Which cables are right for you ? (CLeaning up the mess)

[gljvd]

I see there were alot of questions about the hd cables and why you need them.

First lets break down the cables .

http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_Connector_Video.html

component video / cables are what the 360 uses for high def . It uses 3 coax cables for red / green /blue

This is by far the best coax cable we will talk about .

S video / super video uses a multiwire cable and splits the information into two signals.



Composite cables these use a single coax cable which carrys all the video information



For all 3 of these they have seperate cables for the audio .



Now I set up the list in performance order . Component is the best quality. It provides 3 seperate cables for maximum data for each color . S-video breaks into a two cable wire providing better quality over composite . Composite uses 1 cable and that is it .

The other thing is that only component / vga/ dvi/ hdmi allows high def to be played on tvs . This is becaues the older cables simply couldn't send enough data for the increase in res .
This has now become a limitation in the tvs as to not allow upscaling or acess to the high def formats unless using component / vga / dvi or hdmi .


Whats this matter for the wii that displays at 640p ? Well its simple , tvs have scalers which wil ltake a signal and upres it to the desired res . I.e it will take a 640p signal and mathmaticly convert it to a 720p image . While not as good as true 720p it will be a benfit and will make the overall wii games look better .


We also have but I'm not expecting to see on the wii

HDMI this is basicly all digital , it provides the highest quality and the most bandwidth for data .

DVI There are many diffrent dvi formats . dvi-a is analog only , dvi-d is digital and dvi-i the most common is digtal and anlog . This provides slightly more bandwidth than vga but is digtal and not anlog .



I hope this helps some of you . If you want me to get more technical and list the bandwidths I will , but i think this should do you .

Basicly if you have a sd-tv get the s-video cable . If you have a hd-dvd get the component cables

[AntiRealityHero]

The Wii has a maximum resolution of 480p, not 640p (which doesn't even exist).

Resolutions are based off of the number of horizontal video lines displayed on the screen, so a resolution of 480i (or 480p) has 480 horizontal lines that make up the picture*. The same goes for 720i (720p) and 1080i (1080p).

The "i" or "p" after each number represents an interlaced or progressive scan for refreshing the lines. An interlaced signal refreshes every even numbered line starting from the top, and then after reaching the bottom begins again with the odd numbered lines; however, while this process only displays half an image with each pass, the passes occur quickly enough that your eyes don't notice and naturally blur the images together.

With its increased data transfer, progressive scan can display the entire image, from top to bottom in half the time of an interlaced signal, elimating the need for 2 passes per frame. Also, because your eye receives the image all at once, there is a visible difference in the sharpness of the picture, as opposed to the "blurring" of interlacing.

Composite (Yellow; usually attached with the Red and White audio cables) is 480i
S-Video (Seperate from Red and White audio cables) is 480i
Component (Red, Green, and Blue; seperate from Red and White audio cables) will display 480p for the Wii, but can display up to 1080p on supported devices.


*Technically there are 525 lines, with 484 actually appearing on your standard television screen. These extra lines contain extra data such as closed captioning, sync, etc.

[gljvd]

yea simple mistake , 480p is 640x480 :-)


anyway s-video on some tvs will display 480p . On my toshiba colorstream options are s-video jack 1 or component jack 1 .

[koten]

I like the SD component cables (Red, White, Yellow). Screw HD.

[Hylian-Advocate]

Thanks for providing this clarifying information....

I already knew all of that stuff... ...but I know a bunch of people that don't.

Bassically people...

If you have a high definition TV or one capable of 480p... ...you want to get the component cables becuase that will give you the best picture possible with Wii.

Just don't be decieved when retailers call it HD cables for Wii and think your actualy going to get somthing above 480p.... ....and I am not quite sure..... but even if you dont have a TV capable of Prgressive Scan... ...I think it may still be a good idea to get the component cables simply because of the way it separates the colors... ...If I am not mistaken, this still creates a better picture... but maybe I am wrong... it might be to miniscule to notice.

[AntiRealityHero]

Well, there won't be a television that has component inputs and doesn't support progressive scan.

That would be a waste of money on the manufacturer's side, seeing as they could have just left a composite input (the TV wouldn't be able to output anything higher, so why upgrade the input hardware?).

[Hylian-Advocate]

lol....that's true....

I never thought of it that way.