Wii on a computer monitor?

ARCH1E

Junior Member
Nov 21, 2006
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I am going to get a Wii(soon hopefully) and i would like to know how to hook it up to a monitor, either LCD or CRT. I was planning to do this through the obtaining of a DVI cable(for the lcd) the current LCD i have is a Gateway FPD1960H it has DVI and analog, i also have an old CRT as well. Will either of these work? and what are some product names?(i would like to get arounf this without the purchase of a VGA box)
 

tuteja1986

Diamond Member
Jun 1, 2005
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Connect your Wii via the VGA port and connect your pc via DVI port. You can change the to Wii or PC by using the OSD controls on your monitor. Use the OSD to change from Digital (DVI = PC) to Analog (VGA = Wii).

 

Vinnybcfc

Senior member
Nov 9, 2005
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You need to use a VGA box I think, I dont think the wii can output to DVI or VGA directly
 

gregor7777

Platinum Member
Nov 16, 2001
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Originally posted by: Vinnybcfc
You need to use a VGA box I think, I dont think the wii can output to DVI or VGA directly

That sucks...will there be a nasty delay if I plug a game system in through the inputs on my TV card (TV2000 Expert)?
 

Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
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The sampling process on the TV card itself is in realtime. Lag will be introduced in the stages that bring it onto the computer display - deinterlacers, scalers, and even the logic inside your LCD monitor.
 

ARCH1E

Junior Member
Nov 21, 2006
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yeah i phoned nintendo, they said there is no cable they make that i could use, i ahve come by an old(i want to say commodore but im not sure if thats the right one) monitor with i think composite input, so that should work, though the quality will be amazingly bad, i can still play. I am going to likely obtain a VGA box, but may get one of those fancy LCD monitors with composite and component input as well, its not overly likely though. The source gets a shipment of exactly one Wii sometime in the next 40 hours or so, and i am first on the waiting list, so i get a phone call when it comes in, hopefully i get the Wii too.
 

keeleysam

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2005
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Get a new monitor with component in or a box like the X2VGA. 480p on the Wii looks so much better than 480i.
 

Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
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Archie, those old home computer monitors weren't /that/ bad, particularly not the Commodore one. It's just very small by today's standards.

Try your TV card, make sure your TV "viewing" software doesn't employ any advanced deinterlacers or image enhancers, and have a go. I do that regularly to get the consoles onto the big screen, and I can play the most insanely paced games precisely enough. Lag certainly is no more than you'd have with an ordinary LCD TV unit.

PS: To get the joke over with ... You're not supposed to Wii on your computer monitor.
 

gregor7777

Platinum Member
Nov 16, 2001
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Originally posted by: Peter

Try your TV card, make sure your TV "viewing" software doesn't employ any advanced deinterlacers or image enhancers, and have a go. I do that regularly to get the consoles onto the big screen, and I can play the most insanely paced games precisely enough. Lag certainly is no more than you'd have with an ordinary LCD TV unit.

.


That sounds promising...maybe I'll pick up a Wii once the madness dies down and give it a go.
 

ARCH1E

Junior Member
Nov 21, 2006
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well i have the wii in my posession now, my friend is loaning me a VGA box tomorrow for a week or so so i will at least be able to get some playing time now. What sort of card would i need?
 

joseraul

Senior member
May 10, 2005
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I tried playing the Wii on my PC LCD monitor through a TV tuner card I have, and the results were terrible. The lag was definitely there, and the way the remote works makes it a lot worse. It's not the best card, though, so YMMV.

I did some reading and found out that the Vdigi VD-Z3 and the X2VGA2 are great Component to VGA adapters, so I went ahead and placed an order for the first (Link). I'm still waiting for the component cables to be available at retail so I can test everything out.

Edit: BTW, these converters allow you to do what tuteja1986 mentioned. You can have both the PC (DVI) and console (VGA) connected, and you choose the source you want to see at any given time.
 

Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
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Mind that those VGA adapters do the exact same thing as the TV card does ... so again, depending on how much deinterlacing, jaggie removing and image enhancement they run, they may be up to ten frames late, or none at all. Only that with the PC TV card, you have a chance to tune things down to "fast and raw" mode.
 

ARCH1E

Junior Member
Nov 21, 2006
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what sort of VGA box would you reccomend, i looked up the X2VGA 2 and it seemed reasonable, will i need to connect it to my computer still, that will be a problem if i do.
 

joseraul

Senior member
May 10, 2005
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Originally posted by: Peter
Mind that those VGA adapters do the exact same thing as the TV card does ... so again, depending on how much deinterlacing, jaggie removing and image enhancement they run, they may be up to ten frames late, or none at all. Only that with the PC TV card, you have a chance to tune things down to "fast and raw" mode.

True, and I think a TV card with a hardware encoder would help too. I'm going with the Component > VGA adapter so that I won't need to have my PC on all the time.

Originally posted by: ARCH1E
what sort of VGA box would you reccomend, i looked up the X2VGA 2 and it seemed reasonable, will i need to connect it to my computer still, that will be a problem if i do.

The converter would connect directly to the monitor. You can either connect each device separately (PC with DVI and converter with VGA) and choose the source on the monitor, or (if you only use VGA) connect the PC to the converter box's VGA In and the monitor to the VGA Out. The converter should have a button/switch to choose whether to display the component inputs (console) or the VGA In (PC).
 

Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
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Originally posted by: joseraul
Originally posted by: Peter
Mind that those VGA adapters do the exact same thing as the TV card does ... so again, depending on how much deinterlacing, jaggie removing and image enhancement they run, they may be up to ten frames late, or none at all. Only that with the PC TV card, you have a chance to tune things down to "fast and raw" mode.

True, and I think a TV card with a hardware encoder would help too. I'm going with the Component > VGA adapter so that I won't need to have my PC on all the time.

Actually, the hardware encoders tend to make things worse -- there's almost always a 5-10ms delay in an MPEG2 encoder chip. And you often can't turn it off to just watch the raw stream. It's generally better to use a software card and try to strip all the extraneous processing out.

I've never heard complaints about using an external hardware transcoder. I would guess the conversion is fast enough to keep up with at least 480i/480p with 0/1 frames of lag.
 

ARCH1E

Junior Member
Nov 21, 2006
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Whats the quality like on this vdigi box? i guess i will need to get the component cables too then?