Wii Are any of those cheap Wii HDMI adapters any good?

[Cyber Akuma]

I hope I am posting this in the right sub-forum. After trying to look around this seemed like the closest fit, since this is about a retail product that just plugs into a console from the outside and doesn't require any modifications/soldering, I figured it wouldn't fit under the hacking/modding sub-forums.

So anyway, I have been trying to play some games on my Wii I never got around to using the component cables in 480p and 16:9 mode and it looks BAD, really REALLY bad. I understand that the Wii is a 14 year old Standard Definition system, but this feels like it goes beyond that. Those HD Retrovision component cables for my Sega Genesis/PS1, despite most of the games on those systems not even running at 480 but at 240, look significantly better.

It's not that the graphics are pixelated, or even blurry, they are..... blotchy. As if some kind of poor quality old de-pixelate emulator filter is being run over the whole screen or something. And yes, my TV is in game mode.

Only seems to be my Wii, my even older consoles that I got component cables for look better, and when I tried switching my Wii to 4:3 it still looked bad. I honestly suspect that it's the fault of my TV, likely some filter or post-processing that you can't turn off that for some reason REALLY does not like the Wii's output. (Doesn't help that I have to stretch a 4:3 image into 16:9 for Widescreen mode on the Wii).

So now I am looking at those HDMI adapters. Thing is.... just about all of them are some insanely cheap Chinese product you can get from eBay or AliExpress or so. Are these even any decent at all? Would the produce an even WORSE image than my component cables? Or add lag. Or even risk shorting out my Wii or something?

And if not all of them are garbage (Because there definitely appear to be some trashy ones), can someone recommend a specific one I should be looking for? There are so many generic/no-name ones on eBay and Amazon that it feels impossible to sort through them.

And yes, I know there is a more permanent and professional solution, but I can't afford a $100+ mod right now nor have the soldering skills to install it, I just want a temporarily cheap solution for now that is just going to at least be better than my component cables..... as long as it's not going to risk damaging my system.

I don't expect the image to be better than 480p, I know that's the limit of the Wii, I am just hoping for that 480p signal to get to my TV without being a blotchy mess.

 

[JustAnyone]

some of wii2hdmi adapters are actually good but it is basically a gamble, your best bet would be to find genuine wii component cables which actually arent that expensive and use them

 

[Cyber Akuma]

some of wii2hdmi adapters are actually good but it is basically a gamble, your best bet would be to find genuine wii component cables which actually arent that expensive and use them

That's what I am using, I bought the official Wii component cables back when they were still in stores, and I can't believe how bad they look. As I said, I think it's my TV just trying to force some kind of filtering that I can't turn off. Dunno why only the Wii seems effected, the HD Retrovision cables for my Genesis and PS1 looked fine.

 

[psydefx]

im also interested in a decent hdmi adapter for wii. id buy wiidual but for 3 wii consoles its too expensive. they would be for family members with tvs without component

 

[Cyber Akuma]

I am seeing a lot of talk about a brand called Sewell, and that SUPPOSEDLY (I can't verify these claims though) a lot of Smash tournaments (I assume they mean Melee through a Wii) use them.

Although they also cost more than twice as most other brands.

Still trying to look into if they are a good one though, anyone else have any input on this or any others?

I was also recommended a Portholic but I see a lot of people claiming that's a poor one, especially compared to a Sewell.... but there is very little information out there on comparisons, and most people demoing/reviewing their units seem to have very little knowledge/understanding of any of this or even how this type of video conversion works in general.

 

[psydefx]

yep the sewell brand ones seems the best choice. $25 aint bad really

 

[FamilyGuy]

I got a Wii2HDMI without an included upscaler and it's pretty good. The colors aren't as vibrant or saturated as I see in screenshots of component Wii output, but nearly so. It's certainly not a blotched mess by any measure. That said, my TV actually does a very good job at upscaling SD content.

If your TV does a bad job at digitizing an analog component signals, that'd fix the issue. If you TV does a bad job at upscaling 480p digital signal it wouldn't.

You might want too test this by sending 480p over hdmi to you TV using a computer/laptop/Raspberry Pi prior to buying a Wii2HDMI.

If your really TV sucks at upscaling, maybe buy one of those Wii2HDMI with an included upscaler.