Wii + HDTV = no widescreen?

AbsoluteZero

Heyo

So I recently got a new HDTV. I hooked up my Wii with component cables and set it to 480p widescreen mode. However, my HDTV still displays the image with black bars on the sides. Is this normal?

I can set my HDTV to overscan 3% which does fill the screen but it stretches the image and makes it a little ugly.

Do I have any options here or do I just have to live with it?

Big Dookie

Are you sure the TV is set to native mode? I'm sure you probably already thought of that, but you never know. It could be set to pillar-box mode or something and is squishing the picture.

chuck steak

I think there is a wide screen option, separate from the resolution setting.

AbsoluteZero

Yeah, the TV is set to "display image exactly as broadcast" and my Wii is set to both 480p and widescreen.

Has no one else had this problem?

TM2 Rampage

Does the picture look correct, though? Maybe the Wii's widescreen is a different ratio from the television's ratio...

twmjr

Is there a switch on the cables? I know some have a small switch which toggles between pushing SD and HD.

Pheezer

TM2 Rampage wrote: »

Does the picture look correct, though? Maybe the Wii's widescreen is a different ratio from the television's ratio...

The Wii is 16:9 widescreen. I guess it's possible that he has a widescreen at a different ratio, but I don't think that's exactly likely.

This is probably related to the TV's settings. What kind of TV is it? When my Wii is set to 480p and 16:9 with my Samsung set to 16:9 I see no black bars

AbsoluteZero

It is a Westinghouse 32" LCD HDTV. 720p native. 16:9.

It is brand new, just brought it home yesterday. I had one similar to it before which did not have this problem.

To be specific, it displays my Wii as though it were a 3:4 signal. But I know that it isn't.

Eggplant Wizard

On both of my Toshibas, the default setting ("Natural") assumes 4:3 for 480p and 480i content. If you want 16:9 at 480p, you have to select a different mode ("Full"). I'd assume most TVs have similar behavior, you just need to check the owner's manual and figure out what Westinghouse calls it.

deadonthestreet

I'm pretty sure you have to set the TV to "stretch" or "fill" mode.

480 is not a widescreen format, so it is broadcasting at normal TV resolution, but the picture is compressed. When you stretch it out, it'll look right.

senor_x

Make sure it's set up right in the Wii Menu settings.



And you should be able to select the TV's display ratio separately as well - they usually have modes such as 4:3, Zoom, Just, and Full.

Edit: Upon rereading everything looks like you have it covered. I would just double check if there's some sort of stretchy Full mode. My TV's mode is separate from the input - the Wii settings don't automatically change the TV's.

AbsoluteZero

deadonthestreet wrote: »

I'm pretty sure you have to set the TV to "stretch" or "fill" mode.

480 is not a widescreen format, so it is broadcasting at normal TV resolution, but the picture is compressed. When you stretch it out, it'll look right.

After much fiddling around, this seems to be the case. My only option is the 3% overscan mode... which fills the screen, but stretches the image 3% larger than the screen area... which is pretty stupid. It makes the image a little ugly.

RFX

This may be a bit off-topic, but could someone explain to me what the 4 modes are? I know what normal 4:3 is, but when are you supposed to use Full, Zoom, or Wide (what its called on my Sony TV). I often find that movies require different settings, and I'm never sure which one to use - should it be the one that displays the least black bars? Sometimes I feel that stretches it out too much, but what do I know?

nexuscrawler

If the DVD says "enhanced for 16:9 TVs" set it to 16:9 mode and you'll get no black bars.

AbsoluteZero

RFX wrote: »

This may be a bit off-topic, but could someone explain to me what the 4 modes are? I know what normal 4:3 is, but when are you supposed to use Full, Zoom, or Wide (what its called on my Sony TV). I often find that movies require different settings, and I'm never sure which one to use - should it be the one that displays the least black bars? Sometimes I feel that stretches it out too much, but what do I know?

If it is a widescreen movie, use the mode that leaves no black bars on the sides of the screen. There may still be black bars on the top and bottom, but this is normal as a lot of movies are filmed in "wider" aspect ratios than 16:9.

EggyToast

RFX wrote: »

This may be a bit off-topic, but could someone explain to me what the 4 modes are? I know what normal 4:3 is, but when are you supposed to use Full, Zoom, or Wide (what its called on my Sony TV). I often find that movies require different settings, and I'm never sure which one to use - should it be the one that displays the least black bars? Sometimes I feel that stretches it out too much, but what do I know?

Most options are there to let people watch TV comfortably. I've got 4 on mine -- full, zoom, just, 4:3. 4:3 squishes anything into 4:3. Full displays it stretched evenly if it's 4:3, or uses the full screen for widescreen stuff. Zoom simply zooms in, approximately the same amount as a movie. It technically is to get rid of the bars on the top/bottom but you lose video on the sides. Justified is full without stretching much, it stretches slightly in the middle and more on the sides.

I watch regular TV in Justified, so it takes up the full screen without making everyone look fat. Just a little fat, for the most part, which I'm fine with because I find that people on TV are too skinny anyway. And I'd rather have people fat than look at bars on the side.

Some people hate stretch, so will never use that setting, and will be happy with the bars. Those settings are there so you can view what you prefer.