Topic: How many people use component cables (not a/v cables) for their Wii?

Hi all,

I'm not sure if this has been posted yet, but with all the talk of an HD Wii this and that I was wondering how many people actually use Component Cables (not the packed in audio video cables) on their Wii for full 480p?

I have a 42' flat screen LCD TV and I have to say the games look so much better in 480p. For the people who say the Wii looks like crap on their TVs do they even know about 480p?

Oddly enough, 8 bit games, via the VC, look especially good with the component cables.

I can tell the difference because I also have the regular audio / video cables hooked up to switch the connections so I can play The Megaman X Collection for the Gamecube. Capcom made a big mistake with that game and did not make it playable with component cables and it is only playable via audio/ video cables. To my knowledge, it is the only game for the Gamecube that has this problem.

How is your Wii hooked up to your TV? Component or the packed in audio / video cables?

It's funny you mention the X Collection, my friend told me recently that he had to switch back to his composite cable to play it, which sounded odd at the time.

Anyway, I can't make use of my component cable, so I lent it to said friend until I someday....eventually...get a new TV.

Of course I use Component, I'd die if I had to play the Wii using composite cables. If you want a Sharper/Clearer image, along with much better color and brightness than you NEED to get Component Cables. And for you HDTV Owners it also gives you progressive scan.

If you're playing the Wii using standard Composite cables, than i really feel bad for you UPGRADE!

Having just got an HD tv recently I've been looking at getting this.So it sounds like its worth getting (the picture doesn't look great at the moment,my Xbox looks amazing though ) .My question is should I get the official cable which is £20+ or an unofficial one which vary from about £3-10. Has anyone used one of the third party ones?

@Luigi78: There are always random reports of problems with the third party cables that don't exist with the Nintendo ones. I have Nintendo cables and have never had a problem with them, so I'd say play it safe and go with those. I'm sure if you search around a bit, you could get a good price on them. Took me less than a minute to find them for £17.99 on Amazon.co.uk.

i've gotten used to component over the past few months and i can tell now immediately when a wii isn't using them. the picture looks much blurrier and duller. if i lost my component cable i'd definitely get another one without question, i'll never go back to A/V. i'd say the $30 price of nintendo's own cables are worth it for the improvement you get, but i've never tried the cheaper brands.

one alternative is this upscaler, if you've seen the thread- https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/wii/new_hdmi_upscaler_for_wii
at $60 this thing is not worth it for those who already have component connections. but, if you haven't bought a better cable already, it might actually be worth picking up. for $30 more than component it'll give you HDMI output that'll match the same picture quality, but it also upscales the picture and makes it look a little better than your tv probably would. there may apparently be some lag issues with it, though...

If we're talking HDTV's, Wii performs and looks better on 720p displays compared to 1080p HDTV's. The less upscaling the better regarding PQ and Lag. But certain sets have better video processors than others. if you must go HD for the Wii..Then I'd recommend the Samsung PN42C450 720p 42" Plasma, and get Nintendo(Official Brand) component cables.

Also if that Upscaler introduces more Lag, than I'd definitly skip it...Since I'm such a perfectionist I'd get anything to enhance PQ or performance. The upscaler clearly does enhance the PQ(only alittle) but again if it introduces LAG than screw it.

Thanks guys. I probably wouldn't buy the upscaler as I prefer to see things in their native rsolution.480p will be good for the Wii i think.It doesn't do HD and I don't see the point in trying to force it to.I just want a sharper picture.Thanks for the link @Stuffgamer1 I'll probably stick with an official one then unless someone tells me they know of a good third party one.

I bought some component cables a couple of weeks back and the improvement is enormous. Brighter colours and clearer image, especially for moving text and images. I no longer have to squint anymore!

I'm using third-party cables and they work just fine. The Nintendo official cables are pretty overpriced IMO.

Sweet! Many of you are using the component cables. You guys know your stuff!

@Luigi78
You definitely must upgrade to component. I also have my 360 hooked up to the same TV and the component cables make the switch from the 360 to the Wii much easier. I also have heard of people having no problems with the Nintendo Component cables. Why Nintendo did not go ahead and pack cables in with the Wii, I just don't know.

