How do I connect a Nintendo Wii to a Samsung Syncmaster 940BW monitor?
March 21, 2007 4:39 PM Subscribe
How do I connect a Nintendo Wii to a Samsung Syncmaster 940BW?
Yes, I'd rather be playing on my big TV but that's in tucked away in storage, and I'm too busy to get it anytime soon so my monitor will have to do for now. Help me figure out what cables I need to get to make the fun happen!
Yes, I'd rather be playing on my big TV but that's in tucked away in storage, and I'm too busy to get it anytime soon so my monitor will have to do for now. Help me figure out what cables I need to get to make the fun happen!
The monitor has RGB analog ins, per the specs you linked, so you just need the component cable from Nintendo's website, $30+shipping.
You can also probably buy a third-party one locally. They should be just as good, and probably will be cheaper.
posted by Malor at 5:01 PM on March 21, 2007
You can also probably buy a third-party one locally. They should be just as good, and probably will be cheaper.
posted by Malor at 5:01 PM on March 21, 2007
Best answer: Oh, crap! I lied to you! I misread 'analog rgb' as being component ins. Ignore my prior comment. Sorry!
Key Digital makes some converters from component to VGA, but they're really expensive... like $200. Maybe it would be better to dig the TV out...
posted by Malor at 5:10 PM on March 21, 2007
Key Digital makes some converters from component to VGA, but they're really expensive... like $200. Maybe it would be better to dig the TV out...
posted by Malor at 5:10 PM on March 21, 2007
Best answer: lia: I was wrong, I'm sorry. I missed this section in the specs:
That means the standard component cable won't work. I'm really sorry. :(
posted by Malor at 5:12 PM on March 21, 2007
Input Connectors / Bornes d’entrée 15pin D-sub, DVI-DThat means the standard component cable won't work. I'm really sorry. :(
posted by Malor at 5:12 PM on March 21, 2007
You would be able to use this converter if the monitor supported DVI-I input. I don't think any Samsung monitors support it, though.
I've also looked into this and you're not going to get a 480p signal into a computer LCD monitor without spending a ton of money. If you're satisfied with 480i, you can buy a TV card to hook up to your computer that you'd be able to attach the Wii to. I've had a Happauge WinTV Go card for years, and it works okay. It might be acceptable as a short-term solution, but I should emphasize that the video quality would be rather poor.
posted by zixyer at 6:42 PM on March 21, 2007
I've also looked into this and you're not going to get a 480p signal into a computer LCD monitor without spending a ton of money. If you're satisfied with 480i, you can buy a TV card to hook up to your computer that you'd be able to attach the Wii to. I've had a Happauge WinTV Go card for years, and it works okay. It might be acceptable as a short-term solution, but I should emphasize that the video quality would be rather poor.
posted by zixyer at 6:42 PM on March 21, 2007
Best answer: Your Wii can output video in 3 flavours: composite, svideo, and component. Composite and svideo will carry an RGB interlaced signal, while component, predictably, carries a component progressive signal. Your monitor cannot take an interlaced signal at all, and only likes progressive signals that are RGB. So, straight conversion through cables is out of the question; you need something in between to transcode the signal.
What you need exactly will depend on what you want to output. Something like this will convert both svideo and composite, but composite is dull and fuzzy. If you want to use the much sharper svideo, you'll need to get a Wii svideo cable, which can be had for not much. Your most delicious option, though, is to use component output. For this you need a component to VGA converter and a component cable. Here's a review for the converter.
Finally, for something totally different you can try this GameBridge contraption. This is basically a USB external capture card, so how well it works is going to depend on how fast your computer is, among other things. 10 bucks, though! If I could buy stuff from the US Amazon, I'd pick one up just to take it apart.
posted by tracert at 7:10 PM on March 21, 2007 [1 favorite]
What you need exactly will depend on what you want to output. Something like this will convert both svideo and composite, but composite is dull and fuzzy. If you want to use the much sharper svideo, you'll need to get a Wii svideo cable, which can be had for not much. Your most delicious option, though, is to use component output. For this you need a component to VGA converter and a component cable. Here's a review for the converter.
Finally, for something totally different you can try this GameBridge contraption. This is basically a USB external capture card, so how well it works is going to depend on how fast your computer is, among other things. 10 bucks, though! If I could buy stuff from the US Amazon, I'd pick one up just to take it apart.
posted by tracert at 7:10 PM on March 21, 2007 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I think the problem with the VGA converter that tracert mentioned is that it doesn't really handle 480i. It has a dipswitch setting that works on a small set of monitors for 480i, but more than likely this would fail on an LCD. This is okay for systems like the Xbox, where 99% of the games support progressive mode, but on the Wii a number of games don't support 480p output, including Rayman and Trauma Center.
posted by curse at 7:35 PM on March 21, 2007
posted by curse at 7:35 PM on March 21, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by gnutron at 4:47 PM on March 21, 2007