Penny Arcade Forums› Games and Technology
The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.

Wii Widescreen issues (only on certain games)

WildSpoonWildSpoon Registered User regular
edited June 2007 in Games and Technology
Hey guys... here i am once again trolling for help / advice.

I have noticed that on a couple of my Wii games (res evil, madden), they don't fully take up the whole screen on my hdtv. The signal is outputing at 480p and im using component and all that jazz because the wii menu, wii sports, paper mario, and godfather BE all take up the "whole" screen and look right.

tl:dr. some games black bar sides of image while others do not (options / tv are all set for widescreen / 480p).

any ideas? Is it just how certain games are... as in nothing i can do about it? Or is this some glorious known issue that has a resolution Im not aware of?

Thanks in advance.

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."
Rich Cook.

PSN ID - WildSpoon
WildSpoon on

Posts

  • Mr_GrinchMr_Grinch Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    What games? If they have black bars at the side of your tv then it's because the game is meant to be played in 4:3 and that's what it's displaying.

    Mr_Grinch on
    Steam: Sir_Grinch
    PSN: SirGrinchX
    Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Read the game manuals to find out how to adjust the aspect ratio.

    DarkPrimus on
    usnTyq4.jpg
    Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
  • Drunk_caterpillarDrunk_caterpillar Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Usually, content providers will plan around a phenomenon known as overscan. Essentially, most consumer displays crop their images ever so slightly by nature of their design, so in an effort to ensure that the entire area of any given frame is viewable on any display, they build a black border into their content so that only useless visual data is discarded. Observe:

    safe.jpg

    Action must be kept inside the action border, and text must be kept inside the text border, because these have been deemed the appropriate buffer sizes to ensure that all audiences see what they need to see in order to understand your content.

    Your television just so happens to discard less data than most televisions, and as such you are privy to the black border that most do not see. I suppose you could be happy about it if you wanted to.

    P.S. I am having the same problem you are having with RE4. I know it sucks, but you're going to have to deal with it.

    Drunk_caterpillar on
  • PeewiPeewi Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Not all games support widescreen.

    Peewi on
    Switch: SW-6132-4331-5349 | Steam profile | I made a small video game. It's free on itch.io
    0hK3V5P.png
  • Drunk_caterpillarDrunk_caterpillar Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Peewi wrote: »
    Not all games support widescreen.

    Resident Evil 4: WE does, but it has a very aggressive overscan border--seemingly ONLY on the horizontal axis. It's a fucking pain in the ass to have to deal with that when Wii Sports and Zelda are framed immaculately.

    Drunk_caterpillar on
  • MarlorMarlor Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    My widescreen TV overscans by a ridiculous amount. So, I guess I can be happy about this.

    Marlor on
    Mario Kart Wii: 1332-8060-5236 (Aaron)
  • WildSpoonWildSpoon Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Ah ok thanks for the overscan explanation that was extremely helpful and informative. While annoying as hell I'll choose the "be happy about it cuz my tv is pimp" route lol.

    Thanks again.

    WildSpoon on
    "Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."
    Rich Cook.

    PSN ID - WildSpoon
  • Mr_GrinchMr_Grinch Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Some tvs (I know mine does) allow you to custom stretch the image, making it fit the screen fully.

    Might be worth having a nosey to see if yours does.

    Mr_Grinch on
    Steam: Sir_Grinch
    PSN: SirGrinchX
    Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
  • jothkijothki Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Mr_Grinch wrote: »
    Some tvs (I know mine does) allow you to custom stretch the image, making it fit the screen fully.

    Might be worth having a nosey to see if yours does.

    Of course, you'll then have a stretched image, which is probably much worse.

    jothki on
  • RandomEngyRandomEngy Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    jothki wrote: »
    Mr_Grinch wrote: »
    Some tvs (I know mine does) allow you to custom stretch the image, making it fit the screen fully.

    Might be worth having a nosey to see if yours does.

    Of course, you'll then have a stretched image, which is probably much worse.

    It will have the same aspect ratio and probably still look fine. HDTVs don't have a 480 native resolution anyway so you'll just be making the picture bigger, not worse.

    My HDTV overscans like crazy. It cuts off so much that I'd rather play Twilight Princess in 480i than 480p.

    RandomEngy on
    Profile -> Signature Settings -> Hide signatures always. Then you don't have to read this worthless text anymore.
Sign In or Register to comment.
Penny Arcade Forums› Games and Technology