Wii and 16:9 ratio...looks exactly the same to me. Why

[rbudrick]

Hi Folks,

I finally broke down and bought component cables for my Wii. I set the setting to 16:9 in the Wii menu and then I set the Wii menu settings to 480p. However, the main menu looks exactly the same and in the same 4:3 square box. Am I doing something wrong, or am I just completely misunderstanding what's going on here? I know this is probably a super newb-like question, but I'm stumped, and I'll bet you guys know the answer.

-Rob

[BetaWolf47]

You have to set your TV to 16:9. Wii's 16:9 isn't true widescreen... it just gives you a 4:3 picture that doesn't look warped when you set your TV to 16:9.

[Oobgarm]

Some TVs pick up on the resolution format change without a hitch, some have to be manually set.

You'll notice a difference when it happens, trust me.

[dao2]

Wii's widescreen sucks

[Nz17]

480p can be either fullscreen or widescreen (4:3 or 16:9) so if the Wii gives you a "boxy" output that's because it's 480p output is 640x480 pixels (4:3).

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/480p

[Darkman2K5]

I have the same problem with my TV when I set the Wii to 16x9. I have to manually change my TV's 16x9 to accomadate the Wii, try playing with your tv settings and see if you can get it to work properly.

[rbudrick]

Well, my TV has three other settings than the setting labeled "normal" (which is what I had it on. The others are Wide, Panoramic and Zoom). Wide just stretches everything uniformly and looks like ass, but is the least shitty. Panoramic is similar, but things closer to the center of the screen are less warped than the edges (just a shittier version of Wide). Zoom just zooms in on the center of the 4:3 box and cuts stuff off.

So, all the settings suck balls. What to do?

-Rob

[kedawa]

What the hell are you people trying to do? If your tv is a widescreen, set it to 16:9. If it's not, then leave it set to 4:3.
Your tv/monitor should be set to stretch the image to fill the screen.

[Leo_A]

As you've been told, 480i/480p widescreen content such as Wii games and DVD's is anamorphic widescreen. That means a widescreen image has been horizontally squeezed so it can be stored into a standard 4:3 aspect ratio frame.

Your television has to re-expand it horizontally to fill the screen. Just set your television to wide since it's doing what it's supposed to do, stretch the image. Only HD content is natively widescreen, you won't find any 480i/480p content that is flagged as widescreen so your display automatically switches to stretching it, it's all native 4:3.

[Red Warrior]

My TV is very similar to yours. When I set my Wii to 16x9 widescreen, I have to set my TV manually to the WIDE setting... unlike my 360 which does everything automatically. Panoramic and Zoom won't cut it. The WIDE setting is what you want for 16x9 Wii.

[rbudrick]

Ok, thanks, guys. I could have just stretched it just the same with 4:3 using my TV settings, so I really don't see the benefit (is there any? I just really don't get it). What's the point of widescreen if it is distorted?

-Rob

[SkiDragon]

You have to set the Wii to display in widescreen. This will squish the image horizontally. Then you set the TV to "wide" or "16:9" or whatever to make it fill up the whole screen. If done correctly the aspect ratio should be fine, e.g. the round buttons in the Wii menu should be round, not oval. Of course, horizontal dpi is lost in this process, but that will always be the case for a non-HD widescreen image, I believe.

[Leo_A]

Ok, thanks, guys. I could have just stretched it just the same with 4:3 using my TV settings, so I really don't see the benefit (is there any? I just really don't get it). What's the point of widescreen if it is distorted?

-Rob

You just don't get it. If you stretched it when it was set to 4:3, the image wouldn't of been switched to an anamorphic widescreen 4:3 image that was suiteable for stretching to then look correct. You'd of just distorted the game.

I don't think you have a eye for it anyways so I wouldn't worry about it. Setting the Wii's menu setting to 16:9 and having it still display at 4:3 on your television resorts in a very different looking image than when the Wii was set to 4:3. If you couldn't tell there was a difference (Such as the circular Wii menu buttons on the lower part of the screen becoming ovals), it's your own eyes. You have to then have your tv stretch this image so those ovals and everything else then look correct. That's how widescreen is achieved in standard and extended definition, because as you've been told a dozen times already, these definitions by nature are 4:3 and you have to get a widescreen image through trickery (Non square pixels in a 4:3 image, which the Wii's menu setting triggers when set to widescreen, which when stretched by your television, creates a correct looking 16:9 image). Only HD is natively widescreen.

