Operation Wii Overscan Assassination

If there is one thing I hate about gaming on my Nintendo Wii is having to deal with overscan. What is an overscan you ask? It's image cropping that occured on all four corners of the screen. It's a problem that is nonexistent if you are displaying a digital signal on your high definition display, as long as that screen is capable of producing 1:1 pixel mapping, which is a standard feature in newer televisions. Have you ever noticed that some games provide you with the option to zoom in or out the game's display area? Well, that option is there to accomodate those who are still impacted by overscan or in rare instances, underscan. The Wii is only capable of streaming analog signal by default and since Nintendo is not proactive in providing us the ability to customize the display area, overscan is a big problem for the system when it could have been easily addressed at the hardware level. The problem could have been solved by mandating all developers to provide the adjustment option with every Wii game. Well, while I was playing Xenoblade Chronicles, I wondered just how much of the overall picture that I was missing and that prompted me to look for something that could resolve the overscan issue for my Wii once and for all.

My solution of choice.

Before I use the Wii 2 HDMI converter, I have my Wii connected to my receiver via the component cable. The receiver then sends the signal to my high definition LCD via an HDMI cable. Even though the visual signal is sent via HDMI, the signal itself is still analog versus digital and my LCD is not able to force the 1:1 pixel mapping on the video feed. Now that I am using this converter, I am finally able to use the 1:1 feature because the signal has been changed into a digital one straight from the back of the Wii itself via an HDMI cable. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this neat little device is that the video is automatically upscale to 720p or if you want, 1080p! The upconversion may not make the Wii games look like its current generation competitors but the important thing here is that I now gain a pristine, crystal clear video feed on the screen. The difference is like night and day! Also, you can now see everything that should have been properly displayed on your screen. Sure, you can always wait until the Wii U comes out to see if you can see your Wii games get upscaled to 1080p - it's possible that it will not even have that feature - but why wait when you can experience better image fidelity for the system now. As a bonus, you also get to see your favorite GameCube games getting the same treatment!

It's time to show you some comparison shots. Notice the missing corners found in my previous setup and the vibrant colors coming from the new setup. The images taken while running the Wii 2 HDMI converter were captured while running at the 1080p mode. I don't have the proper equipment to present the best screenshots here but hopefully, you will get the general idea of the benefits of playing your Wii games without that annoying overscan.

Xenoblade Chronicles:

Component cable.

Wii 2 HDMI.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

Component cable.

Wii 2 HDMI.