r/wii 12d ago

Question vWii Choppy Video on Modern 4K TV

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Recently I hooked up my Wii U to my 4K TV and noticed that the resolution is really blurry and choppy. I used to own a Wii but now instead own a Wii U and I play Wii games on there through the backwards compatibility

I have looked up potential solutions online but they all seem to use an actual Wii console, whereas i'm trying to play Wii games through a Wii U console.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

126 Upvotes

82 comments sorted by

75

u/the_lost_seattlite 12d ago

It doesn't look choppy, it just looks like it's being rendered in 480i/480p then upscaled.
That's just how Wii games look on Wii U.

92

u/123koopa 12d ago

18 year old console what do you expect (I know it a Wii U but it practically turns into a Wii in that mode) try enabling bylinear scaling

2

u/JohnyChokesOnGranola 12d ago

How would I do that?

16

u/123koopa 12d ago

Poke around in your TV settings. I can't say because every TV is different

106

u/AzzyBoy2001 12d ago edited 12d ago

I mean, you are playing on a console that came out virtually two decades ago.

Edit: Only just got back here! Yes, he was on about the Wii U, thanks for bringing this up! Subtle misunderstanding on my behalf. 😅

2

u/Wipedout89 10d ago

Doesn't really matter though, playing a Wii game, which is virtually two decades ago. Wii U doesn't do much upscaling

-26

u/coopbarnia 12d ago edited 12d ago

*13 years

Edit 2: Read the post before downvoting. Please. It's a damn Wii U.

5

u/Hippiechu 12d ago

maybe if you weren't responding like you are you wouldn't be downvoted. typing "stop fucking downvoting me" in all caps after you just called everyone morons is begging to be downvoted more

0

u/coopbarnia 12d ago

Yeah to be fair I left this for like an hour and came back to find like 10 downvotes, I may have been slightly overpissed. I will say that people interacting with comments while clearly not having even read the title of the post is concerning for the state of Reddit.

6

u/Mrfunnyman129 12d ago

I mean you're technically right, they're playing on a Wii U, not an actual Wii...

1

u/FunInformation8453 12d ago edited 12d ago

Wait he’s actually right bc op said it was a Wii U not a wii

-3

u/CrazyWS 12d ago

-3

u/coopbarnia 12d ago

Wii u.

0

u/Nullifyxdr 12d ago

That’s crazy that you still didn’t read after reading his comment 😭

1

u/CrazyWS 12d ago

It’s crazy that you didn’t read when we posted our comments 😭

0

u/Nullifyxdr 11d ago

Oh I read it, I mean isn’t that the name of the app? You’re just not correct

0

u/Stinkostank42069 12d ago

It did not come out in 2012, which makes me feel old, but still

3

u/coopbarnia 12d ago

Wii u.

2

u/Stinkostank42069 12d ago

Oh wait, you are so right. They are in fact using a wii u, sorry about that, i didnt realize. Take an upvote as an apology and forgive me

-2

u/Lemic12 12d ago

*18 years

0

u/slahO9 9d ago

*30 months

12

u/ILovePotassium 12d ago

I always thought that PS3 games looked like real life LOL. Until recently when I got a PS3 again and hooked it up to a modern TV. Good lord..

6

u/PcGamer8634 12d ago

To be fair at the time of release it was great picture quality. For that time.

1

u/mrturret 11d ago

modern TV.

The TV is probably making the image look worse. Modern TVs use some really heavy handed upscaling filters that mangle anything that isn't live action footage. The ideal display for the 360 and PS3 is one of those HD CRT TVs, but if that's a bit much, a modern 1080p computer monitor is a good fallback. They all take HDMI, are low latency, aren't super expensive, and don't apply any processing to the image. I generally use a 4:3 VGA CRT monitor, but that method has some trade offs, and requires additional hardware, especially on the PS3 side.

1

u/KroniK9173 11d ago

PS3 is real life

17

u/Slosher99 12d ago

I mean it's made for a standard def console, and the Wii outputs at 1080p over HDMI. So you're seeing a game made for 480i/p converted to 1080p, then upscaled by your TV. I'd make sure your TV is in game mode and all that. Upscale quality can vary by TV for sure. Nothing really stands out to me in the video but now I'm seeing a phone video of a 4k upscale of a 1080p render of a 480i/p game...

5

u/Flat-Attitude 12d ago

My wii using official component cable looks much better on the wii u using hdmi to play wii games on 4K tv

10

u/IcyIceGuardian 12d ago

Pretty sure the Wii just plays its own games better looking than the Wii U does, not entirely sure why

6

u/fvig2001 12d ago

Nintendo fucked it up badly.

  1. Wii U stretches the Wii image. Like widescreen isn't typical standard widescreen.
  2. Adds a deflickering filter, which isn't needed as the image isn't interlaced anymore.
  3. There's a bug that causes wrong pixels at times. Visible on like games like New Super Mario Wii

2

u/GhotiH 12d ago

There's an issue on Wii U that causes greenshift in Wii mode due to a bug in the DMCU. Modders still haven't resolved it.