Set the Wii to widescreen in it's internal settings so it will change to outputting a anamorphic widescreen image in a 4:3 frame, and set your television to stretch that 4:3 anamorphic widescreen image to fill your screen. It will be a correct 16:9 non distorted image then, just like how you get widescreen from 16:9 DVD's, PS2, Xbox, Dreamcast, and GCN titles.

Also realize that some Wii titles and all Virtual Console titles are 4:3 only. So while your Wii's menu setting is 16:9, the image it outputs always remains a 4:3 image, so these titles are unaffected because there's no anamorphic widescreen setting for them to change to. But when you want to play one of these titles, you have to set your television to maintain the 4:3 aspect ratio it's being told to display (Because, as you've been told, 480i/480p is always flagged as 4:3) so these titles aren't incorrected stretched to 16:9 and become distorted.

Also, if you want to play any widescreen GameCube games, the Wii's menu setting doesn't do anything to those games, you still have to switch it to widescreen in their own ingame menus (And switch to 480p when supported by holding B on the GCN controller when they start up).

But I'd suggest just leaving it wherever it is and stop thinking about it since you can't tell anyways when you make any of the changes you've been told.

[Zthun]

Ok, thanks, guys. I could have just stretched it just the same with 4:3 using my TV settings, so I really don't see the benefit (is there any? I just really don't get it). What's the point of widescreen if it is distorted?

-Rob

The component cables are worthless on the Wii. The system can only output 480p. You have to set both your TV to output 16x9 and the Wii to output 16x9. The Wii menu won't change much, but your games will.

[j_factor]

As you've been told, 480i/480p widescreen content such as Wii games and DVD's is anamorphic widescreen. That means a widescreen image has been horizontally squeezed so it can be stored into a standard 4:3 aspect ratio frame.

What do you call a 720 x 480 resolution then? Or is the Wii not capable of outputting that?

[BetaWolf47]

If you're talking about true 16:9, no it can't.

[TheRedEye]

The component cables are worthless on the Wii. The system can only output 480p.

...and what magical cables do you have that are compatible with the Wii, not component, and output at 480p?

[j_factor]

If you're talking about true 16:9, no it can't.

Figures. A "squeezed" widescreen is nothing, any system can do that (Virtua Fighter 32x does it, and I heard some 3DO game did it). When Wii came out, Nintendo seemed to be emphasizing its "widescreen" progressive scan capability, as if it were different from Gamecube. But I guess it's the same damn ability. I suppose that explains why sometimes screenshots of Wii games are in weird non-standard (but wide) resolutions.

Extra-lame is that there are quite a few Wii games that don't even support progressive scan (and they don't even tell you!). It shouldn't be anything in software, it should be natively supported by the video hardware. That's how it worked on Dreamcast, it works by default, and the games that don't allow it had it actively disabled by the developer (and even then, the game just has a "no VGA cable" flag, and you can force it to work). I guess the Wii is less advanced than the Dreamcast.

[Leo_A]

I think he's confused and not aware that component can benefit a console even at non hd resolutions. Even at just 480i, component gives a nice boost to the visuals. Heck, I have several classic consoles that released before the NES modded for component output just for the increased clarity, improved colors, etc., that it provides. Component cables for the Wii are a must have at 480i, and if you're playing on a 480p set it's even better.

As for the criticism of how the Wii achieves widescreen, that's just how it's done at 480i/480p.

[rbudrick]

I understand what the folks above told me, but what I was trying to say is that the menu display is was EXACTLY the same whether I set it to 4:3 or 16:9 and then set the TV to the wide setting...or so I thought. It was very difficult to see anything different until I really looked at whether the Wii system setting button was shaped any differently (thanks for the tip on that!). It turned out it really was only slightly oval. I really thought I was getting the same thing no matter what I set it on.

Thanks for all your help, guys, and sorry for the dumb newbishness. I really thought I was doing something wrong.

-Rob