Hacking Fixing vWii Mode

PlayNeth

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Hey y'all, i made a similar post to this last year but i have not gotten any answers to that (and kinda of worded it pretty poorly tbh), and i really wonder if people are even aware of these issues and if they are even possible to fix through software (like they did with the Gameboy Player on the GCN with the GBI homebrew).

Okay so here's the main part: The vWii is full of video issues. Like for example: chroma shift on the green, the picture is never 1:1 even if you set the console's output to 480p, and theres some weird filtering going on, as you can see here:
IMG_20191106_235316.jpg

(My Wii U is hooked up to HDMI outputting 480p to my 720p monitor which is set to 1:1 and it has also been professionally calibrated)
The picture has chroma shift and there is some weird filtering going on, and i also tested this on Wii games and even forced the USB Loader to force 480p to bypass the deflicker filter, the picture never looks sharp and the chroma issue is always present (even on the vWii menu). Now, heres a picture of my original Wii outputting 480p through component playing the same game with the same settings:
IMG_20191106_235602.jpg

it's hard to see the difference through pictures because i had to blur them a bit to avoid Moiré patterns, but trust me, this looks infinitely more sharp in real life.

So, to wrap up, will these issues ever be fixed through software? or are they actual hardware issues with all Wii Us? (Everyone i know that has a Wii U has the same issues as i do)
Please, if someone can shine a light on this topic it would be much appreciated, as i cant find many threads about it. Thank you.
(By the way, i was not sure to put it in here or in the Homebrew section, transfer this thread to there if needed.)
 
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TR88

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I would love to know this as well. I have recently purchased a PVM CRT that is capable of 480p - 1080i. I own a WiiU, but I do not own a Wii. The Wii Dual mod is the best analog and digital solution, but it certainly isn't a solution for my wallet.

I was hoping to play Wii and GC backup games through component on the vWii, but I was disappointed when I read about the video issues produced.

If you're interested, there's more information on the issues here,

Some people have wondered if it might be possible to fix the vWii mode video output by modifying the firmware for DMCU/Cafe2Wii.
 
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PlayNeth

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I would love to know this as well. I have recently purchased a PVM CRT that is capable of 480p - 1080i. I own a WiiU, but I do not own a Wii. The Wii Dual mod is the best analog and digital solution, but it certainly isn't a solution for my wallet.

I was hoping to play Wii and GC backup games through component on the vWii, but I was disappointed when I read about the video issues produced.

If you're interested, there's more information on the issues here,

Some people have wondered if it might be possible to fix the vWii mode video output by modifying the firmware for DMCU/Cafe2Wii.
I really hope this thread can reach as many people as possible to spread awareness about these issues, this is the only thing preventing the Wii U from being the ultimate nintendo console in my book. If someday someone figures out how to fix the vWii video completely (and maybe even implementing integer upscaling if you have your console set to 1080p, but i'm not sure if that would be possible) we'll be in heaven. As the sole reason i keep my original Wii hooked up as well is due to the vWii being super bad.
 

TR88

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I really hope this thread can reach as many people as possible to spread awareness about these issues, this is the only thing preventing the Wii U from being the ultimate nintendo console in my book. If someday someone figures out how to fix the vWii video completely (and maybe even implementing integer upscaling if you have your console set to 1080p, but i'm not sure if that would be possible) we'll be in heaven. As the sole reason i keep my original Wii hooked up as well is due to the vWii being super bad.

Same. I was literally googling these issues earlier today and found this thread. We can't be the only ones interested in a potential fix for this.

There used to be a difference in video quality for the Wii depending on its model number. It was believed to be fixed by its hardware in later models, however, it was discovered that this was originally just a video bug in the software. Someone released a patch (480p fix) last year to fix it. This makes video quality over component identical between all models now. It was a software problem that never needed a hardware fix.

I'm hoping that this is a similar situation with software and that the hardware isn't the problem here. It would make the WiiU truly the ultimate and best bang for your buck solution for Wii, GC, and WiiU games.
 