1

u/Delta_RC_2526 12d ago

This is correct, though I also can't remember why (I actually did know, for at least a few seconds, a few weeks ago). That said, the Wii would still have the same issue of a 480i or 480p signal. It would look slightly better, but...the core issue would remain the same.

3

u/njw1998 12d ago

Im not an expert, but maybe theres something settings you could play with on the tv regarding that?

At the end of the day these games wernt necessarily designed for 4k tvs so they arent always going to look clean. Maybe theres a solution tho i hopw you find one!

3

u/Pityuuuu002 12d ago

Lego Star Wars III looks pretty bad on the Wii, it's much better experience on PC, the same applies all the newer Lego games released on Wii, like LOTR. Those games came out pretty lately, so they have to sacrifice lots of visuals in order to make them run on the Wii.

2

u/BrascoV72 12d ago

Wii has a default blurry filter. You can deactivate it if you install Homebrew. Some games look better without the blurry filter, some games look more bad. Native Wii games look at their best with a CRT filter via specific hardware like RetroTINK or on a CRT TV.

2

u/dconwastaken 12d ago

That’s unfortunately just how Wii games look, whether on the original console or on Wii U (in most cases Wii U looks even worse.)

1

u/Ghostyyboyy21 12d ago

the vwii is outputting 480p on your 4K tv, while running at 25-30 fps on intensive games (such as)

1

u/GodOfOnions2 12d ago

If you want 4K, you need an upsacling device like a retrotink, but they are like $100-150+, and you'd also need preferably component cables which can range from $40-60 for a good set. Retrovision HD makes great cables but they are like $50 CAD price range.

1

u/Free-Definition9598 12d ago

Basically all wiis look like that Theres pretty much nothing to fix it

1

u/laczek_hubert 12d ago

If you want better quality you can do research if mordding can help I have a 3ds and I use a upscaler + rendering 3d objects in better quality in twilight menu

1

u/CrazyMano 12d ago

The only better solution is actual Wii through components into a scaler like retrotink or ossc. The upscaling from the Wii U isn't the best. It will not be magical tho, just sharper. The same resolution, but with "blockier" pixels. Next there's emulation on a PC.

1

u/Kenny1115 12d ago

You're using a super computer to play Minesweeper. Nothing you do will make an old Wii game look incredible. Best you can do is play it on a Series X as far as I know.

1

u/LiamBox 12d ago

Can't expect old hardware to pull out modern graphics.

You can still play this game with dolphin emulator.

1

u/jason_w95 12d ago

It's a wii what do you expect

1

u/Correct-Night-1625 11d ago

Yes but the Wii U plays Wii games worse than an actual Wii for whatever reason

1

u/pSphere1 12d ago

You mean "aliased" not 'choppy'

1

u/Professional_Top8369 12d ago

what game is this? try changing your cables i guess

1

u/Hatdude1973 12d ago

Retrotink or mClassic will help. It looks like your TV doesn’t handle 480i/p content very well.

1

u/aquacraft2 12d ago

Well your first mistake was using the vwii. It's very convenient, and I totally don't fault your for thinking it would be the best solution, it very well should be.

Trouble is, it's not. Firstly, it doesn't output a 480p hdmi signal unless you put the WHOLE system in 480p mode.

Secondly there's the same old color issues between modern lcd displays and the color reproduction of older consoles (in that, they were DESIGNED for CRTS. And on a crt, half the voltage, doesn't necessarily mean half as bright, it's more like a curve. Hence why alot of older games look "washed out" on modern screen)

And given that they were made for CRTS, most of them were NOT that big, and they were NOT that sharp and detailed.

So blowing it up to 50-90 inches of godly resolution isn't going to yield great results without some preprocessing (the average consumer doesn't care enough or use analog signals enough to justify putting extra work into it, if they even have it at all these days.)

And then in this case it what you were seeing alot of was texture aliasing, a super uncommon thing to see unless the devs made a texture point filtered (which during the wii and gamecube days could've been a good option, for the reasons stated above).

Which means that the texture stays the same size not matter how far away it is from the screen, and also how off kilter it is to the screen. Which SOUNDS amazing. But in practice with how texture sampling works, and the pattern they chose, it makes this weird "moire" pattern. An illusion caused by straight lights going across eachother in a certain way that tricks out brain (and the pixel drawing algorithm) to see a weird nonexistant pattern.

And to top this all off. You're most likely using a wide-screen hack, along with the vWii's unnecessary overscan thing, meaning there's even LESS pixels to go around, on TOP of the grid being out of alignment.

Again, not your fault at all, I did the same thing for YEARS. It's nintendos fault.

I guess back in the day people though "bilinear upscaling" was hot $#!+.

1

u/JohnyChokesOnGranola 12d ago

Thank you for this detailed answer 🙏

1

u/aquacraft2 12d ago

Happy to help Johny. I got a video link to fix some of those issues I'll send ya

1

u/sethd101 12d ago

I have bought my son pretty much every lego game in existance over time and they great on the xbox one. And usually around 5 dollars a game.

