12 replies to this topic

[Icebreaker6]

I apologize if this is the wrong section or if this is a duplicate thread. I will be opening my Wii U for Christmas, but I don't own an HDTV. I know that I can use my Wii Composite Cables and I realize that I will potentially experience a loss of image at the edges of the screen. For those of you who may be playing at 480i or at a 4:3 ratio, are the games tolerable or will I be completely miserable unless I buy an HDTV. My TV is 32 inches, would the size have any sort of positive effect on the quality of the image. I'm not very knowledgeable about screen resolutions and I would like your opinions about playing Wii U without HD.

[jdub stl]

i dont have mine yet but im gonna say out out of experience when we hooked a ps3 up to a standard tv years ago it was on par with ps2. Im gonna say your going to want to get a hdtv. you will still get the experience of the gamepad and its features but missing out on the awesome graphics upgrade compared to the wii

[SolxBurst]

The games look fine, it doesn't look bad at all really. It just looks better in HD.

[Abcdude]

We have a 55" SDTV it looks pretty bad with my wii U. I highly recomend playing your wii U in HD though.

[Spinal]

i got a 32 inch SDTV aswell, it's playable... but not awsome ^^ i will upgrade my tv after monster hunter 3 comes out.

[jimreaper69]

If you can live withbit just for a few weeks you will probably be able to bag yourself a bargain in the post Christmas sales.

[Icebreaker6]

Thanks for the advice guys, I guess I can live with an SDTV for a little while longer. At least the gamepad will look nice, lol. I will most definitely try to upgrade before the end of 2013 though.

[3Dude]

i dont have mine yet but im gonna say out out of experience when we hooked a ps3 up to a standard tv years ago it was on par with ps2. Im gonna say your going to want to get a hdtv. you will still get the experience of the gamepad and its features but missing out on the awesome graphics upgrade compared to the wii

Wow the marketing department did an epic job of brainwashing this gen.

[Insanity_Boi]

Im sorry to say this OP but playing the Wii U in SD looks absolutely terrible (to me anyways). I highly recommend you get a HDTV asap.

[Gamejunkie]

Any console that outputs an HD resolution will look terrible on an SD TV. This also applies to the PS3 and Xbox 360.

[Alex Atkin UK]

I know someone who still plays Xbox 360 on an SDTV. I know only two issues with doing so:

1) Text and HUD elements can be a bit small and hard to read.
2) It impairs your ability to make out small details on the screen. For example in racing games the higher resolution, the further into the distance you can make out other vehicles.

One thing I totally disagree on though is that it looks terrible, its just lower resolution. Does the GamePad look terrible compared to the HDTV? Nope, and an SDTV is very close in resolution to an SDTV. If your TV supports component (or RGB SCART in the UK) then there is no reason it should look THAT bad. But are you losing out compared to HD? Of course. Otherwise what would be the point of HD existing.

[Gamejunkie]

I know someone who still plays Xbox 360 on an SDTV. I know only two issues with doing so:
1) Text and HUD elements can be a bit small and hard to read.
2) It impairs your ability to make out small details on the screen. For example in racing games the higher resolution, the further into the distance you can make out other vehicles.
One thing I totally disagree on though is that it looks terrible, its just lower resolution. Does the GamePad look terrible compared to the HDTV? Nope, and an SDTV is very close in resolution to an SDTV. If your TV supports component (or RGB SCART in the UK) then there is no reason it should look THAT bad. But are you losing out compared to HD? Of course. Otherwise what would be the point of HD existing.

Well that's a matter of opinion and subjective. In my opinion it looks terrible and I know there are a lot of people out there who would agree. Component certainly would look pretty good as it is still HD. RGB SCART on the other hand is an SD connection and whilst better then composite is no where near as good as component or HDMI.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Component is not necessarily HD, if its connected to an SDTV then its only going to support SD resolution.

It sounds more like you are referring to running SD on a HDTV which I agree, looks shockingly bad. Its a big reason I never played on my Wii that much.

However running an HD console on an SDTV while not optimal by any means, looks fine apart from the reasons I described. On the Wii U, its only slightly lower resolution than playing games on the GamePad. A bonus there is you still have the GamePad as well to help read stuff that might come out a little blurry on an SDTV.

Do you also feel the 3DS looks shocking? Because the 3DS XL in particular is a very low resolution for its screen size.