Component cables worth it?

gamermonkey

gamermonkey

CAGiversary!
I haven't had much luck with 3rd party component cables. Bought some $5 ones off Amazon, distorted signal. Bought $6 one from Monoprice based on the good reviews, artifacts in signal. Monoprice sent another pair, colors are off. Now I am searching for some used OEM component cables but I'm debating on if its even worth it. Every time I go from playing my Xbox360 to Wii, the blurryness of the Wii bothers me.
 
That's really weird... I was going to come in and recommend the Monoprice cables since they're the ones I use. They work great for me and I've never had any problems.
 
I've never had any issues with my Wii component cables. But I've also never paid $5 for them. Can't imagine why you would be having issues with it.

Unless, of course, you are being affected by the fact that the Wii only goes up to 480p. That might be your problem. Especially if you are comparing it to 360 performance. The 360 supports full 1080p through its component cables, for its menus as well as games.

The Wii only supports 480p, no higher. Also, you might want to check in your Wii menu settings. You might not have actually enabled 480p output. 480p will give you a better, crisper signal that will look better on your HD TV, but it won't look nearly as good as the 360.
 
[quote name='Richard Kain']I've never had any issues with my Wii component cables. But I've also never paid $5 for them. Can't imagine why you would be having issues with it.

Unless, of course, you are being affected by the fact that the Wii only goes up to 480p. That might be your problem. Especially if you are comparing it to 360 performance. The 360 supports full 1080p through its component cables, for its menus as well as games.

The Wii only supports 480p, no higher. Also, you might want to check in your Wii menu settings. You might not have actually enabled 480p output. 480p will give you a better, crisper signal that will look better on your HD TV, but it won't look nearly as good as the 360.[/QUOTE]

Don't take this the wrong way OP, but I'm wondering the same thing. Are you sure you're not just noticing more details or just imagining things? It's very unlikely that you'd get 3 bad cables, regardless of the source.

I've been using cheap cables for years and never had issues, except once when Monoprice shipped me cables component cables that were made with the wires in the wrong order (not a huge issue-- they where blue/red/green instead of red/green/blue).
 
[quote name='Vinny']Don't take this the wrong way OP, but I'm wondering the same thing. Are you sure you're not just noticing more details or just imagining things? It's very unlikely that you'd get 3 bad cables, regardless of the source.

I've been using cheap cables for years and never had issues, except once when Monoprice shipped me cables component cables that were made with the wires in the wrong order (not a huge issue-- they where blue/red/green instead of red/green/blue).[/QUOTE]

What he said.

If the suggestion to try a different order with the cables (Swapping red/blue/green) if the picture is really screwed up doesn't work, the common element isn't the cable.

So, if it's not the above, I'd say you either are getting interference from one of your components, or there's something wrong with the Wii or TV. Statistically that just makes more sense than 3 bad cables from different places.

From your description however, it might be just your expectations are too high for Wii visual fidelity. Wii games won't look much better than PS2/GCN/Xbox games, even in 480p, which all those consoles supported too (Xbox supported 720p and 1080i for a few games in fact), so the blurriness is potentially just you not being used to SD signals anymore.
 
I'll concur with what others are saying, its more than likely a setting issue than the cables. Even without 480p output (just 480i), going from composite to component should make a big difference. My PS2 on my HDTV went from really blurry with composite, to crisp with component, even without setting it to 480p (most PS2 games are 480i).

In short, compare your composite cables to component, and if you don't see a difference, then you more than likely have a setting issue.
 
I have monoprice cables and I have had no issues with them at all, they are the exact same as the original cables as far as I am concerned.
 
Nope, its the cables. I have the settings correct in the Wii menu, Widescreen and 480p. In fact, the 480p option doesn't get enabled unless you have component cables. Keep in mind, component cables are analog, which will not transmit well on a poor shielded cable. I have other components in my HTC that use component and I have not issues. The issues I am referring to are 1.) Fuzzy gray blocks of artifacts moving from the bottom of the screen to the top, in a loop. 2.) Colors are off (ive had this problem with other types of low quality cables) 3.) Lines across the screen going from the bottom to the top, in a loop, similar to #1. Both types of cables I bought, I read reviews and others had similar issues. The reviews ive read about the OEM Nintendo component cables state these issues are non existent. No offense taken, I am not imaging these things and I in no way would ever think the Wii could get near the video quality of the 360. I do know that component cables make a big difference (at least in my eyes) for a DVD player (composite vs component). Also, I know that "Monster Cables" are no better than most other brands and I buy from Monoprice all the time with no issues most of the time. Maybe I just got unlucky 3 times...
 
From my experience, Monoprice cables are pretty well shielded. They're always very thick (which I hate since it makes it difficult to wrap/guide). It might just be that Monoprice has a bad batch (air between the insulation or poor quality wires) and both cables you received were from that batch.

At this point, it's probably not worth the hassle... you may as well go for the official ones.
 
I've used a pair of 3.50 components from amazon and it works fine. What game are you using them on. RE4 (capcom) does jack for me but most of the 1st Nintendo party titles look more crisp to down right spectacular compared to stock composite.
 
[quote name='king9x']I use HDMI:

http://www.amazon.com/HDMI-1080P-Ou...TF8&colid=1AOQBSAMZWW1N&coliid=I3FSV4RG9LQOD5

Works great for me. (The few times I've used the Wii the past 2 years) :)[/QUOTE]
Honestly I'd be skeptical of any device that performs Analog to Digital conversion for under $20 bucks like that, but if it works for you then great. I'd also wonder how much extra lag this would add. Personally I like having the component cable output so I can run the audio leads directly to my stereo to nullify the HDTV lag, which is essential for playing rhythm games or anything with audio cues.

Anyways, back on topic, I have third party Nyko cables from Amazon I bought for my Wii, and for a good benchmark game like Super Mario Galaxy, it looks perfectly fine on my 47 inch HDTV (good color and contrast, no artifacts). For the PS2, I used cheap Intec cables, and even with these it was a night and day difference going from composite to component.

I did have to mess around with my TV settings to get the right picture, so I would suggest delving more into your TV's user's manual for more information. For the 360/PS3, it's not much of an issue since the digital HDMI output comes closer to the native resolution of the TV, but for Wii / PS2 you will have to work a bit to find optimal settings.

Another possible scenario is that you have some RF / AC interference nearby that is stronger than usual, so if you can, try unplugging all other inputs to the TV and turn off any nearby electronics (especially any that are running off the same AC outlet plug set). This may be a bit extreme depending on your set up, so you could always try taking your Wii and cables to a friends / family members house and try hooking it up to their HDTV (a whole new set of variables, but you get the idea).
 
I don't experience any lag, but then again I don't play any rhythm games. I have a real different console for those. But for the mario's and zelda's, this HDMI adapter is perfect.
 
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