Topic: wii + hdtv = HOLY YESTICLES

i'd heard a lot about the wii's ability to output in 480p, but i never figured it was a big difference and couldn't have cared less about this HDTV stuff. after all, the wii was a deliberate statement about quality of gameplay over quality of visuals, right?

well, the games turned out to suck so you can throw all that stuff out the window. while house sitting i had the chance to hook my wii up to an HDTV with some component cables, and just by hooking up the component cable there was already a surprising difference. the picture seemed to have some sort of stillness to it that was surprising; i was used to the games looking jittery and grainy, especially when looking at distant objects, but with component cables that flickering quality is calmed. the color balance also completely shifted, losing the red glare that light sources seemed to cast over everything.

you can see that same reduction in red glare here, although the video isn't the best- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6umnBY8Eq_k

there's also a huge increase in sharpness; you'll often see blurry objects in wii games and assume that's just how the games are. it's a little surprising to see just how detailed and sharp those textures actually were the whole time. setting the wii to 480p increases the sharpness even further, by just as radical an amount all over again. you can see some examples of that here, although the pictures are too small to really demonstrate the difference-

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6162297/p-2.html

http://www.wiinintendo.net/2006/11/27/wii-component-cables-vs...

so why does this matter? because it shows just how much of the artwork is lost on its way to your tv through low-res output. i noticed visual effects that i had never seen before in games that i've played dozens of times. in muramasa i could see shadows of clouds passing over the landscape that for some reason never stood out before, ferns wavering in the foreground for some reason looked incredibly realistic, and i could also clearly make out every hand-drawn line on my character's sprite while before their face was a blur. in zelda i actually managed to see some climbable vines that i had never been able to see before.

look at the icon of midna's face. in 480i it's very hard to make out any features while in 480p it's very clear- http://www.macpham.com/gallery/wii480pvs480i/zeldagame

there are artists who sat for hours putting these details into the game and it's a shame to see so much of it lost on it's way to the tv. it's not entirely solved by using component cables and 480p either; anyone who's seen the emulator shots of mario galaxy in 720p knows that these games are capable of much more stunning visual quality that the wii is capable of displaying. so many people have argued about visual quality just in terms of technical power that you begin to think HD only matters to video nerds, but this about the ability to faithfully render the artwork that the games staff created- i'm starting to feel like the SD only resolution of the wii is actually undercutting the artists working on the games.

some mario comparisons for the road-
http://www.polimalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/mario-wii-...

plant monster
in sd- http://www.dignews.com/legacy/screenshots/super_mario_galaxy_...
vs hd- http://i44.tinypic.com/2hgr4g5.jpg

Thanks for the info. For a second there I thought you were talking about the Wii's supposed successor.

That's great and all, but I'm not about to spend $1000+ on a TV when a cheaper one works just fine.

the hdtv's i'm looking at are around $300. LCD has gotten so cheap that it's not much more than the wii itself for a moderate sized tv

It cost me 300 bucks to get the dinky thing I put in my room. No way am I playing the Wii on that. I'm looking to replace the 32 in. SDTV in my living room, but I'm not paying and arm and a leg to do it.

Don't put to much believe in the Galaxy pix, that is HD on a PC emulator, not the Wii. The problem I still have with my LCD tv, is the jaggies. But I guess more people have problems with that.

...that was the point. i was showing how good the games are capable of looking without hardware limitations to make it clear just how much the games are losing in 480i and even 480p.

Actually, all you have to do is upconvert the 480p to get an HD image. It costs way to much for a good sized TV, and these widesreens look even smaller than their non-widescreen counterparts. To me, you have to have a 42" TV just to look about the same size. It isn't all about clarity, sure they're clearer, but if it costs triple the price for something that is going to be hard to play games on, let alone watch a movie from a distance back (necessary when there are more than the usual number of people). The Wii is the hardest console to play on a small TV and gets so much worse when you have splitscreens. I can buy a 32" SD-TV for less than $250, compare that to a 19" LCD-TV of roughly the same price.

not to get too sidetracked, but 32" is what i'm looking for and i've found plenty of LCDs to consider in that size below $400. the prices are going down more and more each year, if you haven't checked them recently you might be surprised.

i didn't mean to start a discussion about hdtv, what i was saying is that nearly all of the best wii releases so far have visual quality that goes above and beyond what the wii is capable of displaying. it's not as if the artists are creating the games in full HD resolutions, but it's still clear that they're creating much better visuals for their games than the system is capable of living up to.

i'm still catching up to 480p, so i'm not exactly clamoring for a full HD wii yet. i still support nintendo's decision to focus on fun instead of graphics, but something about the idea of all that beautiful, detailed artwork going to waste makes me pause to think about whether the system really is better for having stuck with SD. of course the games are still fun, but does it bother anyone else knowing that their games could look radically better with a few moderate power boosts to the wii's video output?

Wii games are great on the big screen. Excite Truck = the awesome!

480p on the Wii does look pretty nice in places, games like Brawl, Galaxy and Metroid show this off well. Does make you dream of Mario in 1080p, that would be sweet.

Muramasa on my samsung 42" LCD looks amazing!

It cost me $1000 to get a 46" 1080p Samsung 120Hz.

For a more-than-sufficient 32" TV, you could get a Samsung 720p for $444 on Newegg.
If you went shopping on Black Friday you could get a good TV for even less.
I think Best Buy was selling a 32" Sony 720p for $250.

Edit: I see you're Canadian and thus don't have Black Friday. There are still some Cyber Week deals to look into.

I learned a new word today: Yesticles

You and me both, Kid_A. You and me both.

_{Hmm, how to fit this into my vocabulary...}

i like it. it shall be shouted through the halls of my dorm upon completion of my final exams this coming tuesday.

Gotta love those jagged arms in the Miis

I'm thinking they were planning for the next console to upgrade to having HD capabilites (hopefully, 1080p) and made the visuals knowing that the next backwards compatible console would be able to play them.

I hope I hope I hope...

@romulux, I'm sorry, I misread it.
@Hoffkage, yeah it's sometimes not nice to look at and I'm even worried that I'm the only one who have problems with it. But you get used to it and I have to follow Sean's tip about a DVD to fine tune your lcd tv.

Well, it works for most games. Just don't try to play Twilight Princess on a hdtv cause that's a horrible experience, that game is prettier on a sdtv.