Best TV for Wii use....

[tommyr01]

I have a 1080p LCD television that the family is using with our Wii system. I don't use it hardly ever, but my wife and daughter use it all the time. It drives my wife crazy because the picture quality absolutely stinks when using the Wii system, especially when it's online. It looks like everything is just washed out into white.
Anyone have suggestions on what type or spec of television would be better? I've messed around with the television settings to no avail......

[Kwesi]

The settings won't do you much good. A large standard def TV would be "best" but other than that there aren't many options. The smaller the screen the less you notice the sucky image quality though.

[tommyr01]

Originally Posted by Kwesi

The settings won't do you much good. A large standard def TV would be "best" but other than that there aren't many options. The smaller the screen the less you notice the sucky image quality though.

Hmmm, my TV is a 47"..... do you think if I dropped down to a 720p it would look better?

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by tommyr01

Hmmm, my TV is a 47"..... do you think if I dropped down to a 720p it would look better?

My Wii TV is a 42" HDTV and the picture quality is noticeably worse than when we hook the Wii up to our 60 something inch SDTV but I deal with it. There's actually very little difference between the quality of 720p vs. 1080p below 60" I believe, so dropping it down probably wouldn't help unfortunately.

[stevetx19]

Nintendo is not 1080?

[Infidelity]

Its the resolution of the console that affects it..

Its like plugging your old desktop(800x600) on a 42' LCD it won't look good..

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by stevetx19

Nintendo is not 1080?

Nope. It's 420p IIRC.

[tommyr01]

Do you guys know of a decent TV out there that will compensate for this? It doesn't bother me that much....but the wife has been bitchin' about it for some time...so of course I need to fix this situation

[Infidelity]

Originally Posted by tommyr01

Do you guys know of a decent TV out there that will compensate for this? It doesn't bother me that much....but the wife has been bitchin' about it for some time...so of course I need to fix this situation

Prolly wait for Wii 2 or buy a smaller TV around 15-25 inches.. Those component cables is pure BS if you gonna ask me..

[stevetx19]

Originally Posted by Kwesi

Nope. It's 420p IIRC.

wow. Yet they are still more fun. huh.

[Kwesi]

I have one of these:



Panasonic PT53WT54. That's the my Wii looks best on.

EDIT: Lol, not my house or my actual TV but I just noticed that there's a Wii hooked up to it!

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by Infidelity

Prolly wait for Wii 2 or buy a smaller TV around 15-25 inches..

This I agree with.

Originally Posted by Infidelity

Those component cables is pure BS if you gonna ask me..

This, not so much. There's a huge difference in the quality of my PS3 and Xbox 360 when comparing component to composite cables. The Wii wouldn't have any use for component cables anyway because it's standard definition. There isn't much of a difference, however, between component and HDMI. HDMI cables are cheaper though because they're not proprietary.

[Infidelity]

Originally Posted by Kwesi

This, not so much. There's a huge difference in the quality of my PS3 and Xbox 360 when comparing component to composite cables. The Wii wouldn't have any use for component cables anyway because it's standard definition. There isn't much of a difference, however, between component and HDMI. HDMI cables are cheaper though because they're not proprietary.

Thanks for clarifying Kwesi!

It is the GPU/CPU of Nintendo Wii that is limiting your TV to produce a higher quality images..

[Proletarian]

I do not think anything you can do would help the picture. The Wii just seems like it isn't made to have a great display. I have run the console on 26" standard def tv, 42" lcd and led tvs, projector screen, and even my computer monitor and have never had a "perfect" screen. In fact, my 27" ASUS monitor had the best picture so far IMO!

[seventhson]

I have the Wii connected to a 60" plasma, and it looks fine. Be aware that if your Wifi bandwidth/signal sucks, then the Netflix program will intentionally degrade the quality of the TV signal so that the video doesn't stall.

BTW, the Wii outputs through analog component cables which can handle 1080p even though the Netflix and Wii programs can only do 480p IIRC.

edit: I suspect that you are using the included composite cable? If so upgrade to components.

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by seventhson

I have the Wii connected to a 60" plasma, and it looks fine. Be aware that if your Wifi bandwidth/signal sucks, then the Netflix program will intentionally degrade the quality of the TV signal so that the video doesn't stall.

BTW, the Wii outputs through analog component cables which can handle 1080p even though the Netflix program on it can only do 480p IIRC.

Just want to clear a few things up here. I don't mean to say that you don't know what you're talking about though.

Actually, most component cables cannot handle 1080p... well the cables themselves can but the connectors, not quite. They can go up to 1080i though which, visually, isn't much different until you hit the 60" mark. Even then, the Wii's maximum resolution is 640x420p so displaying it on a large HDTV will show a degradation in image quality in comparison to a large SDTV or EDTV of a similar size. In short, the Wii is not optimized for displays with resolutions above 420p.

All that said, yes, component cables could make a pretty big difference. At the very least, the image will be much sharper.

[seventhson]

Originally Posted by Kwesi

Just want to clear a few things up here. I don't mean to say that you don't know what you're talking about though.

Actually, most component cables cannot handle 1080p... well the cables themselves can but the connectors, not quite. They can go up to 1080i though which, visually, isn't much different until you hit the 60" mark. Even then, the Wii's maximum resolution is 640x420p so displaying it on a large HDTV will show a degradation in image quality in comparison to a large SDTV or EDTV of a similar size. In short, the Wii is not optimized for displays with resolutions above 420p.

All that said, yes, component cables could make a pretty big difference. At the very least, the image will be much sharper.

I think you mean 480p?

Not disagreeing with anything you say. So for the OP, the picture (I am assuming Netflix streaming, which the OP never actually states but implies) ought to be just as good as a DVD played on a progressive scan player.

If the picture's not as good as that, then my money is on the network or the default composite cable (or both) for the crappy picture quality.

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by seventhson

I think you mean 480p?

Haha, yea I did. Bit of a brainfart there.

Originally Posted by seventhson

Not disagreeing with anything you say. So for the OP, the picture (I am assuming Netflix streaming, which the OP never actually states but implies) ought to be just as good as a DVD played on a progressive scan player.

If the picture's not as good as that, then my money is on the network or the default composite cable (or both) for the crappy picture quality.

I wonder about that. DVDs always look better to me than netflix vids on my computer or otherwise.

[tk421]

my wii looks ok on my 37", 1080p LG. i have the monster component cable for it (i didn't buy it - came with the wii, thanks craigslist - i have deep seated moral reservations about monster and thier business practices </rant>) and it looks ok. about dvd quality for most games.
however, my daughter's Dora and Diego games, look like poo. blocky, artifact-y, and generally blurry. mario games look great.

as for netflix, that is watched via PS3 over HDMI on a wired gigabit network, with a 30mb/5mb cable connection. anything listed as "HD" content is at least 720p. some titles actually stream at 1080p, and look almost as good as bluray.

[DwaynieAD]

i play my wii on a 47" 1080p tv and only notice some minor pixelation when online but it usually sorts itself out..

make sure ur interwebs connection to the wii is good