Wii AV pinout: RGB, Svideo + Component etc

[neogeoman]

There's been a lot of interest about the Wii and its AV capabilities. Over on my forum some clever members have done all the hard work, and the result is the complete AV pinout.

Well, almost complete. Some pins aren't known, but what is known:
The NTSC systems don't have RGB, they have Svideo.
PAL systems have RGB but no Svideo.
Both have component.

It remains to be seen if VGA is possible (I suspect it is, with internal mods) or if digital audio will be available like it was on the GameCube.

[sj33]

The lack of RGB on NTSC untils will likely disappoint those here with only a CRT TV... looks like S-Video is the way to go for these people.

[Prophet Hero]

Thanks for that! I was toying with buying a S-Video cable for my PAL Wii. Looks like I'll just have to wait for RGB.

[GHDpro]

Well that sucks. I haven't tried in ages, but last time I switched from S-Video to RGB the difference was huge. So I really don't want to go back to S-Video when buying a US Wii. That basically leaves me a few options:

• Buy a PAL Wii with expensive games, expensive Wii points and 50 Hz VC
  (but that is compatible with my current tiny GC games collection)

• Buy a US Wii and live with the crappy S-Video (but cheaper games)

• Upgrade to a HDTV that has component inputs (and be ready for PS3 too)

Or is there some other way to connect a Wii using component cables to a TV with only RGB inputs and still get good picture quality?

[sj33]

Bit limited really. I meanm you could get a Component-to-VGA transcoder and play them on a VGA monitor, so long as your fine being limited to 480p games.

You can get Component 480p capable CRT TV's, but if you were gonna buy a new TV, you'd be better off saving that bit extra and getting something more futureproof, and living with S-Video in the mean time.

[gunrock]

You can also buy a component to RGB scart transcoder (lossless in terms of image quality) from somewhere like JS technology. That way you can RGB scart out of component only devices.

[JamesS]

Anybody used a Keene RGB2C transcoder?

http://www.keene.co.uk/multi.php?mycode=rgb2c

I'm tempted to get one as it goes in both directions, which would probably be useful in future if I get a projector or something. My main concern is whether the conversion introduces any lag, and also if it copes with the 240p mode of the Virtual Console games.

[charlesr]

Didn't the ntsc GC have exactly the same problem? I know there's a chip in the unit and not in the cable now, but can't something be done along the same lines as the saurian modded rgb scart?

[JamesS]

It's a similar problem, yes, but it'd need an internal mod to fix, rather than just hacking a cable. I'd imagine it'd be a relativly easy mod to do, though, especially if you could get somebody to open up a PAL machine and see how that's wired up.