Topic: Wii U limited RGB :(

I am probably in a minority here but I play my wii U on a computer monitor as opposed to a tv. I have my reasons for this, I don't care much for tv so I own a monitor instead and this is my only device to connect game consoles to. Anyone who has played their Wii U on a monitor may have noticed that the image appears washed out. Black appears a shade of grey and colours look muted and less vivid. This is because most monitors operate in the 0-255 RGB range whereas the Wii U only outputs limited 16-235 RGB range through its HDMI connection. I find it frustrating that Nintendo has not included an option in the display settings for full range RGB output for monitor users. Both the 360 and ps3 could output full range RGB so it does seem like a glaring omission on the Wii U.

Anyone else have this problem? We should gang up on Nintendo and try to get them to fix it in an update (if possible). If we all send an email to customer service maybe there is a chance it will get passed on to the software engineers.

I'm surprised by this since I didn't think anyone used monitors for gaming (bar PC gaming, obviously). It sounds like a hardware thing, so I don't expect Nintendo could do anything outside of a hardware revision. Still, you could try contacting the customer support team and asking if there's anything you can do about it.

Or you could get another monitor or a real tv

Got a TV so I don't really care.

Yeah most people use a TV for console gaming, attacking Nintendo about this is kinda pointless.

Probably some sorta converter box out there for situations like this if you look hard enough.

Try changing the RGB scale of your monitor.

I don't know how feasible or worthwhile it is for Nintendo to add functionality to their console for the 6 or 7 people who do not have a TV.

If you are not playing your Wii U on some sort of Plasma or LCD TV then I'm sorry, you are missing out.

Yeah I'm sure you're in the gross minority here! I'm sure less then .01% users use their Wii U's this way.

Can you not change your input colour format to YPbPr somehow ?

Do you have to mess around changing e.g your graphics card drivers to full range in order for it to be ok ? (I know Nvidia defaults to the same thing over HDMI).

They should support it. (They support PAL and PAL60.)

I might use a monitor but I think mine support what is needed.

(Depends whether I can justify a suitable 15ms or less Sony HDTV. And what it is like on my current Plasma - I suspect I will find it totally unacceptable - but my current TV is as good as I can ever expect to be willing to pay for).

You can't magically create portions of signal that aren't there. The best it could probably due is oversaturate the existing range.

Microsoft fixed it with a hotfix for the 360.

Even on TV's full range works better when both the TV and Device support it properly.

(I don't know what effect the TV's I have being primarily designed for PAL has on it. But I think it may have something to do with it)

Oddly enough I use the same HDMI TV for PC and Wii U output, and I haven't had to make any adjustments at all. I can flip back and forth between inputs and I don't even have to make custom settings or tweaks, everything is set to pretty much "default" factory settings.

Are you sure the monitor isn't just old or has screen-burn or some other technical issue monitor side?

To the people saying "haha, PC monitor, get a REAL display"...............

You do realise that a decent PC monitor, and I'm talking IPS with anit-glare and the works, start at about $300AU for a 23" screen? A screen that if you're playing on your desk would produce an image orders of magnitude better than most TVs. They're smaller sure but you're sitting a good 5x closer. If you have a PC that can do all the TV stuffs for you and you live by yourself? Yeah, could totally work.

That said I see the Wii U as a couch device rather than a desk device for two reasons. The GamePad doesn't really work at a desk as well as it does on a couch. With a traditional controller I can sit the controller on my lap and roll my chair forward so it's under the desk. With the GamePad I need to see it so what, I'm holding it above the desk between my face and the monitor? eh. Secondly the fact that Nintendo's console is best with local multiplayer, that's where it shines. Getting everyone huddled around a desk isn't really a thing. At LANs though? Where maybe there aren't any other options at hand? Definitely.

As for the problem. Sorry, no idea.

In order to get your black levels right, you need to change contrast and saturation settings. The range output is designed to work with most tv's which often work with filters to get the blue and red hues to oversaturate so you'd not have banding and noise ratio work against you in moving colour palettes. In this light, the 16-235 band seems like a good fit.

See if your screen has a "levels" setting, and adjust that by narrowing the whites to a 236 level. By the way, one advantage of pc monitors is their lack of input lag. I hate input lag, and was lucky enough to find a passive 3d 47 incher with 2 frames or less lag. Man, these tv's are hard to find.

Big ass passive 3d screens that have an input lag of 8ms or something and not much in terms of fancy features would surely sell like crazy me thinks.

It does seem like I am the only one in the world using my Wii U with a pc monitor but a search on google reveals many users with the same issue. My living quarters are quite small so the screen size is not a problem; the couch is only a few feet away from the desk with the monitor. I understand that the Wii U is aimed more at the living room space but it works just fine with my setup.

To those who think I am missing out, playing on a monitor has its advantages. I have a glossy IPS screen with 1200:1 actual contrast ratio, it has no visible ghosting and very low input lag. The image is super clean as there is no excessive processing you get on some tvs, when I have friends over they often comment on the clarity of the screen, oh and it only cost £110! I am a bit of a display snob I suppose but all I want is to get the best out of Nintendo games, the glossy/ips combination makes the colours look painted on and really shows off the and art style of the games. Only thing that ruins it is the limited RGB output from the Wii U.

I don't think its a hardware limitation, it should be fixable with a firmware update. I also found out that the PS4 and Xbox One can output full RGB range so it really is only the Wii U that can't out of last gen and current gen consoles. Fix it Nintendo! Please I beg of thee.

Ya, I see no problem with monitors. Back when I was looking for a display, I was highly considering a 3D monitor, but they ended up being WAAAAY too expensive for the one I wanted. I had a PS 3D display, then decided that was too small and there wasn't really anything in 3D, anyway, so I went with an decent size Insignia that has about 8ms of lag and a clear picture.

I can't notice any lag, so that's good enough, IMO.

@OP
Are you sure you can't change any settings? Usually there's settings to fit any thing you can plug into it. I think.

get a TV and wireless mouse+keyboard to connect to your PC
it's worth all the "delay" people say to stay in the way of games and you'll be able to play your WiiU to the fullest.

Why don't you just play it on the gamepad?