What type of TV should I buy to play the Wii

[kbearmoney]

I'm looking to buy a tv to play my wii on. I searched the other threads but couldn't understand what they were talking about. I don't know what pixels are, nor jaggies, nor 480p or 1080p. Never had a HDTV, Plasma or LCD. So pls help me.

I know I want a flat screen about 32" or more @ a good price. I'm not into great, great graphics, so just as long as it looks decent. So, can u guys help me out with what I might need, as far as cables (xbox will also be hooked to the tv), choosing a brand and stuff like that.

 

[VidyaVince]

480p is the lowest form of "hi-def"(not even considered HD) and is what most games on the Wii run.

Honestly, any TV that supports 480p will do you good. If I'm not mistaken, as long as the TV has the red/green/blue outlets on the back next to the red/yellow/white support 480p. It'll show the highest quality that Wii games can be in. You'll have to get HD cables for it, though.

I think most Standard TVs come with the outlets in the back.

 

[kbearmoney]

Thx for the reply - I've been searching for a tv @ BestBuy & most say something about 720p, so do I need something that says 480p exactly or will the 720p do fine.

 

[VidyaVince]

Thx for the reply - I've been searching for a tv @ BestBuy & most say something about 720p, so do I need something that says 480p exactly or will the 720p do fine.

If you end up getting a TV that supports 720p, you should be able to connect your Wii with 480p. That's the highest detail the Wii can get.

On the other hand, your Xbox will be playing in 720p, which is very nice. :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Dakatana]

get a hdtv. it's cool it's cheap and the wii has a function to u:yesnod: :smilewinkgrin: pdate on hdtv's.

 

[kbearmoney]

get a hdtv. it's cool it's cheap and the wii has a function to u:yesnod: :smilewinkgrin: pdate on hdtv's.

I read sumwhr that I would have to get special cables to watch hdtv & if I don't the picture looks bad when watching regular tv - is that true. If so, how much are the cables?

 

[AutumnWind]

Cables can be really expensive at stores like Best Buy, etc. Buy those things online at places like Newegg.com or Buy.com.

As for the TV, the Wii's 480p will be supported on any TV that does 480p or above, all you have to do is get the Wii component cables for 10-15 dollars and plug it in. Most cheaper HDTVs are at least 720p (which means they'll support 480p and 720p resolution). That should be fine, better is always cool though. What's important is to make sure the TV has a good refresh rate: 60hz is the standard, any lower will probably cause things to lag. I recently played Smash Bros on a LCD TV with a low refresh rate, and it lagged like mad. Don't get anything with refresh lower than 60hz.

Finally, since you seem new to all this, for a 32 inch LCD HDTV, try to look for something around 600 dollars. Higher than that, and you're really paying a premium for whatever you're getting. Lower than that, be sure to research it carefully to make sure it isn't really crappy. Really good brands are Sharp, Sony, and Samsung, and some cheaper brands that get good reviews are Westinghouse and Vizio. Also, LCD is generally cheaper, plasma is very slightly better quality picture overall, but LCD is fine for pretty much everything you need.

And finally, try to avoid used or refurbished units.

 

[kbearmoney]

Thx AutumnWind 4 ur help

A friend told me to get a LCD, not to get a plasma, b/c sumthing about when play'n the games a lot, when I turn them off, the game image could freeze on the screen and remain even when watching regular tv. Does nebody know if that's true?

Also, while searching 4 tvs I see sumthing called HDMI inputs. What is that, sum have 2 or 3 which do I need, or is that not important?

 

[VidyaVince]

Also, while searching 4 tvs I see sumthing called HDMI inputs. What is that, sum have 2 or 3 which do I need, or is that not important?

Could be useful for your Xbox(depending on the one you have), but no point for it Wii-wise.

 

[AutumnWind]

Thx AutumnWind 4 ur help

A friend told me to get a LCD, not to get a plasma, b/c sumthing about when play'n the games a lot, when I turn them off, the game image could freeze on the screen and remain even when watching regular tv. Does nebody know if that's true?

