Review: VDIGI VD-W2 Wii VGA Cable

***bandit*** · October 27th, 2007, 21:19

VDIGI VD-W2 Wii VGA Cable
Manufacturer: VDIGI
Site: Buy from VDIGI
Price: $39.90

Overview : Connect your Wii units to a CRT or LCD monitor in the form of a VGA cable. The cable is compatible with Wii units in all regions and is capable of producing high quality VGA output.

Features :

Easy to setup and use
Compatible with Japan, U.S. and UK version console Wii, backward compatible with Gamecube 480p supported games
Provide high quality VGA output
Clear crystal image quality
No external power needed
Support wide range of CRT/LCD monitors

Quality/Usability : Not everyone owns a HDTV (yet) or have a spare TV to use while the family is using the TV to watch their favorite show. But everyone does have a computer monitor whether it be a CRT or LCD or probably spares. If not, prices are fairly cheap for those looking to use CRT/LCD monitors for gaming. The quality of the cable is very durable with the cable being 6.5ft (2M), with maximum output resolution 640x480 @ 60fps with output signals of RGBHV and RGBs. The cable has the AV out plug that plugs into the Wii, VGA plug that connects to monitor and RCA plugs (red and white for audio right and left and green component cable).

To set your Wii to 480p, there are two ways. If you have component cable hooked up to your Wii already, then you're set. If not, you'll need to connect the AV out plug to the back of the Wii. Once connected, insert your green component into the the TV. Although this is for component, you can plug into the video plug on standard TVs. Turn on the Wii and a blue power indicator will light up on the VD-W2 but the display will be in black and white. From here, change the settings on the Wii (Wii icon > Wii settings > Screen > TV Resolution > select EDTV or HDTV > Confirm). If you're using a standard TV, your screen will go blank as it can not support HDTV signal.

You can either leave the console on or off but you can turn it off to be safe. Disconnect the cables that is connected to the TV and plug the VGA connector to your monitor. Once connected and Wii turned back on, the Wii dashboard will be displayed. For audio, connect the RCA plugs (audio L/R) to your audio equipment. If you dont, you can connect the the included 3.5mm headphone jack converter and connect to any PC speakers for audio.

On the back of the VGA connector are small dip switches. I didnt have to touch it, but I assume if you are having problems with your display you would toggle with the switches.

MODE/DIP / RGBS (Comp) / RGBHV (Default) / RGBHV (1) / RGBHV (2)
1______________ON__________OFF__________OFF______O FF
2______________OFF__________ON__________ON_______O N
3______________OFF__________OFF_________ON_______O FF
4______________OFF__________OFF_________OFF______O N

All the games I tried whether it be Wii or GameCube games, worked perfectly and looked great with bright vivid colors. I did notice that Zelda: Twilight Princess did show scanlines but I assume it was the game as some other Nintendo developed games such as Mario Party 8 did the same thing but some other games developed by other companies didnt.

Conclusion : Overall, the VDigi VD-W2 Wii VGA Cable worked as it should. The colors were bright and vivid and pictures being clear and crisp. The ability to change the settings on the Wii without the use of a HDTV comes in very handy. The manual was photocopied and black and white but so as long it showed us how to connect and set things up, who cares? The scanlines seems to be normal as it is game related to only Nintendo developed games.

Images via comments

**eatnooM** · January 2nd, 2008, 20:12

Hm, I'm thinking of grabbing one of these to evade bringing a TV to uni with me, making not paying for a TV license less awkward, and I was just wondering, are the scanlines annoying or bearable? Sorry if I'm asking for information on a product you've long since forgotten, but I trust your opinion and, well, I've been looking for a viable Wii>VGA solution for a while now.

***bandit*** · January 2nd, 2008, 21:19

Originally Posted by eatnooM

Hm, I'm thinking of grabbing one of these to evade bringing a TV to uni with me, making not paying for a TV license less awkward, and I was just wondering, are the scanlines annoying or bearable? Sorry if I'm asking for information on a product you've long since forgotten, but I trust your opinion and, well, I've been looking for a viable Wii>VGA solution for a while now.

Its hard to give an answer in regards to the scanlines because different people will have different opinions and preference. Like to me, its not annoying but to others it can be really annoying. Another option for VGA would be

http://reviews.dcemu.co.uk/review-xc...box-74868.html

It works with your PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and any other system by just connecting the VGA box to your PC and connecting the AV cables to the VGA box.

Theres also the XCM USB VGA Box - http://reviews.dcemu.co.uk/review-te...box-66968.html

**eatnooM** · January 2nd, 2008, 23:17

Yeah, I get what ya mean about the scanlines, they'd probably bug me at first but I'd get used to them. On the other hand, why not get the XCM Universal box when it has better compatibility and no scanlines, eh? Are there any problems with the XCM box that aren't present in this cable too? The following sentence got me wondering:

"All images looked crisp and I didnt have a problem with any of the consoles. Just remember that the Wii can not upscale images as it is not capable of doing so."

For that to really be a problem to me, it'd have to not be stretched to the monitor properly, however I'll assume this isn't the case with what little knowledge I have about monitors and the only problem is, well, that it's stretched, as opposed to occupying a small part of your monitor! To reinforce this, I've seen a video of the PSP Slim pretty much fullscreen so I assume that there's pretty much no reason I should avoid the XCM box

Thanks for the fast and informative response, by the way, I was surprised given the age of this tut ^^

**Delicious** · March 18th, 2008, 05:10

Looks good, I hope it can work well. Many I have tried...

**pelloplasma** · September 10th, 2008, 22:12

Hello,

Great reviews but I still don't know what to buy for my Wii.

I've also read ur reviews for XCM Universal Ypbpr 1080p VGA Box and for the XCM USB VGA V-BOX.

I'm after the best video/audio quality possible.
I have a HP w2207h PC monitor that I would like to use.
Money is not an issue.
Is it possible to advice me which one would be better to buy?

Thank you

**pelloplasma** · October 9th, 2008, 16:48

Originally Posted by pelloplasma

Hello,

Great reviews but I still don't know what to buy for my Wii.

I've also read ur reviews for XCM Universal Ypbpr 1080p VGA Box and for the XCM USB VGA V-BOX.

I'm after the best video/audio quality possible.
I have a HP w2207h PC monitor that I would like to use.
Money is not an issue.
Is it possible to advice me which one would be better to buy?

Thank you

Update: I bought this cable and it works great!
But I have a problem when playing a downloaded game of N64. I lose the signal from my monitor.

Any help?

Thank you.

**gumbi** · November 29th, 2008, 08:40

You lose the signal when you play the N64 game because it's not a 480p signal. The Wii downgrades the image output to 480i and the monitor can no longer interpret the signal. That's why it only works with Wii games and Gamecube games in 480p.