Sadly, this post isn’t about the New Years kind of resolutions, but rather the kind that generally hangs out on TVs and the like. While reading up on the Wii’s (alleged) technical specs, the Wikipedia page managed to clear up some things about resolutions on the Wii. There are 3 TV types to choose from in the Wii settings menu; 50Hz (576i), 60Hz (480i), and EDTV/HDTV (480p). Without a component cable, the third option is greyed out. But the first two options are ambiguous and probably confusing to some.
When I first started up Super Mario Galaxy, I was greeted with a message asking me to switch the Wii to 60Hz mode for better graphics (not its exact words but the message has gone now, and I forget). I tried it for a while but have switched back as I’m convinced it’s all a complete load of weapons-grade balonium. My first argument for not using 60Hz mode is the lower resolution. Last time I checked, 480 was still less than 576. But then it occurred to me that lowering the res could plausibly increase graphics performance on Wii games as they would have less work to do. But in 60Hz mode (on my povo CRT anyway) the quality is visibly poorer with the whole screen looking very obviously interlaced.
But the Wikipedia page lists the modes as: 480p (PAL/NTSC), 480i (NTSC) or 576i (PAL/SECAM). For a while I thought PAL-60 was NTSC but its not, its just PAL with higher refresh rate.
So now I want to know when Super Smash Bros. Melee asks you to select 60Hz or 50Hz, can anyone actually quantify the reduced graphics lag in 60Hz mode, or is it just one giant placebo? I also suspect that when played on the Wii, it will ignore the choice at this screen, preferring the setting chosen in the Wii menu, but I can’t confirm this.
