WiiU connectivity questions (Component)

[ThereAreFourNaan]

Does the WiiU have the capability to use Component cables to hook up to a CRT?

If so, does it render at 480p native, or does it downsample the 720p/1080p signal of a game to 480? Obviously in Wii mode I assume nothing changes except it doesn't need to upscale anymore.

 

[Crazymoogle]

1) Yes, if you have component cables with the nintendo multi-out port on one side.
2) Pretty sure on Wii U the component cable can output 720p+ if desired, although HDMI is always better
3) If your CRT is 480i/p then that's the Wii U output. Downsampling wasn't "free" and developers on PS3/360/WiiU had to support all three cardinal resolutions (480/720/1080) to ship their games, which meant having a 480p mode.

I'm sure there are probably some examples of downsampling somewhere but AFAIK most of the time you would get 480p native since otherwise the game might be unplayable or misunderstood at 640x480.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

Thanks, that's good info! Was mostly curious but could be useful for some niche use cases.

 

[justiceiro]

Just remember that you must go into settings to select the 480 output.

 

[Oscillator]

I love the fact that the Wii U can output 480i over component, as I have a CRT that uses that exact combo.

I also love that it can output both 16:9 and letterboxed 4:3, as older CRTs don't have automatic letterboxing (a.k.a. HD ready).

 

[Crazymoogle]

I love the fact that the Wii U can output 480i over component, as I have a CRT that uses that exact combo.

I also love that it can output both 16:9 and letterboxed 4:3, as older CRTs don't have automatic letterboxing (a.k.a. HD ready).

Click to shrink...

Yeah, it's definitely useful! ...But as a developer it was a pain in the ass. Moving to 720p was a big deal just because 720/1080 are basically the same thing except for fidelity (and UI scaling in some cases), whereas with 480p handling multiple aspects, resolutions, safe zones...ughhh