Hardware Wii component cable 480i vs. 480p?

[OriginalHamster]

I've perceived the same thing as OP, I have Nintendo's official first party component cables.
My TV is a Panasonic Viera.

First thing I noticed when putting the image in 480p is that the image looks barely better respect 480i, in fact in 480i everything looks more rounded, with 480p everything looks more jagged. It's pretty obvious on System Menu.

During gameplay the difference is big, for example with Zelda TP, with 480p the game looks super detailed, no blurry at all, more crisp, but the HUD looks pretty jagged, with 480i it looks pretty blurry.

So, I think that the TV itself could be displaying the image in 480p already, without need of Wii settings (at least on Wii Menu), during gameplay maybe it can't be forced to run 480p at least the Wii System say so.

In short, some games/menu looks better under 480i, while others don't.

Also how a can be a progresive setting from the Wii be different from a progresive setting coming from the TV?


@OP
Try toying whit the sharpness level of your TV, if you're getting a too blurry image turn up the sharpness level.

 

[D34DL1N3R]

@zuron7,
That's 480i composite vs 480p component. We're talking component vs. component here.

@OriginalHamster,
Mine is opposite, everything is more blurry if I put the Wii in 480p. I tried adjusting the sharpness but that just adds ugly and unnecessary edge enhancement. It still looks better in 480i component than it does 480p component with sharpness turned up.

I have also tried several 480p supported games on both 480i/480p and I cannot see a single difference, with the exception of text being noticeably blurry in 480p.

Can someone recommend a game that has some pretty substantial differences in 480p vs. 480i? Something that I could plainly see the difference in, and what exactly in the game I should be looking at to spot the increase and/or decrease of picture quality?

 

[OriginalHamster]

I think I know what happens.

The TV automatically upconverts the 480i signal to 480p the best it can do it, by double liner the image, but it supposed that 480p right away from the Wii is better because it is sending additional lines (opposed to TV interpreting them).

The problem is your TV probably try to REupscalling the 480p signal (again). That´s why you see 480i better in comparison to 480p (from Wii settings).

Just go for the setting that suit to your eyes better

 

[tueidj]

Blurriness in 480p indicates your TV is doing a poor job of reading the progressive analog signal; data is transferred at twice the rate of 480i (since 2 fields are transmitted for each frame instead of 1), it sounds like your TV isn't reading at the proper rate and interpolating horizontal pixels instead.

 

[D34DL1N3R]

If it was the television, then why don't other sources in 480p look blurry?

 

[iznasty]

monoprice.com has wii component cables for like 2-3$ definitely worth it.

 

[fattest]

monoprice.com has wii component cables for like 2-3$ definitely worth it.

+1 thats where i got mine from, very good quality

 

[snap_0714]

monoprice.com has wii component cables for like 2-3$ definitely worth it.

do they charge shipping?

 

[D34DL1N3R]

Maybe I'll just try a different set of cables. I'm a big fan of the HDMI cables from Monoprice.

 

[jessant]

i bought my component cable recently at CD R king for P150.00 w/ silver tip, tried it on my LG 32LH70YR, set on EDTV/HDTV -480p on my wii, played NBA2k11 i noticed that the noise resolution is very much visible, so i lower the sharpness and contrast, tru-motion, i'm not satisfied w/ the output so i stayed on using 480i w/ stock cable. I think some of the games i played is much better using 480i settings and stock composite cable by nintendo. but i saw this component cable being used in 26" devan't HDTV in game stations, the resolution is very crisp, does anyone experience using component cable that is TV brand dependent or game dependent that will produce a much crispier output? or gold tip component cable is one thing to consider..your feedback is very much appreciated.

 

[tueidj]

The composite cable is never better than the component cable.

 

[PPSainity]

One thing to understand between the 480i and 480p is there are differences in the amount of information in both the resolution in each field (not frame) and in the full frame rate (temporal resolution). The different video processor in TVs handle things, well differently. If you want to understand what your specific TV does to certain image feeds find out what video processor is in it and head on over to the avforums.

In cases where 480i looks better than 480p chances are that the video processor in your TV is more adapt at de-interlacing than it is in post-processing progressive images. Progressive images have more temporal resolution so the image will seem more crisp, and jaggies will be more present. Getting rid of jaggies is hard, just look at the performance hit modern PC graphic cards still take anti-aliasing. Interlaced images have the benefit of being softer due to most common de-interlacing methods, not to mention these methods are more mature and optimized.

I'm just a hometheater hobbyist, so I can't explain further than this with any more elegance, but if video processing intrigues you I suggest visiting avforums. Interesting stuff that you can spend many an hour on...

As far as different cables go, some TVs have poor components and are more susceptible to the effects of degraded signal quality. Component cables are after all carrying an analogue signal. This means that even small differences in cables might cause a visible difference in picture quality. Just don't take this as an excuse to go all out on Monster cables. We are talking about bad quality cables which can be replaced by great cables at far less Monstrous prices....I believe someone did mention monoprice already...

-[]D

 

[steveroo]

i just bought a knock off component cable from ebay and the 480p setting with wide screen look stremendously visually better on a 32" lcd. Highly wroth the $10.00!

