Wii: Component vs Composite comparison pics (bandwidth warning!)

OK, so I decided to take some comparison pictures of component and composite output on the Wii.

These were all taken with a Canon A530. The display is a 50" plasma with a resolution of 1366x768.

Most of the images are cropped "detail" comparisons, but I included two full-screen Zelda shots at the end.




Here we see a detail of the title screen from Zelda.




This is an image of Link-wolf at the exact same place. Forgive me capturing the cursor fairy in the composite image. The difference in detail is still obvious.




This is a cropped shot of the saved games list.




This is a detail shot of Midna at the "up" D-pad location.




These are different trees from Wii Golf. I accidentally took the shot of the wrong title screen for the composite shot, but the trees are about the same size and distance away.




This is a crop of the closeup from Bowling.




This is a crop of the score header from Bowling.


Here is the Zelda title screen:





Here is the Zelda game screen:




I didn't include many full screens because the differences are too difficult to see when the images are shrunk so much.

GREAT post!

thats a pretty big improvement

Gonna assume the left and top ones are the components with the rights and bottoms being the rca craps.

Awesome thread man. So, you are of course playing on an HDTV right? Would these differences be so apparent on my large 40 inch normal TV? I know on your HDTV it would still be 480i, but its worth asking...

courtesy of Sabre

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6162297/p-2.html

the component cables are definately the way to go on the Wii

Originally Posted by nobody_here

courtesy of Sabre

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6162297/p-2.html

the component cables are definately the way to go on the Wii

Yep, for those who have a component input on their TV's, it's a great $30 investment .

i just wouldn't be waiting for those inferior aftermarket cables, $30 is a deal if the Nintendo branded cables are decent, too bad they couldn't have bundled them with the systems, it would not have cost them anything appreciably more, a few bucks, but they are already making money off of each console, so it's not like they would have went further in the hole doing it, like M$ did

Originally Posted by nobody_here

i just wouldn't be waiting for those inferior aftermarket cables, $30 is a deal if the Nintendo branded cables are decent, too bad they couldn't have bundled them with the systems, it would not have cost them anything appreciably more, a few bucks, but they are already making money off of each console, so it's not like they would have went further in the hole doing it, like M$ did

Due to the fact that a small minority of the country owns an HDTV in their homes (about 15% from the last figures I have seen), most would be FORCED to pay more for something they have no use for were the cables to be bundled. In addition, Nintendo is first and foremost a business, their goal is of course to make money (nothing wrong with this). By selling the cables separately, they create a profit-making product as an add-on for the small number of Wii buyers who want a component video input cable set. For those with an HDTV, they see it as a worthy UPGRADE. For those without, they are thankful to not have had to have paid for them without an option. For Nintendo, they make more money. Win-win everywhere, basically.

Originally Posted by HighwayAssassins

Awesome thread man. So, you are of course playing on an HDTV right? Would these differences be so apparent on my large 40 inch normal TV? I know on your HDTV it would still be 480i, but its worth asking...

If your TV has component inputs, it will definitely look much better.

are these component shots also 480p or not?

Originally Posted by Overseer

are these component shots also 480p or not?

They are 480p.

Originally Posted by poison123

Gonna assume the left and top ones are the components with the rights and bottoms being the rca craps.

Yes, except I accidentally put the composite shot on the left in the wolf picture.

Also note that the component signals are being carried by 22-gauge wire attached to alligator clips and paper clips. Totally unshielded.. certainly not high quality connections here. I'm sure the quality won't be noticeably different with the "real" cables, though.

These look outstanding, when i got components for my Ps2 i noticed a slight improvement.


With my regular old sdtv will component make the wii look a lot better, or eh?

Originally Posted by DaRat

These look outstanding, when i got components for my Ps2 i noticed a slight improvement.


With my regular old sdtv will component make the wii look a lot better, or eh?

It should look significantly better.

Great post!

Just makes it suck even more how hard the cables are to come by...

If it has the ports it can make the color separation and clarity a bit better. But its still going to be interlaced. I have found that DVDs look much better just running those cables over the single component on my 27" sdtv that has composite ports. (no progressive scan support though )

Originally Posted by DaRat

These look outstanding, when i got components for my Ps2 i noticed a slight improvement.


With my regular old sdtv will component make the wii look a lot better, or eh?

Judging from my experience with my 50" SDTV w/ PS2 on Svid and Component, I saw no 480i diff from Svideo to Component, but I did see a jump from composite to Svid.

Nice post. Can't wait to get mine

Well graphics be damned the title screen is enough to make me drool