll fix the problem during night!

hencam[uk] · 10-24-2008, 09:25 AM

Have you tried disabling the Wii's 'burn in' reduction setting? It seems it can trigger certain TV's to blank when it kicks in:

Wii burn in makes certain TV's blank

Worth a try...

The only other thing I can think of is that the Wii is one of the few component devices that sends the full range of analogue signal, from complete white to black - most devices have a bit of range that they don't use, and apparently on some TV's they get overloaded and the screen blanks - although the people that experienced this had it in the Wii home menu and it wasn't time-related.

KamekSaves · 10-24-2008, 08:25 PM

Ok, I checked the 'burn in reduction' setting. It was disabled... so it can't be the cause of the problem.

Btw, today when I turned my Wii on, the display went blank only after 1-2 minutes. It seems to be completely random.

Thanks again for your suggestions!