480p only? Or does the Wii change back and forth?

[pridkett]

As promised, I've gone through and hacked up my component cable to make it also support composite output. Now, I no longer need to switch cables because my TV can't handle 480i over composite. If you're interested in doing the same, I suggest you visit my instructable: Nintendo Wii combo Component/Composite Cable. If you've got feedback, let me know and I'll see what I can do about it.

Overall, this wasn't that difficult. The hardest part was the paperclip.

 

[Taheen]

Spiffy, I'm been looking at the Mad Katz Wii cables and noticed something:

http://www.gameshark.com/home/278/Mad-Catz-Wii-Component-Cables-.htm

I see: Left Audio, Right Audio, Y, Pb, Pr, and an extra little yellow connector that I'm assuming is a composite built right in.

 

[intekmdma]

you guys got me wondering now, I i can connect this to my 21'' CRT monitor just to try things out ><

 

[Chamius]

Rayman and 480p 480i support

It seems this lack of a feature bit me today.

What happens to you guys when you try to run Rayman with the component cables (I got Japanese imports of these) plugged in? I end up getting a blank screen, but I don't know if it's because the game refuses to run due to the component cables plugged in, or if it is able to at least send 480i out the component cable.

I can't tell because my projector (an Infocus X1) doesn't support 480i into the component inputs. I could get an adapter to do this (for the S-video port, don't ask), but I'm wondering if it's worth it...

Any information would be appreciated!

 

[vagrant]

FYI. You can change from 480p to 480i in the wii's settings.

 

[Chamius]

Actually, i remembered an old trick and plugged the Green cable from the component output of the Wii and did get an image (black and white, of course). So this answer my question, the Wii does revert back to sending 480i out the component cables when you run Rayman. Bummer, now I gotta figure out how to get that 480i component signal into my projector ...

Thanks!

 

[Taheen]

An update for you guys, I *may* have found a way to do this easily. But then again I may just be completely wrong.

I was thinking more about a transcoder and a switch box so I could run the Wii component cables and a HDTV cable box component cables to the transcoder and then on to the computer monitor. I noticed that the box I'm looking at getting (Motorola DCT6208) has a DVI-D out port in the back of it for HDMI tv sets. Also apparently it has a menu option to force it to use this DVI port and convert all standard def tv channels to 480p/720p/1080i.

.... My monitor supports HDMI (didn't care when I bought it but happy now!)

So I'm thinking about heading down to Time Warner tommorow and asking them for a DCT6200 that has the DVI port on the rear. Can't hurt to try. Worst case I end up with a nice hdtv tuner and still go the transcoder route.

Best case... I just run the Wii to the cable box which then upscans to 720p and on through the dvi cable to my monitor.

 

[pridkett]

What happens to you guys when you try to run Rayman with the component cables (I got Japanese imports of these) plugged in? I end up getting a blank screen, but I don't know if it's because the game refuses to run due to the component cables plugged in, or if it is able to at least send 480i out the component cable.

Rayman only runs in 480i mode, it does not run in 480p mode, at least from what I've heard. This means that it will not output 480p over component, instead, it will output 480i over component.

I can't tell because my projector (an Infocus X1) doesn't support 480i into the component inputs. I could get an adapter to do this (for the S-video port, don't ask), but I'm wondering if it's worth it...

Yeah, what you'll need is either something to hook up composite or s-video to the output. If you're looking for an all in one solution, you might want to check out the MadCatz component cables, which also have a composite output. Of course, if your project doesn't have composite you could be in trouble.

Another option, is to get a good upscaler. The $50 scalers that you often see don't upscale component properly. So you'd always be upscaling 480i to 480p, which I guess is a start, but really, their quality is quite poor. If you really want to do it right, you'll want something like the XRGB-3 Upscan converter unit from Micomsoft. This can not only de-interlace signals, but also upscale them nicely to higher resolutions (with a 1-2 frame delay).

FYI. You can change from 480p to 480i in the wii's settings.

As for this comment, changing from 480p to 480i in the Wii settings won't do anything other than break the graphics for everything in his case. If your device doesn't support 480i, as is the case with many LCDs and CRTs, you need to find a way to do 480p on everything.

In my solution, I customized my component cable, as I have a composite input on my LCD monitor. So I toggle a switch on the cable and switch inputs to get 480i out for old Gamecube games that don't support 480p (and Wii games such as Rayman that don't do 480p). The rest of the time I'm 480p.

What's interesting is that Nintendo didn't lay down the law and say that everything must be 480p. Microsoft did that with the XBox 360 -- everything must render internally at 720p, and then the outputs scale it appropriately.

 

[vagrant]

As for this comment, changing from 480p to 480i in the Wii settings won't do anything other than break the graphics for everything in his case. If your device doesn't support 480i, as is the case with many LCDs and CRTs, you need to find a way to do 480p on everything.

That's why it was an FYI. It wasn't directly at anyone specific.

 

[pridkett]

An update for you guys, I *may* have found a way to do this easily. But then again I may just be completely wrong.

I was thinking more about a transcoder and a switch box so I could run the Wii component cables and a HDTV cable box component cables to the transcoder and then on to the computer monitor. I noticed that the box I'm looking at getting (Motorola DCT6208) has a DVI-D out port in the back of it for HDMI tv sets. Also apparently it has a menu option to force it to use this DVI port and convert all standard def tv channels to 480p/720p/1080i.

