Gaming Getting Wii games looking the best

[BORTZ]

What is the best way to get the best graphics out of a Wii console? (EXCLUDING DOLPHIN)

What are the best cables, HD, TV specs, any sort of graphical upscalers I should know about etc.

 

[emigre]

I use a 19 inch LCD HD Ready television. I use some generic component cables and sort out my configuration in the Wii menu. And shit looks really good. I was really surprised at colourful everything became. Playing 2D gaems is a fucking joy to play. I was playing Trauma Team and I loved looking at the art style. Kirby's Return to Dreamland was fucking lovely to look at. The colours just shone through.

From what I've read, using a CRT TV really gets the best out of the Wii but I don't have one so there.

 

[Rydian]

Using component (RGB+2audio) cables instead of composite (yellow+2audio) will give you 480p instead of 480i, which is an actual improvement... and is the best you can natively get. Upscalers are meh, but that's my opinion. I'd prefer the most precise output from the console with minimal latency. Also due to the way the Wii outputs video it has no true widescreen support, so running the Wii 4:3 will actually get you a slightly-clearer picture than "16:9".

 

[grossaffe]

If we're talking no-expenses-spared, then I believe Wii component cables fed into an XRGB Mini is supposed to give you the best picture.

http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/

 

[sion_zaphod]

vWii on WiiU to 50" flat screen with HDMI.

 

[the_randomizer]

If we're talking no-expenses-spared, then I believe Wii component cables fed into an XRGB Mini is supposed to give you the best picture.

http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/

Those are expensive though.

The games are scaled to 720/1080 output, but internally, the games aren't true HD still.

 

[grossaffe]

Those are expensive though.

The games are scaled to 720/1080 output, but internally, the games aren't true HD still.

Yeah, I know. That's why I said if it's no-expense-spared. If you want the best picture, you emulate with Dolphin. If we wanna get the most you can from the actual hardware, you need a high-quality upscaler that'll do it better than a TV's internal upscaler.

vWii on WiiU to 50" flat screen with HDMI.

Personally, I was unable to tell the difference between vWii on HDMI and Wii on Component. I compared them by playing Skyward Sword at the same time on the same TV at the same spot and just switched inputs, and there was absolutely no discernible difference. Then again, that may come down to the individual TV's scalers.

 

[Ergo]

CRT is really the best way to go to get Wii games looking their best, which is a massive headache for a variety of reasons.

Other than that, you're basically limited to some sort of upscaler on any HD screen bigger than 24", e.g. the XRGB2, etc.

 

[Ergo]

CRT is really the best way to go to get Wii games looking their best, which is a massive headache for a variety of reasons.

Other than that, you're basically limited to some sort of upscaler on any HD screen bigger than 24", e.g. the XRGB2, etc.

 

[trumpet-205]

There is no way to get HD out of Wii game, upscaler or vWii.

vWii simply stretches the image to 720 to 1080. It is actually worse than letting the TV does it (WIi + component cable) since no filter is applied.
External upscaler basically does what TV is doing but slightly better. They are very expensive and usually introduce lags so they aren't worth it.

Some will argue that vWii is better, but that is only because they use HDMI connection (digital, no signal degradation).

 

[kehkou]

CRT is really the best way to go to get Wii games looking their best, which is a massive headache for a variety of reasons.

Other than that, you're basically limited to some sort of upscaler on any HD screen bigger than 24", e.g. the XRGB2, etc.

Glad I live in NM where CRT is still the norm, the BEST for classic gaming.

 

[BORTZ]

I guess if you have a nice enough tv, you can kinda mess with the setting as well. I know its not true HD, but it still looks pretty dang good.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

What is the best way to get the best graphics out of a Wii console? (EXCLUDING DOLPHIN)

What are the best cables, HD, TV specs, any sort of graphical upscalers I should know about etc.

PAL 480p with component cables looks the best (as PAL displays in 720x480 instead of 640x480) however if you really care about graphics you should just use Dolphin. It's amazing how good games look on it even though they were never designed for it.
The next best thing is RGB SCART but that's no point unless you don't have a HDTV.

Upscalers are overrated and useless, you can't add detail that wasn't there in the first place. Unlike Dolphin it doesn't actually cause stuff to be rendered at a higher resolution, it's still rendered at the same resolution, and it might actually look worse than just letting the TV upscale it (though that depends on your upscaler and TV I suppose)
It's the same sort of thing as 2D to 3D conversion. It tries to do the impossible and doesn't do a very good job at it.

 

[BORTZ]

PAL 480p with component cables looks the best (as PAL displays in 720x480 instead of 640x480) however if you really care about graphics you should just use Dolphin. It's amazing how good games look on it even though they were never designed for it.
The next best thing is RGB SCART but that's no point unless you don't have a HDTV.

Upscalers are overrated and useless, you can't add detail that wasn't there in the first place. Unlike Dolphin it doesn't actually cause stuff to be rendered at a higher resolution, it's still rendered at the same resolution, and it might actually look worse than just letting the TV upscale it (though that depends on your upscaler and TV I suppose)
It's the same sort of thing as 2D to 3D conversion. It tries to do the impossible and doesn't do a very good job at it.

Yeah thats kinda the conclusion that im coming to. I think when i get the money, ill just switch over to Dolphin. How good is the compatibility with Dolphin?

 

[Rydian]

Compatibility stopped being an issue a while back, speed and fixing graphical bugs while not dropping down to 5FPS are the main problems nowadays it seems.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Yeah thats kinda the conclusion that im coming to. I think when i get the money, ill just switch over to Dolphin. How good is the compatibility with Dolphin?

I haven't used it that much but the handful of Wii and GC games I've ran on it all worked perfectly apart from slowdowns when the game is loading data.
There are some issues with audio though if using HLE audio (an obvious one being that background music randomly stops), so I would recommend dumping the DSP ROM from your Wii in order to use LLE audio.
These audio issues are being fixed on a game-by-game basis, but there are still games that have them.

Instructions for dumping the DSP ROM are here here: http://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=DSP_LLE

 

[reprep]

official component cables really increase the quality compared with generic component cables. use an official component cable or official scart rgb cable to have the best picture. i would really recommend official rgb scart cable if you are using a CRT tv. avoid the composite cable (yellow,red,white) at all costs.

 

[Hielkenator]

This is for a lcd tv:

Use RGB or Component leads.
Try getting your Brightness ( blacks ) as black as possible so it's coherent to your screens blackness when it's off.
Then for contrast try not to set it too high as this can kill detail, in lighter shades. Try not to go over 80%
Then for saturation try to set a natural amount.
Remember that most Wii games were meant to be played in 4:3 ratio.
If you are struggling with jaggies, use this setting ( force it with usb loader GX ! ) and set your tv accordingly.
For sharpness I would'nt go over 20 % as this can cause artifacts ( white lining )

To get the picture to pop, adjust your backlight levels.