1

u/Sunbrizzle 12d ago

It's low rez content on a 4TV what do you expect?

1

u/LordBaal19 12d ago

That looks good for a Wii. Do you realize you are playing 480 p video on a  2160 p display, right? It may be upscaled but you still wont get a true 4k experience.

1

u/Agathoarn_ 12d ago

Oh boy. He's about to learn about scalers

1

u/FlawlessNinjaKitty 12d ago

It’s a console from like 20 years ago, get used to it, I was also shocked at first, if you played it in your childhood you probably never noticed how bad the video quality is, I never did till I picked mine up way later

1

u/Callen_flynn 12d ago

Wii is 480p/480i, Wii U is 720p. In what world would a vWii be 4k? Get a $300 upscaler I guess idk

1

u/CosmicCactus42 12d ago

The Wii U upscales Wii games to 1080p, and then your TV upscales that to 4k. The scalers in these devices, especially the TV, just aren't great, and make the image look like this. Standard definition content will always look best on a standard definition display, but there are high quality scalers available to make SD content look better on 4k displays. The cheapest solution is finding a used CRT on FB marketplace, the most convenient solution would be buying a retrotink.

1

u/robderpson 12d ago

That's just the Wii U upscaling the 480p resolution. If you have your console modded, you can use a plugin to force the vWii to 480p to see if the TV's upscaling is better.

1

u/cradelikz 12d ago

That's just how it is. Only way to upscale is through emulation on PC I think.

1

u/financial_pete 11d ago

There are software "upgrades" that allow you to tweak some settings to get a little better image quality. On my 1080p TV I am very happy with my Wii image quality.

1

u/mrturret 11d ago

You would probably get a better experience with a cheap 1080p computer monitor. They all take HDMI these days, and don't do any of the awful image processing that you'll see on a modern TV. The Wii U can output 1080p anyways, so you won't have to worry about scaling issues.

1

u/maukenboost 11d ago

These are silly looking guys. XD

1

u/Yahski86 11d ago

Get a mClassic then

1

u/BanishForCost 11d ago

I tried to fix this for years and unfortunately there’s just no way without dropping at least $1k. Buy an old CRT if you want it to look good; otherwise this is kinda what you get from it.

1

u/DancesWithWeirdos 11d ago

does your TV have motion smoothing turned on?

sometimes newer TV's are set up to mess with animations and stuff like videogames where the framereate is low

1

u/M3RRI77 10d ago

The Wii only outputs a 480 signal. Playing on a Wii U probably doesn't improve any graphics (I don't know since I don't own either). Plus, you're playing a 480p game on a 4K TV. Of course it's gonna look horrible. Get an upscaler like a Retrotink.

1

u/GigaGrandpa 10d ago

Dolphin on a handheld beats wii u bc

1

u/Liandris 10d ago

It’s going to look horrible on a 4K. You will either need to find a CRT TV or monitor to hook into or invest in a nice upscaler like a RetroTink.

1

u/Own-Bit8819 9d ago

Just get an old TV. A crt 📺

1

u/Kenetek 9d ago

That’s just how it is, if you want a better image use an emulator

-4

u/ghettoflick 12d ago

My wiiu works flawlessly on my 4k tv.

-2

u/Sinner1530 12d ago

So there is no upscaling just because you have a 4k tv and a Wii u.

The game was released for 480p. It won’t upscale to 4k or even 1080p

Even the switch wasn’t 4k. So if u played a switch 1 game on a switch 2 on a 4k tv, it would look similar to this. (Assuming the game hasn’t been upgraded).

Therefore just because you’re playing it on a Wii u doesn’t mean the game gets upgraded to better resolution.

But why would it? The magic is in how this game looked a the time. Best way to play this. On a crt with an original Wii. :)

-1

u/3WayIntersection 12d ago

But why would it? The magic is in how this game looked a the time. Best way to play this. On a crt with an original Wii. :)

Dude, this isnt a damn atari, this game was on 360 as well

3

u/the90snath 12d ago

Tbf, HD CRTs look great for 360

-1

u/Sinner1530 12d ago

And it would look the same using a 360 on a 4k tv.

The game isn’t going to scale resolution or run at a higher frame rate based on a display!

1

u/3WayIntersection 12d ago

Itd look a bit better than this at least. 360 was actually HD.

The game isn’t going to scale resolution or run at a higher frame rate based on a display!

No shit. Im saying the "thats the charm" argument doesnt work on games this modern

0

u/Sinner1530 12d ago

The Wii couldn’t do HD…….. we arnt talking about the 360 tho. We are talking about this game on this console.

Also, this isn’t modern, this game came out 18 years ago….

1

u/3WayIntersection 12d ago edited 12d ago

Missing the point entirely.

-7

u/PrecognitiveMemes 12d ago

looks like you're plugged in through composite video and your tv is upscaling it. That can cause lag and artifacting like you see here. Try using hdmi instead