Hardware Will this add display lag?

[Humanity]

I want to use a Nintendo Wii to play Nintendo GameCube games on an old 4:3 computer monitor.

The monitor only has DVI input.



1) If I use some sort of Wii to HDMI dongle and then a HDMI to DVI cable, will this add display lag?

2) Is there a better way for me to connect the Wii to that monitor?

 

[AkikoKumagara]

I think the best option might be using this kind of cable if it's available in your region (https://www.amazon.com/TNP-Wii-PS3-VGA-Cable-PlayStation/dp/B01JOBW12K) and then converting the VGA output to DVI with a generic (VGA male to DVI male in this case) adapter or cable. Just be careful and make sure you get the right cable/adapter type for your DVI port, as there are several kinds, such as DVI-D and DVI-I.

 

[GalladeGuy]

Yes, it will most likely add display lag, if it works at all. The Wii2HDMI and similar devices are poor quality, which is about what you'd expect from a $10 upscaler. It might not even work through HDMI to DVI cables. The Wii can output component through a pretty cheap cable, and VGA through a mod. There's also the WiiDual which adds RGB and HDMI, but it's expensive and hard to install. Using component cables and a RetroTINK 2x would probably be the best option, since it does have a DVI mode for HDMI to DVI cables. The RetroTINK 2x is $100, though, so it might be cheaper to just buy a different monitor that supports component, preferably a CRT if you care about video quality.

 

[Humanity]

I think the best option might be using this kind of cable if it's available in your region (https://www.amazon.com/TNP-Wii-PS3-VGA-Cable-PlayStation/dp/B01JOBW12K) and then converting the VGA output to DVI with a generic (VGA male to DVI male in this case) adapter or cable. Just be careful and make sure you get the right cable/adapter type for your DVI port, as there are several kinds, such as DVI-D and DVI-I.

Will doing it the way that you have suggested add any display lag at all?

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Yes, it will most likely add display lag, if it works at all. The Wii2HDMI and similar devices are poor quality, which is about what you'd expect from a $10 upscaler. It might not even work through HDMI to DVI cables. The Wii can output component through a pretty cheap cable, and VGA through a mod. There's also the WiiDual which adds RGB and HDMI, but it's expensive and hard to install. Using component cables and a RetroTINK 2x would probably be the best option, since it does have a DVI mode for HDMI to DVI cables. The RetroTINK 2x is $100, though, so it might be cheaper to just buy a different monitor that supports component, preferably a CRT if you care about video quality.

Please share with me additional information about the VGA mod that you have mentioned?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I want to use a Nintendo Wii to play Nintendo GameCube games on an old 4:3 computer monitor.

The monitor only has DVI input.



1) If I use some sort of Wii to HDMI dongle and then a HDMI to DVI cable, will this add display lag?

2) Is there a better way for me to connect the Wii to that monitor?

Yes, but it will probably still be less than a lot of TVs. People use Wii2HDMI dongles to play Melee, so I figure the lag can't be too bad.
Keep in mind that the Wii2HDMI dongles have pretty bad image quality. Would be better to use something higher quality. OSSC/Framemeister might be too expensive, but there are other options that take component in that produce decent image quality although not with as low input lag.

 

[Humanity]

Yes, but it will probably still be less than a lot of TVs. People use Wii2HDMI dongles to play Melee, so I figure the lag can't be too bad.
Keep in mind that the Wii2HDMI dongles have pretty bad image quality. Would be better to use something higher quality. OSSC/Framemeister might be too expensive, but there are other options that take component in that produce decent image quality although not with as low input lag.

Isn't there a difference between input lag and display lag?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Isn't there a difference between input lag and display lag?

Kind of. Input lag is the time it takes from when you press a button until its shown on screen, in essence it's perceived lag from start to end, rather than just how long the game the game takes to register the press. Display lag is harder to measure, because you have to take out all variables other than the lag between the device video output and screen. But it doesn't matter as much as the overall lag.

You could also measure input lag as the time it takes from a press until it's registered by the game. This may be a more accurate usage of the term but again, it's not as important as the overall lag (which is also usually called input lag)
The actual latency between pressing a button and the console registering it is usually so small that it doesn't matter anyway. When people say input lag they are usually referring to perceived lag.