I am using component cables by Nyko and they are cheaper than the Nintendo cables and the Nyko cables look great and have given me no problems what so ever. From what I understand, cheap no-name cables have poor shielding which can cause a loss in picture quality.

@Donatello
I too am obsessive with picture quality (I was actually one of the few people who actually tracked down the EXPENSIVE component cables for the Gamecube). I think Nintendo does the Wii a disservice by not including the component cables. I bet the majority of the people who get their Wiis will not go out and get the better cables and will simply say the Wii graphics suck when they hook it up to their HD TVs:(

Yep I'm gonna order some today.I'll have a look for those NYKO ones you mention.Their stuff seems to be pretty good, I do think Nintendo peripherals are over priced in general.They didn't pack them with the Wii to keep costs down and because Nintendo love old technology LOL. I only turned my Wii on yesterday for the 1st time since getting my TV and after a lot of Xbox action over the last couple of weeks the difference was startling so I think I definetly need to get some Cheers fellas.
@Holymackerel Which cables are you using?

I notice that with some VC games, I get scan lines on my television (even worse is when I open the wii menu which is then imprinted onto the game screen when I exit the menu.

I know some VC games aren't Component compatible, but is this supposed to happen, because when I used the standard cables, there wasn't any problems?

The official Nintendo cables are way, way overpriced. I picked up a random 3rd party cable for under £4 and it works fine. You'd be very unlucky to get one that didn't work, and even if you had to buy two you'd still save money.

If I had money to burn I'd go with the official cable, if only because I like the uniformity of everything bearing the Nintendo logo, but it's really not worth the extra money.

well, if you're playing on an HDTV it'll won't be displayed in it's native resolution anyway. though they accept all different resolutions, HDTVs can only display their native one. before they can be displayed all other signals will be scaled to match the tv, which is exactly what the scaler i linked to does. the difference is that the standalone scaler does it better, so you get better picture quality with fewer jaggies.

if you want the real native resolution you'd have to buy an EDTV, like donatello says. the problem then is that you get no widescreen and have to deal with a bulky and possibly noisy old CRT.
i personally don't think upscaling is a bad thing; it can distort the picture or improve it depending on the quality of the scaler. most people rave about how DVD's look almost as good as blu-ray on a good HDTV, and keeping in mind that the wii and DVD are both 480p, the wii can benefit just as much from good scaling.

I see what your saying but surely if the TV is upscaling then what is the point of upscaling again?Maybe if its a low quality TV it might be worth it I suppose Anyway I can't justify the cost of that thing and component sounds like it'll achieve what I want it to so I'll go with that, I might try one of the 3rd party ones then as @shake_zula says ,if they do turn out cr*p then I haven't wasted a lot of money anyhow.Thanks for all the advice guys.

@Luigi78 I use Joytron Wii component cables. Joytron is a Korean third-party game hardware/accessory company. I'd say don't go looking for them specifically - just go to your local game store to see if you can find some Wii component cables and get the most reasonably-priced/reliable-looking set. I don't think brand names mean much, really.

Here's an eBay listing showing the box of the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/Joytron-Component-AV-Cable-for-Nintendo-W...

I have a Nintendo only rule for cables, always have, always will.

I usually do buy official stuff.I bought the official 360 VGA cable which was £20+ but I think I'll try a cheapo one just to see then borrow a friends official one to compare.I'll let you know the results

you've got it figured out. i was just bringing the scaler up as something to consider, since if you're already spending some cash it might be interesting to see what it can do for a little more, but in my opinion nintendo's component cables get the job done well enough.

@edhe

Some VC games are not in 480p. I just played Ironclad and my TV let me know that the image changed back into 480i. The title screen looked blurry but the actual game looked good.

This made me appreciate Nintendo's effort to upgrade their first party games to be played in 480p. I know my VC N64 games look better than they did when they originally came out.

I believe some games give you an option to play with scan lines. For the best picture quality make sure you have switched to the 480p option in the Wii menu. Most HDTV have an "info" button on the remote to let you know if you are actually in 480p or 480i.

I hope that helps.

Oh yeah,
@Dezner
You would not believe the run around I got from Nintendo Customer Service and Capcom just to figure that out. I can't believe Capcom made such a big oversight of not including 480p.