If the Wii U is using component cables and playing a Gamecube or Wii game in 480p on a CRT, is it the same as using Gamecube/Wii hardware?

[YamiJustin]

I own a Trinitron CRT and my Gamecube, PS2, N64 (basically all retro systems) look great. Since the signal is analog and the TV is analog you basically have zero input lag. I am curious whether the Wii U acts the exact same as a regular Wii or Gamecube when outputting via the analog component cables. Or perhaps there is some small issue, like a tiny bit of input lag, or something off. Anyone have any good guesses. I do not own a Wii U but since modding my friend's I'd love to get one as a catch all for Gamecube, Wii, and Wii U

 

[blackkawa]

I used before my WiiU with component cables on a normal CRT, but the results weren't great. The major problem with my setup was the image, it looked very blurred. Searching in the forums, i learned that happens because of the WiiU gpu, that scales the image to the digital format and 1080p by definition, and need to convert the image to show in lower resolutions, like 480p. If you want to buy a wiiU, i recommend using a lcd or plasma tv for playing it, since the image you get for playing games using a HDMI cable is very sharp. And because of that particularity of the wiiU gpu and its scaler, if you play on a HDTV, all games will look sharp, even gamecube ones, since you can upscale natively to 1080p gamecube and wii games. You can try to use the WiiU on a CRT, but for a WiiU is recommended a HDTV. And my personnal recommendation is a plasma TV or a OLED, since oled have the best image, and plasma have a great balance between input times and image. Anyways, good luck finding a good WiiU!

 

[Kopimist]

I used before my WiiU with component cables on a normal CRT, but the results weren't great. The major problem with my setup was the image, it looked very blurred. Searching in the forums, i learned that happens because of the WiiU gpu, that scales the image to the digital format and 1080p by definition, and need to convert the image to show in lower resolutions, like 480p. If you want to buy a wiiU, i recommend using a lcd or plasma tv for playing it, since the image you get for playing games using a HDMI cable is very sharp. And because of that particularity of the wiiU gpu and its scaler, if you play on a HDTV, all games will look sharp, even gamecube ones, since you can upscale natively to 1080p gamecube and wii games. You can try to use the WiiU on a CRT, but for a WiiU is recommended a HDTV. And my personnal recommendation is a plasma TV or a OLED, since oled have the best image, and plasma have a great balance between input times and image. Anyways, good luck finding a good WiiU!

I second this as I know the WiiU renders everything in 1080p initially before outputting anything. if you're using component cables, it will still render in 1080p initially and then convert the signal to a lower resolution and analog creating a not so sharp picture and input lag.

 

[YamiJustin]

Thanks for the replies. So my takeaway from this is that the Wii U, even when using a component cable, will not send out a true analog signal to 480p (although in the settings it lets you select 480p). So if this is true my best bet for using a CRT would be to mod my GameCube and just buy a regular Wii if I don’t want any digital conversion or input lag

 

[omgcat]

I own a Trinitron CRT and my Gamecube, PS2, N64 (basically all retro systems) look great. Since the signal is analog and the TV is analog you basically have zero input lag. I am curious whether the Wii U acts the exact same as a regular Wii or Gamecube when outputting via the analog component cables. Or perhaps there is some small issue, like a tiny bit of input lag, or something off. Anyone have any good guesses. I do not own a Wii U but since modding my friend's I'd love to get one as a catch all for Gamecube, Wii, and Wii U

as sucky as it is, i use my gamecube compatible wii with my crt tv. the wiiu just doesn't work right with it. you should be able to find an og white/black wii with the gamecube ports for pretty cheap though.

 

[Lumstar]

Thanks for the replies. So my takeaway from this is that the Wii U, even when using a component cable, will not send out a true analog signal to 480p (although in the settings it lets you select 480p). So if this is true my best bet for using a CRT would be to mod my GameCube and just buy a regular Wii if I don’t want any digital conversion or input lag

I won't bore you with unnecessary explanation (the expensive component cable's bizarre proprietary chip).
But the short version is GameCube has marginally sharper video than the Wii.

CRTs were no doubt an afterthought for Wii U, with the tube TV market rapidly eroding.

 

[YamiJustin]

I won't bore you with unnecessary explanation (the expensive component cable's bizarre proprietary chip).
But the short version is GameCube has marginally sharper video than the Wii.

CRTs were no doubt an afterthought for Wii U, with the tube TV market rapidly eroding.

Do you mean that GameCube games played on a GameCube look a bit sharper than GameCube games playing on a regular Wii?

I cannot afford the expensive component cable for my GameCube lol so I use S-Video for it and my N64. My Trinitron is in great shape so any game designed around analog and 480/240p I would like to play on the best system possible.

Wii U seems like it is just a good all-in-one option, like launch PS3s

 

[Kopimist]

Do you mean that GameCube games played on a GameCube look a bit sharper than GameCube games playing on a regular Wii?

I cannot afford the expensive component cable for my GameCube lol so I use S-Video for it and my N64. My Trinitron is in great shape so any game designed around analog and 480/240p I would like to play on the best system possible.

Wii U seems like it is just a good all-in-one option, like launch PS3s

Yeah the WiiU definitely is a great all in one option, plays so many different systems, including all Nintendo systems but Switch (duh lol). IF you can get your hands on an hdtv I highly recommend a WiiU, but if not going the other routes mentioned would be best

 

[Moon164]

I use the Wii U with AV cable on my CRT TV to play Wii and Game Cube games on Nintendont, in my opinion it's perfect.

The only thing is that I had to change the settings to 4:3 (and that makes the Wii U menu and the Wii U games have black bars, but the Wii and Game Cube games that I tested were perfect that way). way, without the blur it gets when it's in 16:9 )