Wii with a PVM

[codyrock2001]

Well I never seem to quite get the direct answer I'm looking for so I figured time to join and post. I have a wii that was connected to a well worn 36" trinitron and the power transformers started to act up so it went to the side. I've found that people swear by the PVM's and BVM's for older gaming, I just wanted to know is there anyone out there using a wii on a PVM? I have an NTSC console softmodded and am wondering the viability of connecting just composite or component, I would rather not go down the rabbit hole for SCART RGB for now. How does it look? is it a pain to get set up? I mainly use SNES9x GX and FCEUX GX. On a PVM do people enable double strike or just run it unfiltered? I'm looking for original look (resolution) and those scanlines don't hurt either

[kamiboy]

PVM L5 is ideal for the Wii, and forget about SCART. Component will give you the best results.

[AndehX]

Stay away from SCART RGB when it comes to the Wii. It has a habit of defaulting back to S-Video when a game runs in NTSC 60hz, which is no good. Stick to component.

[codyrock2001]

Ah someone has actually said forget about SCART. That's what I was hoping to hear I really didn't want to get to far into it. Not yet anyway. Why a PVM L5 vs others?

[Einzelherz]

Because the L5 can do 480p. But if you're looking to exclusively play older games, and since you're coming from a consumer Trinitron, any PVM will do.

All of the lettered PVM series accept component natively and it looks great. I wouldn't get anything smaller than 20", however, since you're coming from a much larger screen.

As far as the emulator settings, I leave the Wii in 480i mode and set the emulators to "original" and "auto".

[codyrock2001]

I see that there is always some pvm monitors on eBay for 50-100 USD but I'm sure there is a reason for this. Most are strictly single input (composite/S Video) I imagine. Is there anything wrong with these barebones models?

[codyrock2001]

Because the L5 can do 480p. But if you're looking to exclusively play older games, and since you're coming from a consumer Trinitron, any PVM will do.

All of the lettered PVM series accept component natively and it looks great. I wouldn't get anything smaller than 20", however, since you're coming from a much larger screen.

As far as the emulator settings, I leave the Wii in 480i mode and set the emulators to "original" and "auto".

Even without 480p GameCube/Wii games still wouldn't look bad I'm sure? Also I'm looking at the pvm 14's I'm looking at just getting into pvm for now something a little more portable. Since the trinitrons been gone I've been using the Wii on a 40" LCD and using a 17" crt monitor for emulation on PC.

[DoomsDave]

The Wii is probably the easiest and definitely the cheapest(and also the best imo) way to play cartridge based systems on a PVM/BVM. All you need is a component cable and some RCA to BNC connectors and you're ready to go. Like Einzelherz said, just set your Wii to 480i and your emulators to original and unfiltered etc. You could also use retroarch on the Wii but there seems to be quite a mixed opinion on it. I don't mind it and use it quite a bit though. I do most of my gaming on my PVM and BVM through the Wii.

480i GC/Wii looks great, I was actually surprised at how good it looked. 14" is pretty small though, I don't think I could go much lower than 17" and be comfortable.

[codyrock2001]

I think you right on the Wii once the ball get rolling it's a great choice. Mame and neogeo are the only things I've had problems with and haven't gotten back to working on them. Now I've also noticed that not all pvm monitors are created equal I've seen that the N series may not be as good of a choice as an L series? Also noticed some are only built with a single composite/s video port now if I'm not picky is this an easy choice as well?

[Einzelherz]

You want RGB/YUV ports. Most of the N series don't have them. The N6 does, but it doesn't have a passthrough, which only matters really if you want to chain screens. The N series also has a lower TVL, which may or may not matter to you.

L series is the most recent "complete lineup". It replaced the M series which replaced the four digit numbers series. I admit to not knowing much about anything before L series.

An N series with just a composite and S video isn't horrible or anything, but you limit yourself immediately to s-video being the best you can use. It'll be less clear (depending on console) than RGB or component.

[Blair]

I have an L5 and 480p output from a WII on a CRT isn't really that great, the system outputs an overly soft image (probably because the flicker filter for 480i content is never turned off at the GPU level) I like it better than 480i. But most Wii games look better on a high definition display with decent 480p processing, plus you get true widescreen aspect ratio for games that support it (and most of them do) you lose that on 4:3 CRT. although you do get much better input lag and no black smearing or ghosting. (that's a huge plus)

TL:DR, you don't really gain much from 480p when it comes to the Wii on a CRT, 480i will actually look better in some instances. although the soft 480p picture can be improved with the monitors sharpening control, you'll probably have to readjust that setting when you play games in other resolutions (240p/480i etc.)

I've found that a lot of HDTV's do a better job with the WII if you convert the component video to HDMI, although an even better option is using the WiiU (modified). but it all depends on the display.

[Ikaruga11]

What about a Wii on a BVM-D24E1WU?

[Blair]

What about a Wii on a BVM-D24E1WU?

most things outputting progressive signals look pretty good on a BVM-D24E1WU, especially game systems that support widescreen, since thats the aspect ratio its designed to display.

as I recall that particular BVM has strong 480p scanlines, which (in my opinion) helps mitigate most of the softness from a Wii.

[Ikaruga11]

What about a Wii on a BVM-D24E1WU?

most things outputting progressive signals look pretty good on a BVM-D24E1WU, especially game systems that support widescreen, since thats the aspect ratio its designed to display.

as I recall that particular BVM has strong 480p scanlines, which (in my opinion) helps mitigate most of the softness from a Wii.

Scanlines only happen on 240p.

[cfx]

.

[Ed Oscuro]

All of the lettered PVM series accept component natively

Not true; the L1 is composite and S-Video only.

[Blair]

Scanlines only happen on 240p.

high resolution Trinitron's usually have visible scanlines at 480p

here's a close-up shot of my 20L5 in 480p (it has 800 lines of resolution, and I'm pretty sure that the widescreen BVM's are higher than that).

you can clearly see the scanlines, especially in the eyes.

Spoiler

most people never notice because you have to get kind of close to see them, but they do seem to provide a similar effect as 240p scanlines, and give a bit more crispness to the image.

[Guspaz]

All of the lettered PVM series accept component natively

Not true; the L1 is composite and S-Video only.

The N5 is also composite and s-video only.

[Einzelherz]

All of the lettered PVM series accept component natively

Not true; the L1 is composite and S-Video only.

The N5 is also composite and s-video only.

None of the N besides N6 have rgb/component. What I meant, and I thought it was quite clear, is that if they have RGB ports, they accept component. As opposed to the 80s models that afaik only take RGB.

[AndehX]

I have a PVM-20N5E that only takes RGB, and not Component. That's dated 1997

[Guspaz]

I have a PVM-20N5E that only takes RGB, and not Component. That's dated 1997

If your PVM takes RGB, it is not a 20N5E, it's a 20N6E:

https://cvp.com/pdf/sony_nseries_brch.pdf

[AndehX]

My mistake, its an N6 indeed. Still though, it does not take Component

[Einzelherz]

My mistake, its an N6 indeed. Still though, it does not take Component

That's neat, I didn't know that. I guess I thought the N series were later and kind of coincided with the Ls more than the Ms.