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PlayNeth

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Oh and to put the final nail in the coffin, i used the trusty 240p test suite tool to compare some settings, and dear lord, the vWii is more disastrous than we first thought, here, take a look:
IMG_20200907_171228.jpg

I applied a scanline filter in the settings to see if the resolution was actually wrong, and it really is. I set them to even and they still display uneven on the vWii. Meanwhile this is how it looks on my wii:
IMG_20200907_171947.jpg

Scanlines look beautiful and even, as they should when properly displayed, now, heres another thing i didnt expect to see from the vWii:
IMG_20200907_171303.jpg

IMG_20200907_171327.jpg

On top of ALL THAT, thing has overscan issues on top the of the picture, wonder what went on nintendo staffs' minds when programming this thing, heres how it looks on the original Wii for reference:
IMG_20200907_172016.jpg

IMG_20200907_172035.jpg

Absolutely lazy stuff right here, the vWii is the biggest mess i've ever seen.
 

lolorlofl

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I've always thought the vWii didn't look quite right, but I don't know anything about video signals to give it a name or a description other than "blurry". Unfortunately I can't help much with providing a fix, but I 100% support this idea. I can volunteer to beta test any software or hardware mods in the hopes of getting a fix for this.
 
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I’m glad to see more people who can see the issues with the video output on vwii. I’ve mentioned these issues before and have had people tell me it must be my screen.

I’ve always thought vwii looked off compared to the actual wii but I really started noticing the picture issues when I tried to play sonic adventure 2 battle there’s definitely something off with the colour compared to the wii.
 

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Anyone have this issue with vWii. Randomly happens. Especially when using USB loader GX and Nintendont through it. After exiting game and returning to USB Loader GX, thia will randomly occur and will persist even after exiting USB loader GX back to vWii menu.
I suspect some problem with deinterlacing or something. Also in Nintendont, I noticed this vertical lines to the front like somekind of overlay.
https://pasteboard.co/Jq8qsbG.jpg
https://pasteboard.co/Jq8reZT.jpg
 

PlayNeth

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Anyone have this issue with vWii. Randomly happens. Especially when using USB loader GX and Nintendont through it. After exiting game and returning to USB Loader GX, thia will randomly occur and will persist even after exiting USB loader GX back to vWii menu.
I suspect some problem with deinterlacing or something. Also in Nintendont, I noticed this vertical lines to the front like somekind of overlay.
https://pasteboard.co/Jq8qsbG.jpg
https://pasteboard.co/Jq8reZT.jpg
All of the issues i previously mentioned are always present no matter what. On the vWii menu, games, homebrew, etc. You can check it out for yourself. Also, nice catch, but i doubt that has to do with deinterlacing unless you have your Wii U set to 480i or 1080i, then that means we can add one more issue to the list.
 

Nomado

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This issue, I am able to produce somewhat consistently. I just open games in USB loader GX and exit till it occurs. After that, it persists till reboot. Only that area shown in the photos show that interlacing issue. It is not shown when not in motion. Only making horizontal movement across it, do i see it. Like moving camera horizontally or just moving cursor horizontally in that section.
I asked on reddit and few people had experienced this exact issue. So it is most likely not my Wi U that is the problem only.
 

geoGolem

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Anyone have this issue with vWii. Randomly happens. Especially when using USB loader GX and Nintendont through it. After exiting game and returning to USB Loader GX, thia will randomly occur and will persist even after exiting USB loader GX back to vWii menu.
I suspect some problem with deinterlacing or something. Also in Nintendont, I noticed this vertical lines to the front like somekind of overlay.
https://pasteboard.co/Jq8qsbG.jpg
https://pasteboard.co/Jq8reZT.jpg
ya, i have that same issue.
 

PlayNeth

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This issue, I am able to produce somewhat consistently. I just open games in USB loader GX and exit till it occurs. After that, it persists till reboot. Only that area shown in the photos show that interlacing issue. It is not shown when not in motion. Only making horizontal movement across it, do i see it. Like moving camera horizontally or just moving cursor horizontally in that section.
I asked on reddit and few people had experienced this exact issue. So it is most likely not my Wi U that is the problem only.
Yeah, that's pretty wild. Definitely going to the list of issues.
 
Last edited by PlayNeth,

lolorlofl

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Oh and to put the final nail in the coffin, i used the trusty 240p test suite tool to compare some settings, and dear lord, the vWii is more disastrous than we first thought, here, take a look:
IMG_20200907_171228.jpg

I applied a scanline filter in the settings to see if the resolution was actually wrong, and it really is. I set them to even and they still display uneven on the vWii. Meanwhile this is how it looks on my wii:
IMG_20200907_171947.jpg

Scanlines look beautiful and even, as they should when properly displayed, now, heres another thing i didnt expect to see from the vWii:
IMG_20200907_171303.jpg

IMG_20200907_171327.jpg

On top of ALL THAT, thing has overscan issues on top the of the picture, wonder what went on nintendo staffs' minds when programming this thing, heres how it looks on the original Wii for reference:
IMG_20200907_172016.jpg

IMG_20200907_172035.jpg

Absolutely lazy stuff right here, the vWii is the biggest mess i've ever seen.

