I connected each system to an XCAPTURE-1 via official D-terminal cables and ran the Gamecube version of the 240p Test Suite (in 480p linedoubled mode) on each system via the pictured SD launcher. The results are posted below.
Here's a close up of the serial numbers for each console. I think the Cube was part of a Game Boy Player bundle SKU. The Wii was purchased before Brawl's release. That's about all I can remember specifically, should you want to use that info to try and narrow down manufacture dates or specific console revisions.
Interactive Tests
For the tests that actually need to be seen in video form (Drop Shadow, Scroll tests, etc.), I recorded some footage for each console. They're encoded in Lagarith and are massive (close to 1 GB each), so save these to disk if you want them and don't pass around the links too much. I might end up having to kill them for bandwidth needs.
Gamecube
Wii
The videos are encoded at the actual framerate of the GCN/Wii, so if you have screen-tearing issues when viewing them that's probably why.
The results for all of the static test patterns are shown in screenshots below.
Options and Video Settings
PLUGE
Color Bars
SMPTE Color Bars
Color Bars with Gray Scale
Color Bleed Check
Grid
Linearity
Gray Ramp
White & RGB screens
100 IRE
Sharpness
Overscan
Notes
- The XCAPTURE-1 can only sample footage in 4:2:2, so the colors cannot be reproduced exactly as they are from the consoles. It also tends to have issues applying the correct color space for some sources (601 vs 709, limited vs full, etc). I haven't made any adjustments to these settings in the above results.
- The colors seem to be a little muted in general on the Wii. The most obvious dips in quality are in the colored text in the menus (black/white text seems fine) and the color bleed tests. (I wonder what the sharpness tests would look like if they were colored instead of just black and white.)
- If you check the number of distinct colors in each image, you'll notice that the Wii images have a much higher count in general. This is most obvious on the screenshots of the plan red/green/blue/white slides. Several GCN result snapshots have fewer than 256 distinct colors, while that isn't often the case with the corresponding Wii snapshots. This suggests that the Wii's output is a little noisier in general.
I could probably record some actual game footage later, should anyone want some.
Feel free to post your own comparisons if you've got them.
