[CaptainClams]

Hello everyone - I have a dilemma. At my university, I have a pretty nice HTPC (22" Widescreen Samsung monitor with powerhouse performance - fantastic looking games and HD movies) and I would like to be able to play my Wii on the same monitor since I have no TV in my dorm.


I've done some research and there honestly seems like no definitive way to do this. There are special adapters (I believe VDigi makes one?) and VGA boxes, but so many reviews complain about quality drops and input lag that it seems like there is no truly proper way to do this. There are also the speakers - how would something like a cable (Wii video -> VGA) translate sound to my speakers, which only have a single line output (It's just a green tipped cable that plugs in to the back of my PC, but these are old speakers. An upgrade may be in order).


So I come to you, AVS forums - how do I do this?


Cheers, and thanks!


P.S. Links and step-by-step instructions are love.

 

[sotti]

You really can't.


You need a monitor with component input.

 

[CaptainClams]

Surely, there must be some way or adapter to bypass this? I feel like this type of a request (playing consoles on PC monitors) should be a relatively feasible task. You would know better than I would though.

Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[DJWikiera]

Costco has a Vizio 22" that is 1080P and has a component input, good price also.

 

[sotti]



Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainClams /forum/post/15407233


Surely, there must be some way or adapter to bypass this? I feel like this type of a request (playing consoles on PC monitors) should be a relatively feasible task. You would know better than I would though.

Anyone else have any ideas?

It is not.


All PC based solutions introduce an unacceptable amount of lag through video processing.

 

[mslide]



Quote:
Originally Posted by sotti /forum/post/15407450


All PC based solutions introduce an unacceptable amount of lag through video processing.

While I agree with you there, I believe the OP is okay with a non-PC solution. That is, a component to vga converter so the Wii can be connected directly to the computer monitor.


Something like this.


I've never used one of these before, so don't go by my word. I'd search around for "Component to VGA converters" and "vga boxes" and at least get some reviews on these things before buying.


I'd say you're looking at spending around $100 to do this.

 

[CaptainClams]

Thanks for the posts so far guys. I am a little bit confused about why the price range of VGA boxes seems to be all over the place.


I have found these products:
http://www.amazon.com/High-Resolutio...pr_product_top

This item has received mostly positive reviews. It seems WAY too cheap though, right? This type of product seems like the ideal solution however. Also, one of the reviews says your monitor must output 1600x1200 - my widescreen outputs at 1680x1050 I believe (it's at school so I can't check at the moment). Is that really an issue?

http://www.vdigi.com/index.php?page=...emart&Itemid=1

This adapter seems to be what I would need to use my LCD monitor with my Wii, but I would have to change cables everytime I wanted to switch between Wii and PC, and VGA cables are a pain to switch back and forth.


Regarding both of these products, I believe they require 480p output from the console, but I've heard the Wii's VC products do not output as such. I suppose I can live with no VC, I was just looking for some clarification.


Thoughts?

 

[gazebo]

IRRC from a similar discussion on some other forum some years ago, what you need is an analog capture card like a really old Hauppauge PCI TV tuner cards that came with composite input. The software (wintv) that came with it should be able to give you 0 or close to zero delay.


Don't get the newer cards with built-in mpeg2 hardware encoder. I think these are the ones that would give you noticeable delay.


Here's another example of a hauppauge analog capture card (it has no TV tuner):
http://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-Impa.../dp/B000075ANQ


One reviewer claimed it did not have any lag when used with some software. YMMV since everyone has his own definition of what an acceptable delay is.

 

[CaptainClams]

Okay, sorry for the temporary death of this thread, but now that the holidays are over I'm ready to solve this problem.


Right now, this is my current plan:


1) Buy cheap component cables for Wii -
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2


2) Buy "Hyperkin VGA Box for Wii, Xbox, etc." -
http://www.amazon.com/High-Resolutio...pr_product_top


3) ???


4) Profit!


Now, here's what I'm still up in the air about. One of the Amazon reviews mentions that the device only works on monitors with 1600x1200 resolutions, which seems really weird to me. My monitor runs at 1680x1050. Secondly, how will I get sound from my Wii? The three video component cables go into the VGA box, and the two red/white sound outputs go.... where? Standard PC speakers have no input for that sort of thing, they only have the green headphone-type plug coming out of them.


Thanks for any help you guys can provide, cheers!

 

[JBlanch]

I'm going to make a few assumptions here. One is that your monitor has a DVI or HDMI input. The other is that you don't have a good AV receiver. With that, one other option that no one has mentioned yet is to purchase an upconverting receiver that will upconvert component to HDMI and will switch all video inputs to HDMI. Then you run your computer and Wii into the receiver, and then from the receiver to the the monitor, although I'm not sure how the monitor would handle non-native resolutions (like 720p or 1080p). The other question is whether it will pass through non-HDTV resolutions without trying to alter them. If it works, you get a central audio processor and a good foundation to build a home theater from. The HK AVR-254 seems like a good choice ( http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-...1709446&sr=8-1 ) Now I haven't actually tried this, but theoretically it could work.

 

[DJWikiera]



Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainClams /forum/post/15526032


, and the two red/white sound outputs go.... where? Standard PC speakers have no input for that sort of thing, they only have the green headphone-type plug coming out of them.


Thanks for any help you guys can provide, cheers!

Use one of these cables.

 

[CaptainClams]

To JBlanch -


My monitor has VGA and DVI ports on the back - that is all. And while your description sounds like a fantastic way to set up a home theater system, it does not seem practical nor affordable for a dormroom environment unfortunately. Thanks for the suggestion though.


To DJWikiera -


Are you sure you didn't mean to link to these , and then I would presumably plug these into the headphone jack of a speaker? Although I always thought that headphone ports on speakers were a one-way output type of deal, as in they could only send audio out and not receive.


Thanks for the quick replies everyone!