Also, while searching 4 tvs I see sumthing called HDMI inputs. What is that, sum have 2 or 3 which do I need, or is that not important?

Generally speaking, LCD TVs are less prone to getting images stuck on the screen (this is called burn-in), yes. Although, unless you leave the same image on the screen for... a day.. or two... then you shouldn't have a problem anyway.

HDMI is an alternative to other sources of input, the HD stands for high definition. It's just another way of plugging other things into your TV. HD-capable things will utilize this. It's always nice to have a few, generally, a new HDTV should have at least three or so.

 

[cooltd825]

yeah, HDMI does you no good with the Wii. but if you have anything else, like a DVD player or a different game system, you should definitely use HDMI. instead of sending an analog signal, it's all digital so there's less interference.

as for the Wii, the resolution doesn't really matter much. i'm sorry to say, but the wii looks pretty bad on a big flatscreen, just because it gets so pixelated. you can buy boxes that will upconvert the signal, so that might help if you want.

 

[kbearmoney]

Thxs autumn and cooltd. I do have a xbox 360 that's play'd a lot. I also got an old playstation 1, dreamcast and N64, but we hardly every play those. Right now, my stuff is play'd on a 35" tv, I think it's a Sony. It looks decent to me, but like I said, I've never really be into the graphics and stuff, so I'm not sure what the graphics should look like.

I think I want maybe a 37 to 40" flat screen. Cooltd - will that cause it to get pixelated (whatever that means)

Also, what exactly is the diff'rnce b/t plasma and lcd?

 

[cooltd825]

stuff will look blocky and really fuzzy if you have standard definition on a big TV. i think you'd need high definition (720p or anything higher) for it to look good. i just got a 40" Samsung on saturday and watching normal TV is pretty painful.

it's really just preference. Plasmas don't last as long as LCD, but in terms of picture quality and stuff like that it doesn't really matter. LCD's are a lot brighter, but some don't do motion that well. if you want to watch lots of fast-paced stuff like hockey, then plasma would be better.

 

[[DT]]

First, buy a TV that meets your overall needs and target requirements (resolution, price, refresh, features, inputs, etc) - don't get too caught up in the Wii part of the equation. At the end of the day, you want the best overall entertainment experience, which can include HDM (like Blueray or HD-D) or HD broadcast (either over-the-air or through a sub like DirecTV).

Low/Mid end plasma are only so-so (while there are some outstanding mid-range LCD for the same price) - simple economy of scale: way more manufacturers are using LCD tech (not to mention its wide scale use in phones, GPS, you-name-it).

A previous poster pretty much listed all the brands you'd want to consider!

Modern TV sets that aren't CRT's (that means all the LCD, DLP and Plasma) operate in a +single+ native resolution. 720P for example. This does not mean they can't handle non-native inputs, it just means every signal is converted to the native (through deinterlacing/upscaling/downsampling).

Since SD (Standard Definition) and ED (Enhanced Definition - i.e., the Wii via Component) will be upscaled/resampled, it tends to look a little "better" on older CRT tech - simply because analog tube based sets can adjust to display in native mode any supported resolution. A 480i SD signal displays at 480i on a CRT based RP set, but gets scaled up to 1080p on a native LCD 1080p set. Not that an LCD can't do decent SD, it just depends on the specific set (there's some variation in the built-in upscaler).

Conceptually HDMI being digital means that devices that output digital, keep the signal digital from the source to the display - all the aforementioned LCD/DLP/Plasma are digital. So if you output analog (composite/component) the signal has to be convert back to digital.

While in theory this might introduce artifacts, I've done several blind tests of HD sources from HDMI vs. Component, and it's extremely hard to tell the difference. However, for HDCP (Copy Protection), some devices won't output anything above SD on component. Several HD Media players won't send an upscaled DVD signal via component (only via HDMI).

Hopefully a few things from above were helpful!

Good Luck!

 

[AutumnWind]

Personally, I hook my Wii up to a 40" LCD HDTV all the time, and it looks much better. Maybe that's because Super Smash Bros Brawl has widescreen support, though. Most Wii games don't have such support, I think.