Video output

The Wii is capable of analog video output to a television, using either of the following connecting cables:

• Composite, a single yellow RCA connector for video (plus 2 RCA audio connectors). Capable of carrying 576i and 480i.
• S-Video, a 4-pin mini-DIN connector for video (plus 2 RCA audio connectors) NTSC models only! Capable of carrying 576i and 480i.
• RGB video, connects with a 21 pin SCART connector with both video and audio. PAL models only! Note that this is not the same as the composite cable + SCART adapter included with PAL Wii units, this cable has to be bought separately and provides component quality video, albeit at only interlaced resolutions. Capable of carrying 576i and 480i. The feature to signal the aspect ratio via the SCART connector is not supported.
• Component, with red, blue and green RCA connectors for video (plus 2 RCA audio connectors) Capable of carrying 576i, 576p, 480i, 480p, and other video modes not available on the Wii (e.g. 720p, 1080i, 1080p).

For PAL Wiis (sold in Europe, Australia and South Africa), the following video modes are available:

• 576i: 50Hz, 576 lines interlaced (standard PAL, works on all televisions in these regions)
• 576p: 50Hz, 576 lines progressive (EDTV standard, requires a component cable and a display supporting progressive frames)
• 480i: 60Hz, 480 lines interlaced (NTSC framerate but with PAL encoding for color, should work on most relatively recent televisions)
• 480p: 60Hz, 480 lines progressive (EDTV standard, requires a component cable and a display supporting progressive frames)

For NTSC Wiis (sold in USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Taiwan), the following video modes are available:

• 480i: 60Hz, 480 lines interlaced (NTSC standard, works on all televisions in these regions)
• 480p: 60Hz, 480 lines progressive (EDTV standard, requires a component cable and a display supporting progressive frames)

Many homebrew applications have suffered from poor support for different PAL modes. These problems can largely be avoided by using the appropriate functions within libogc to use the video mode which the user has selected from the Wii system menu.

It's not sure whether RGB output is only available in PAL version or if the AV Encoder chip can be configured by software to switch between S-Video and RGB signal outputs. Indeed, earlier Wii homebrew applications would display wrong colors (satured red) on a PAL Wii when using RGB cable and libogc usual video mode (EURGB60), which seems to indicate that S-Video was indeed output. This was fixed by adding proper configuration of the AV Encoder chip.

Connector

(*1)

1	Audio Left
2	Audio Right
3	Video (Composite)
4	+5v
5	Ground
6	Ground
7	Red (PAL), Luma (NTSC), or Analog Component Y
8	Mode select. If shorted with pin 10, pin 7, 9 and 11 will output YPbPr (Analog component)
9	Green (PAL), Chroma (NTSC), or Analog Component Pb
10	Mode select. If shorted with pin 8, pin 7, 9 and 11 will output YPbPr (Analog component)
11	Blue (PAL) or Analog Component Pr
12	Ground
13	+12v
14	Data line 1 (Used to change the number of lines)
15	Data line 2 (Used to change from interlaced to progressive)
16	Data line 3 (Used to change from 4:3 to letterbox and 16:9)

Reference

(*1) Image edited by Arthur B at 11/04/2010 - 21:59 (Reason: Incorrect pinout numbering)