 

[Hanks6]

i've seen 480i looking bettter than 480p (over component) on certain TV sets. but this is the exception to the rule. my friends 50 inch panny plasma is one such screen (entry level model) - 480i is noticably crisper than 480p. unusual, but this is obviously related to the ability of the TV's scaling in these different modes.

however, 480p is considerably better on my 32 inch panny LCD, it's like night and day with Double Dash, which is a blurry mess in 480i. 480p also seems to edge it out on the 37 inch panny plasma we have downstairs, but not by as much as on the LCD.

 

[Mario92]

BTW do you guys see difference between 480i and 576i? I have original nintendo RBG cable so I don't even have 480p as option.

 

[Hanks6]

BTW do you guys see difference between 480i and 576i? I have original nintendo RBG cable so I don't even have 480p as option.

should be sharper because of the increased resolution. i can certainly see an improvement in madworld (PAL vs NTSC interlaced) but the PAL also runs in a squashed box, making any comparison more complicated. also, 480i should be PAL60, so 60hz - more framerate/smoother over any increased resolution and no chance of weird ratios. gonna be the best option in most cases. presuming it's a CRT TV set i'd take the smoothness of 60hz over a little more resolution. scaling isn't really an issue like on HDTVs.

in a lot of ways RGB PAL60 on a CRT screen is the best way to play the Gamecube/Wii - super colourful, crisp and smooth. I don't think many HDTVs can produce a good image from the Wii due to the limited resolution/scaling and fake widescreen mode, just a big one.

 

[appleburger]

Ancient thread I'm resurrecting here, I know, but for anyone else curious about Wii picture quality that comes across this in the future....

CRT TV:

• This is ideal for a Wii if you're after the "best" picture
• Top tier would be 480p (requires component), but few CRT TVs actually offer progressive scan. If your CRT TV has component input, that does not mean it will output 480p, necessarily. Often, if it does, there will be an "HD" label around the input or somewhere on the TV. Check the model number in google to make sure
• If your TV only offers 480i (very likely), component will still look better, because the colors are separated through the three cables, rather than one yellow video cable (composite, aptly named)
  • Composite is fine, but if you're picky like me you'll hate seeing rainbow effects, especially where detail is concerned

HDTV:

• Kind of a problem if you really care about picture quality, in the case of Wii
• The wii only outputs in standard definition - the "widescreen" isn't true widescreen, it only stretches the image to fit the screen, so you're going to get a less sharp image
  • So, you want 4:3 aspect ratio, 480p with component cables
• From there, if you want better image quality, you'll need an upscaler, but from what I've read they don't work well with Wii, so if you want the picture to look better, you'll want to grab a CRT TV, if you're crazy like me and willing to let that thing sit in your house for guests to see
  • Some HDTVs will upscale and deinterlace the image for you, and some handle SD video better than others, so your mileage may vary, here. For my HDTV, Wii looks absolutely horrible in 480p with component. Awful. Like, I get sick just looking at it.

General

• Either way you slice it - go for component. You don't need official cables, there are cheap ones that work just fine. 480i honestly looks great on a CRT with component (for colors), but if you're lucky enough to have a CRT with progressive scan (like the Sony Trinitron XBR), then nothing else will beat that picture quality outside of emulation.
• Screen size is important. Wii only outputs in standard definition, and moreso than modern TVs, standard definition looks much sharper on smaller screens. Most agree that 28-32 inches is the sweet spot for standard definition.
• There are also PVMs, which are the holy grail of standard definition picture, but I'm not even going to go there. I'd recommend checking out "My Life in Gaming" on youtube for info on PVM setups.
• 480i vs. 480p is a more subtle difference than you'll find than you'd expect from going low res - high res. Interlaced video creates a combing effect that's more noticeable when there's a lot of movement. Screen pans will show more combing, as well. Interlaced produces "fields" rather than "frames", so progressive is a more stable image more than anything. If you aren't noticing this effect, then you won't be too impressed with progressive scan anyway, and I wouldn't stress over it.

If you're looking for the best quality possible, then seek out a CRT that offers progressive scan, 32 inches or smaller, with component cables, running in 480p, 4:3 aspect ratio. Or be crazy and get a PVM. That's as good as it gets with wii - and it looks very clean! HUUUUGE difference from playing on a Plasma, LCD or LED.

 

[Draxikor]

@appleburger
Who told you that upscalers don't work well with the Wii?
Both retrotink and OSSC work great with the console.

 

[N7Kopper]

Ancient thread I'm resurrecting here, I know, but for anyone else curious about Wii picture quality that comes across this in the future....

CRT TV:

• This is ideal for a Wii if you're after the "best" picture

A matter of taste. CRTs - even the famed PVMs - make me retch a little when compared to an LCD. Pretty sure it's not a biological quirk that makes me hate them so, because I put up with one for far longer than most.

But I am apparently a bizarre outlier, so shrug.

 

[appleburger]

@appleburger
Who told you that upscalers don't work well with the Wii?
Both retrotink and OSSC work great with the console.

I’ve read it multiple times on forums. I was looking into getting one for my Wii and enough people told me it’s particularly not great for Wii, so I went with a CRT. But I haven’t seen it for myself.