Converting Wii signal to DVI?

McRed

Hi,

Not sure if this is even possible, but is there any way I could stop using my old CRT TV to play Wii games and instead use my computer's widescreen LCD monitor if it only has DVI and D-Sub inputs? I've got my PC next to it to help, since I assume it won't be easy converting the analogue singal to DVI, especially since my monitor is 16:10 and doesn't have any aspect ratio controls. Also, I was planning to buy a digital TV tuner card soon, is that going to give me any leverage? Just in case, the monitor is a Samsung 245B (24", 1920x1200 native res)

Thanks,
McRed

EvilMuffin

A company called cables to go offers a cable and converter they say will do the job but I have never personally tried it and don't know how well it would actually work in practice.

anonywho

A TV tuner card will help yes. Or alternatively you could get this thing called a VGA box, that converts anything to VGA, I looked into it because I wanted to play PS2 on my monitor. I never actually got the thing though.

http://www.handhelditems.com/universal-nintendo-playstation3-xbox360-p-7381.html

Then to get it do DVI, I'm not too sure if this would work, maybe someone could back me up, but you could get a DVI-VGA adapter. It should work cause I used it on a DVI out port with a VGA cable and the adapter attached.

EDIT: DVI-VGA adapter

McRed

That'd work, but since my monitor doesn't have any aspect ratio controls it's probably going to stretch the 16:9 picture it's given to 16:10. I think I'm going to have to go with a TV tuner/capture card, but I can't seem to find any that support component-in that don't break the bank, let alone HDMI for a bit of future proofing :S

anonywho

Yeah TV tuner cards aren't that cheap, did you look into video cards with video in?

McRed

I had a quick look, but I just upgraded to an 8800 GTS a few months ago, and there doesn't seem to be anything much in the old PCI standard that'd suit

DrFrylock

VDIGI makes a Wii to VGA cable. It works only in games that support 480p, which should be most of them. Unfortunately, all signals out of the Wii seem to be analog.

Using a VGA box will likely get you slightly lower resolution (480i perhaps?) and possibly more interference, but this might let you play 480i-only GameCube games.

Using a video capture board will have similar characteristics to a VGA box, but many video capture/display cards can have small latency issues. For viewing video from, say, a VCR, this isn't an issue. However, when playing a video game, the latency is a killer.

If you want to go to DVI, you'll have to get a VGA to DVI converter. This assumes that your monitor can take in DVI-A or DVI-I and not just DVI-D. This will not improve quality at all, since it's still the same analog signal going through a slightly different kind of plug.

The hardware necessary to capture and digitize component video is crazy expensive, especially for a high-def source. There are some "cheap"--that is, less than $1000--solutions that can capture standard def component video, but these will not provide quality any better than S-video or composite.

I'd say go with the VDIGI cable.

McRed

I wonder how noticable pointing with the Wii remote is going to be with stretched 16:9 though. It'd be like having slightly different look sensitivities on the X and Y axis in first person shooters.

Deusfaux

samsungs have 16:9 scaling mode, i think

McRed

Mine doesn't for some reason. Had a good look myself, and then multiple sources via Google confirmed that It's never been an issue since nVidia drivers have options for no scaling, scaling with fixed aspect ratio etc for old PC games that don't support higher resolutions

Nakatomi2010

The Wii itself has the option of of being wide screen in the options menu... I'm getting my new TV in 50 minutes and I'm going to be making that change myself... Even got the component cables from monoprice.com

vonPoonBurGer

Nakatomi2010 wrote: »

The Wii itself has the option of of being wide screen in the options menu... I'm getting my new TV in 50 minutes and I'm going to be making that change myself... Even got the component cables from monoprice.com

I got the component cables for my Wii months ago, and have had it running in 480p widescreen ever since. I haven't noticed any distortion of the image, or any wackiness with the aim of the remote that I can attribute to running in widescreen. I imagine if the OP got Wii VGA cables and ran 480p widescreen to a 16:10 display, the results would be pretty good. I doubt the 16:9 -> 16:10 stretch would even be all that noticeable, and I definitely don't think it would affect your aim with the remote.