Topic: PAL 576i question

Hello,

by releasing Wii titles on WiiU Nintendo gave me the idea to plug in my old TV (CRT). Of course old games look much better on the suitable TV and of course my old TV has still better dark colours than my new LCD-TV. But now I wonder, if I should choose 480i or 576i.
In the old SNES-days all PAL games have 576i resolution but only 50fps, i.e. they were slower than the original. With GameCube most games let you choose between 50 Hz (576i) and 60 Hz (480i), which results in the funny situation having an easier F-Zero GX with higher resolution if wanted.

On Wii and WiiU I'm a bit confused. If I choose 576i, are all games I'm playing slower than on 480i? Does it really effect all games? Of course the higher resolution looks better on the old TV but I want to play the games in the original speed.

I would expect PAL content to play at PAL speeds regardless of whether you're connecting to a PAL tube set or a modern HD flatscreen and having the content presented in some kind of container for compatibility reasons. That's why most of the stuff being offered in the Wii U VC is now 480i - people complained there was no reason to give us PAL versions where an option existed (there are some games that there only released in Japan and PAL territories so you won't have a choice since they don't seem inclined to translate Japanese games or offer them) for the original NTSC.

I wouldn't use 576i unless you have a specific reason to. (Say playing the PAL Wii VC version of DKC2).

When you don't have an option it changes automatically anyway. (PAL - Wiiware Final Fantasy IV : The After Years does that for me for example).

Thanks for your answers. The problem is 576i looks definitely better in the WiiU menu than 480i.

Now I tested DKC-Returns in both modes and the result is: The game has the same speed regardless of choosing 576i or 480i. So what is happening? Is the game always running in the 60Hz mode? Or does the game just omit 10 frame each second for the TV output when I'm playing in 576i?

Does the same thing happen when playing a WiiU game in 576i?

I think you'd have to confirm what mode your TV is actually running in, but I won't pretend to know how these things actually work. I suspect that the difference is that this game is optimised for both. Many old games run slower in PAL because they were originally made for NTSC and they weren't expertly converted for PAL playback.

If the game developer doesn't change a thing, the game is 16.6% slower in 50Hz (576i). But of course it is all about how good the game is adopted. For example Zelda: The Wind Waker for GameCube is running only 5% slower in 50Hz mode than in the 60Hz mode.

Thank good this times are over. With the HD formats all games are running in the same speed. But I still wonder what exactly is happening when I'm playing the WiiU in 576i on my old TV.