 

[Humanity]

Kind of. Input lag is the time it takes from when you press a button until its shown on screen, in essence it's perceived lag from start to end, rather than just how long the game the game takes to register the press. Display lag is harder to measure, because you have to take out all variables other than the lag between the device video output and screen. But it doesn't matter as much as the overall lag.

Thank you for taking the time to help me.

I use a PS4 with a standard DualShock 4 in wireless mode on a TV with 3ms input lag. I play with the TV set to game mode.

I am not able to really notice any lag at all.

What is the best and cheapest way for me to do what I want to do for Wii? Also will it feel worse, the same, or better than when I use that PS4?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Thank you for taking the time to help me.

I use a PS4 with a standard DualShock 4 in wireless mode on a TV with 3ms input lag. I play with the TV set to game mode.

I am not able to really notice any lag at all.

What is the best and cheapest way for me to do what I want to do for Wii? Also will it feel worse, the same, or better than when I use that PS4?

You're too fast I made a bunch of edits to my post.

I don't know what the best and cheapest way is, I guess you would have to look up cheap HDMI upscalers online, and doing some research to figure out what the input lag and image quality is like. I think as long as you use component cables the conversion to HDMI should be pretty straightforward so there shouldn't be huge differences in image quality, but I'm not sure.

 

[Humanity]

You're too fast I made a bunch of edits to my post.

I don't know what the best and cheapest way is, I guess you would have to look up cheap HDMI upscalers online, and doing some research to figure out what the input lag and image quality is like. I think as long as you use component cables the conversion to HDMI should be pretty straightforward so there shouldn't be huge differences in image quality, but I'm not sure.

The monitor I want to use only takes DVI for display input

 

[The Real Jdbye]

The monitor I want to use only takes DVI for display input

I meant component cables into the upscaler, HDMI out, and then a simple adapter to convert to DVI.

You could get by with the stock composite cables too, component just has a far better image quality.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

The cable I linked converts the component signal to VGA, so it's analog to analog signal. Depending on the format your monitor is capable of displaying, DVI is technically capable of supporting analog input, but I'm not sure whether or not your monitor is, so I can't say. It's possible you could have a fully analog loop in this case, though, whereas with the HDMI converter and no physical console mod, you cannot.

Component to DVI is also an option assuming your monitor can take analog input. I've never converted anything except for VGA to DVI before, so I don't know how that works very well.

 

[Humanity]

The cable I linked converts the component signal to VGA, so it's analog to analog signal. Depending on the format your monitor is capable of displaying, DVI is technically capable of supporting analog input, but I'm not sure whether or not your monitor is, so I can't say. It's possible you could have a fully analog loop in this case, though, whereas with the HDMI converter and no physical console mod, you cannot.

Component to DVI is also an option assuming your monitor can take analog input. I've never converted anything except for VGA to DVI before, so I don't know how that works very well.

HDMI adapter (no Wii hardware mod) then HDMI to DVI was what I was about to order.

Can anyone vouch that keeping everything analogue in the specific way that s/he has described will reduce lag as compared to the solution that I was about to order?

 

[AkikoKumagara]

HDMI adapter (no Wii hardware mod) then HDMI to DVI was what I was about to order.

Can anyone vouch that keeping everything analogue in the specific way that s/he has described will reduce lag?

It would because that conversion is what tends to cause delay in the first place. However, it'd be best if you could determine in some way that your monitor can in fact handle an analog signal before committing to this method.

 

[Humanity]

It would because that conversion is what tends to cause delay in the first place. However, it'd be best if you could determine in some way that your monitor can in fact handle an analog signal before committing to this method.

Ok.

Are u sure though that when connecting those different analogue wires that there is no lag introduced? Is it as if it was just 1 wire?

 

[GalladeGuy]

Please share with me additional information about the VGA mod that you have mentioned?

https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/wii-native-vga-version-1-4.2176/
A bit late, but here you go. Keep in mind that this also requires a softmod, and the hardmod requires some fairly difficult soldering. Just using component would be a much better choice if you have a good monitor that supports it or are willing to get a RetronTINK-2X and HDMI to DVI cable to use with your current monitor so you can have good quality video with no lag.