.... My monitor supports HDMI (didn't care when I bought it but happy now!)

So I'm thinking about heading down to Time Warner tommorow and asking them for a DCT6200 that has the DVI port on the rear. Can't hurt to try. Worst case I end up with a nice hdtv tuner and still go the transcoder route.

Best case... I just run the Wii to the cable box which then upscans to 720p and on through the dvi cable to my monitor.

I've got a DCT-6200, which does NOT have component inputs, only component outputs. I'm not even sure it can do this upscaling feature on composite input on the front of the box, but in any case, you'd only be upscaling 480i -- you'd still be worse than 480p.

Also, make sure your TV supports not only HDMI, but also HDCP, or the box will not output.

 

[Taheen]

The monitor supports HDMI/HDCP.

I think I may go this route though and see how the wii looks through it. If it's livable I'll stick with it for another two months.

I'm sure people who have read this thread have asked themselves why doesn't he just buy a tv. I'm putting a chunk of the tax refund to something in the ~27" range hdtv lcd. So really right now I'm just wanting something to hold me over. If the box can take the 480i and line double it (hope so, it does to sd channels it seems) and make it into hdmi/hdcp that will last me untill March.


Does your DCT-6200 have the DVI out? The one in the living room doesn't, but online Motorola's user guide and pictures do. Thinking we have an older model.

 

[pridkett]

So I'm thinking about heading down to Time Warner tommorow and asking them for a DCT6200 that has the DVI port on the rear. Can't hurt to try. Worst case I end up with a nice hdtv tuner and still go the transcoder route.

Best case... I just run the Wii to the cable box which then upscans to 720p and on through the dvi cable to my monitor.

So I've played around with this, and while the box is able to upscale everything that is coming into it, the problem is getting the signals into it. On my DCT6200 from Comcast, the front A/V Inputs are disabled, meaning that there is no way that I can have it upscale.

Of course, I'd still need the YPbPr->VGA transcoder as my display does not support HDCP, which is a requirement for the DVI-D output on my DCT6200.

 

[Taheen]

Yep, got my box (6412) Dual tuner version of the one I was looking at.

Connected to the monitor just fine through the DVI port, went to the 'hidden' menu and set it to 720p and all is well.

Until I tried the composite ports, just like yours mine seemed to be blocked. Called them up and the guy said they shouldn't be blocked blah blah (pretty sure it's BS)

So, at least I have 720p coming out of the DVR straight to the monitor, but I guess I will need to still use a seperate transcoder for the wii. Wish I could find a way to enable the composite in port(s) but I'm sure that's far beyond my reach.

 

[xXJonoXx]

pridkett

Hey Pridkett,

I also have a Dell 2005FPW, as well as a Dell E207WFP (HDCP Compliant through DVI) and they both have VGA inputs. I was thinking of purchasing the Madcatz Wii component cable for $19.99 and the Mayflash YPbPr to RGBHV VGA Box, which is the same one you had correct? Does this look better than the not so good Composite cable that the 2005fpw has a input for? Cause I can barely stand to play zelda in this not so good video mode

 

[pridkett]

Hey Pridkett,

I also have a Dell 2005FPW, as well as a Dell E207WFP (HDCP Compliant through DVI) and they both have VGA inputs. I was thinking of purchasing the Madcatz Wii component cable for $19.99 and the Mayflash YPbPr to RGBHV VGA Box, which is the same one you had correct? Does this look better than the not so good Composite cable that the 2005fpw has a input for? Cause I can barely stand to play zelda in this not so good video mode

My setup is a modified Nintendo component cable (with additional composite output and toggle switch) running to the Mayflash box, and then to the 2005FPW over VGA. The composite runs to the 2005FPW through the composite input. I'm not 100% certain how the MadCatz cable works, although it clearly has a composite line coming out of it. The pictures don't show a toggle switch - which is a little confusing. I need to hit the toggle switch and reset my Wii to change from 480p component to 480i composite (because the Mayflash box doesn't do 480i, which means no Rayman Raving Rabbids, or Super Smash Bros Melee in that mode). So while I'm pretty close, I'm not 100% certain what your mileage will be with the Madcatz cable. If nothing else, it should be pretty easy to open up the cable and add in the toggle switch for 480i/480p mode.

As far as graphics go, the results are pretty nice. It's noticeably clearer for the high detail stuff. Also, there is significantly less noise for the colors. So the words in Wii Sports like "You Win" in Tennis look much clearer. However, the Mayflash box is not without it's problems. In particular. there are times that it goes black for about half a second. This is usually in dramatic scene changes, such as a replay in Bowling or Tennis. Moderately annoying. For the most part it worked quite well in Zelda, but I did have a few times where I'd get the black screen. In particular, it happened a few times while fighting Zant, which caused me to lose a few extra hearts.

So, the question is this, is it worth it overall? That's a maybe. The graphics are nicer, but the introduction of the black screens is a bit annoying. I think I might just pick up a bigger TV at some point in the near future, so I make this whole setup with the dual cable and the transcoder moot. Yes, the graphics are better, but I'm not certain how much better or if I notice it when I'm sitting on my couch about 8 feet away.