Out of curiosity, do you still see these video issues on the Gamepad? I just had a random thought that maybe the Wii U tries to scale the video to the Gamepad's weird resolution, then the Wii U mirrors that to the TV. Maybe the TV does it's own scaling as well.
 
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Extrems

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PlayNeth

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Out of curiosity, do you still see these video issues on the Gamepad? I just had a random thought that maybe the Wii U tries to scale the video to the Gamepad's weird resolution, then the Wii U mirrors that to the TV. Maybe the TV does it's own scaling as well.
It gets even worse on the Gamepad ROFL
IMG_20200916_201837.jpg

IMG_20200916_202042.jpg

IMG_20200916_201925.jpg

The amount of overscan on this thing is absurd, heres on my tv for comparison using the same values:
IMG_20200916_201928.jpg
 

TeleTubby666

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Let’s hope that an upcoming WiiU source code leak will give new opportunities for a video mode fix. I am also hoping for a hack that emulates a Wii controller on a WiiU Gamepad in order to play Wii games on the Gamepad independently from a TV and a separate controller
 

piratesephiroth

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I am also hoping for a hack that emulates a Wii controller on a WiiU Gamepad in order to play Wii games on the Gamepad independently from a TV and a separate controller

But we can already do that with WiiVC injections (as long as we don't need to use the pointer or motion controls)
 
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nastys

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I'd start by looking at the files in /storage_slc/title/00050010/1000400a/code, since it contains Wii Mode stuff like nn_cmpt.rpl, nn_hai.rpl, etc...
More specifically, tve.rpl (some program that accesses the AV encoder settings), which is different from the one in /storage_slc/title/00050010/10004009/code (which is the Wii U OS, I think?).
EDIT: both are different versions of the Wii U OS.

I don't know what does the actual upscaling, but it should be possible to at least disable that awful overscan by patching tve.rpl or whatever tells the encoder to zoom/crop the picture. Of course, patching it would break the signature, so that's annoying.

EDIT: tve.rpl has two "SetWiiCompat" functions (only in the vWii loader version), which possibly set the overscan parameters somewhere (or maybe another function does, like "CreateSysConfig", "Init", etc...). I need to set up an emuNAND before I change anything.
Also, interestingly, there is a function called "Set3DInfo", which might be used for HDMI 3D metadata (not used by any game, as far as I know).
Anyway, it would help to know exactly how many pixels are cropped on each side of the screen.
EDIT2: It could also be gx2.rpl (assuming GX2 is used for scaling), since it does have functions for scaling, or the config generated by nn_cmpt.rpl, or even avm.rpl, which provides functions for scaling (including "SetTvUnderScan", called by "SetDCWiiCompat" :!: with 0 as the parameter), and GamePad and TV output, as well as "WiiCompat", (the former used by gx2.rpl and the latter used by nn_cmpt.rpl), and it uses many functions from dc.rpl (Display Controller).
 
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kingjinxy2

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@PlayNeth

I sold my Wii U a while ago due to lack of usage, but all the same, I would like to see video output improved as much as you, so here are a couple of links that I've found.

@nastys
About the input lag, Extrems gives a good explanation here:
https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?p=1208264

A while ago, I read on this forum that both GBA on 3DS and Wii on Wii U had ~10 ms of input lag, but I can't seem to find the post. :(

Another thing that may or may not be able to be corrected is the aforementioned input lag.


A better comparison would be between a Wii modded for HDMI output and a Wii U, but this subject is apparently under-studied. Theoretically, I see no reason why the Wii U couldn't output perfectly clean HDMI in much the same way as the Wii and GameCube now can (with mods), so I hope that y'all can fix the issues or at least document them better. After all, the scene has done more for the Wii U than Nintendo... :D

Edit: It's also worth mentioning that the Wii U screws up the Wii's aspect ratio, according this video:

(Skip to 6:36)
 
Last edited by kingjinxy2,
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