Problems with Wii VDigi VD-W2 VGA cable

[tom-nook]

Just received one of these vga cables to use with my lcd:

http://www.vdigi.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=2&category_id=3&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Plugged it in and got a 'video mode not supported' message on my tv. Double checked my settings and prog scan mode had been enabled on the Wii. To rule out a problem with the cable I tried it on an old crt monitor and it displayed fine.

The 'Engrish' instructions indicate that for some screens the dip switches on the cable may need adjusting. I had a play around and 1 of the 4 suggested combinations does indeed give a picture but unfortunately its off centre & approx. 20% of the left side of the Wii menu isn't displayed.

I've gone into the Wii options menu & adjusted the picture position settings to the max (+8). It makes things a bit better but I still can't see approx. 10-15% of the menu. Tried switching the Wii between 4:3 & widescreen mode & also tried changing the tv settings but the problem is still present.

For some reason VDigi fit the cables with a female rather than male VGA connector. That's ok for my crt which is fitted with a male connector but to use it with the lcd I'm having to run a regular vga cable (male to male) between the VDigi and the tv.....is there any possibility that this is causing the problem and would using a gender changer instead be likely to resolve it?

My gut feeling is that the problem is with the tv. However, I'm hoping that's not the case as the picture quality is otherwise excellent and much better than using component on my tv (due to the lack of image processing being done).

Thanks in advance for any help/ suggestions!!

[sj33]

See this is interesting. As you probably know, the VGA cable is actually just a Component-to-VGA transcoder, so it's probably outputting 720x480 rather than 640x480.

Most PC monitors will display almost any resolution you throw at it, but the VGA ports on TV's usually only supports a handful of specific resolutions i.e 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x768, 1360x768.
Not saying that is the cause, the fact that you get a picture in some DIP switch combinations may disprove what I just said, but...

[tom-nook]

Cheers Jake

Yeah I'm aware that its a transcoder and that the Wii doesn't natively outputting a vga signal.

The 720x480 thing is interesting though. I'd always just assumed that 480p was equivalent to a resolution 640x480.

If its 720x480 then that would possibly explain things as my tv doesn't support that resolution. The dip switch thing may effectively be forcing 640 x 480 meaning that the extra 80/720th's (9%) of the horizontal resolution is lost....which is consistent with what I'm seeing.

I've also had the same 'resolution not supported' message with both a VDigi Xbox transcoder and a modded GC vga in the past (both 720x480?) and of course both use a component signal. My old Dreamcast (native vga @ 640x480) on the other hand worked fine as you'd expect.

Sounds like in order to use this a tv supporting 720x480 @ 60hz is needed so may need to sell it on I guess.....

Before I do can anyone using a VDigi successfully on an hdtv confirm what resolution is displayed (by pressing 'Info' on the remote)?

Cheers,
Mark

Edit: just noticed on VDigi's website and they're quoting a maximum output of 640 x 480 @ 60hz rather than 720 x 480

[Kyutu]

For what it's worth, when i first connected my Wii up with this cable I noticed it was off-centred by almost an inch, and had to fix it by adjusting the TV, but it's been fine since, and that's while switching between 360 and Wii regularly. Unfortunately I can't bring up the current displayed resolution on my TV to verify that part of the equation.

[tom-nook]

Cheers Kyutu.

Yeah it was very slightly off centre on my monitor too but a quick play with the settings sorted that out. Its a bit different with the tv as adjusting the position using the tv's setting doesn't actually result in any more of the Wii menu appearing on screen. Its not that its off screen, its simply not there to at all.

The lead seems fine and I think its the tv that's the problem (which is fairly old & basic to be fair). Bit of a pity though as the picture processing tends to make component inputs fairly blurry whereas the pc input is pin sharp.....from the 90% of the screen I could see using the VDigi Super Mario Galaxy looked very nice indeed!

[Kyutu]

Yeah the VGA cable really brings the best out of the Wii for some of us it seems, just a shame you can't experience it properly on your TV.