Vdigi Wii VGA Cable: VD-W2

VDigi, the makers of a competent Component to VGA box, have just released a new product - the VD-W2 VGA cable for the Wii.



It's certainly not as robust as the X2vga, or even VDigi's own VD-Z3, but it's the cheapest way I've seen to get the Wii onto your basic computer monitor. It's $40, and games must support progressive scan (more of an issue for GCN backward compatibility). According to the website, there are only 50 of them to start with.

What's the green cable for?

It's the chroma of the component signal - if the system is outputting a 480i signal, you won't be able to see the options to change it using your computer monitor. So you can plug it up to the yellow composite input on your TV to get a black and white image of the screen so that you can change the video settings.

[quote name='CokeCola']It's the chroma of the component signal - if the system is outputting a 480i signal, you won't be able to see the options to change it using your computer monitor. So you can plug it up to the yellow composite input on your TV to get a black and white image of the screen so that you can change the video settings.[/quote]

oh thanks for the info. i just got these and wondered why the image was black and white.

this cable is a lot better than getting the kworld 1440RNB component/svideo/composite -> vga box. the kworld box was inaccurate and would have some colors bleed over to other pixels with component cables hooked up.

this cable is a lot crisper and i'm happy i got it. it's still not perfect because there's this oddity where in the Zelda:TP, every other line was a lighter tint giving it a bit of an interlaced look, but it was still sharp overall. i popped in BBA: Wii Degree and the problem wasn't there. then i popped in Wind Waker and the problem came back despite there being mostly solid colors. then i put in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time(GC) and the problem wasn't there. i'm just thinking it's a in-house Nintendo or Zelda thing.

[quote name='RhYZiN'] it's still not perfect because there's this oddity where in the Zelda:TP, every other line was a lighter tint giving it a bit of an interlaced look, but it was still sharp overall. i popped in BBA: Wii Degree and the problem wasn't there. then i popped in Wind Waker and the problem came back despite there being mostly solid colors. then i put in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time(GC) and the problem wasn't there. i'm just thinking it's a in-house Nintendo or Zelda thing.[/quote]

That's a known issue with a few recent Nintendo games. You also get the scanline issue with Zelda: TP when you play on an HDTV. Some other games have this "scanline" effect in varying amounts, almost always appearing when there's a fog/smoke effect. Mario Party 8 also had it, but thankfully it only showed itself when there was fog/smoke onscreen.

As far as the product, it looks pretty useful, but for $40... eh. If the $60 X2vga-2 is all it's cracked up to be I might just consider getting one of those.

What exactly does "not as robust" mean?

i got the vd-w2, for wii, i think it is cool enough, the picture is crisper and sharp, for the price, i think it worth for it.

[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']What exactly does "not as robust" mean?[/QUOTE]
Both the VD-Z3 and the X2VGA are component to VGA transcoders that accept component cables from anything. They both transcode 480p, 720p and 1080i, and the X2VGA transcodes 1080p. The VD-W2 only connects to the Wii, and it only transcodes 480p.

It's a shame that none of these devices allow for deinterlaced 480i for those games that can't output 480p or above. But I guess such a circuit would drive up the price.

So does anyone know how these compare to the X2VGA? Are they basically the same in video quality except that the X2VGA can work with more systems? I already have a kworld 1440, but would like to remove the color bleeding.

the vd-w2 quality seems better, color seems more vivid, by the way, i think the big difference is vd-w2 do not need to have a external power, much better for my computer desk situation. (no more power socket, hoho)

I saw that this cable supports VGA 640x480 at 480p. It would seem that it doesn't include support for 16:9 widescreen mode which is 842x480 since most computer monitors don't have that resolution. Can anyone confirm this?

The Wii looks pretty bad on a computer monitor... I had mine hooked up with component to my 21" LCD (Samsung 215TW, it has many different inputs) and I wasn't too happy with it. Everything looked pixelated and jaggy since the 852x480 image was stretched to fit 1680x1050.

Just one question, does this cable have the possibility of reducing some lag that is experienced with TVs upscaling 480i/p to their true native resolution like 720 or 1080? Or basically reduce game lag on some brands of HD tvs? Or do I have to look into a VGA Box instead?

Well I was considering using this on a CRT widescreen monitor. But I'd like to know if this cable puts out a true 480p 16:9 widescreen image? Or is it just the standard 640x480 4:3 VGA image?

So I just got one of these and am not experiencing the quality I was quite hoping for. Despite fooling around with my monitor's settings, the text is still a bit blurry/jagged. The monitor is also in 640x480 right now, if that matters.

Here is my monitor:

http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/p1_All-LCD-Displays_207132_Business_Supplies_10051_SEARCH

Would changing those 4 switches help at all and how do you actually get at them?