Hobbies And Interests
High Definition
HD is used to describe screens and devices capable of displaying resolutions beyond 852-by-480 lines of screen resolution. HDTVs have two standardized resolution settings: 1,920-by-1080 and 1,280-by-720 lines. Additionally, HD designates between how the screen is refreshed between frames with interlacing lines or top-down blocks referred to interlacing and progressive, respectively. Progressive scan HD devices can run at the 1,920-by-1080 resolution, known as 1080p, or the 1,280-by-720 resolution, known as 720p. Some HD devices support interlacing display at the 1,920-by-1080 resolution and these are referred to as 1080i devices. Progressive scan produces a clearer image than interlaced.
Nintendo Wii Max Resolution
The Wii supports a maximum resolution of 480p, which is not considered HD resolution. While standard definition TVs run at the 640-by-480 resolution with a 4:3 aspect ratio, the Wii can adjust its display to run at 720-by-480 to match with an HDTV's 16:9 aspect ratio. The Wii supports three connection types: Component Video, Composite Video and S-Video. The Wii can display in 480p when using the Component Video standard, but is limited to the 480i resolution when connected to a TV over a Composite cable or S-Video cable. The Wii supports the Component Video standard that is HD-ready, but is unable to display in HD over the connection type.
S-Video Resolution
The S-Video connection is an analog standard that supports a maximum resolution of 480i. S-Video is not an HD connection type. According to Jaycar Electronics, an electronics store, the S-Video standard was created to avoid the picture-quality degradation that occurs when using Composite Video connections. S-Video was originally found only on higher-end VHS players, laser-disc players and higher-end TV sets. While not HD, using an S-Video connection with a Wii will improve the color quality from the Wii's video compared to a Composite Video connection. S-Video is considered lower-quality than the HD-supporting Component Video standard.
Upconvert
The Wii's SD image quality can get a boost on an upconverting HDTV set. Displaying an SD image on a HDTV looks worse than displaying an SD image on an SD unless it is modified. The SD video is not in the HDTV's native resolution and will be displayed in a degraded form. However, the HDTV set is designed to counter this problem by upconverting, or re-configuring the image to better display on, a higher resolution screen. HD upconverting devices that provide the video source can also help improve the image quality from an SD video. The Wii itself does not handle the upconverting process because it is not an HD device.
Wii U
The Wii's successor, the Wii U, is an HD-supporting console that is backwards compatible with Wii games and controllers. The Wii U can also upscale original Wii games into HD. The Wii U is an alternative to buying an upscaling TV to play Wii games in HD.