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Wii U Overscan. Can I fix it?

bryehn

Member
I have an older TV, running at 720p through component and the overscan with Wii U, particularly in the OS (but games too) is pretty brutal.

I saw that you can fix it within the eShop, but is this not an option at a system level? None of the games I've played (Nano Assault, Little Inferno, Mario) have the option either. How did this get overlooked? Am I just missing something?

First prick to say "buy a new TV" gets, well nothing, but you're a prick :p
 

madmackem

Member
Overscan is your tv, there should be a setting in your picture setting on your tv called full pixel, just scan, or the like that will show pixel for pixel 720p.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
What type of display are you using? If it's a CRT or some sort of rear projection unit (DLP, CRT, LCD, LCOS, etc) there may not BE any options to adjust for overscan. In that case, there's likely nothing that can be done.

Even still, most older sets really lack any such options period.
 

Het_Nkik

Member
I have an old HD CRT so overscan is inherent, but it is super brutal in the Wii U's case. Seems a lot worse than with my 360 or PS3. Gonna try switching to 1080i when I get off work to see if that helps.
 

bryehn

Member
Overscan is your tv, there should be a setting in your picture setting on your tv called full pixel, just scan, or the like that will show pixel for pixel 720p.

No man, my TV is 6 years old, LCD and made by Envision, no such setting unfortunately.

Try renaming your HDMI Input to "PC". It works for me most of the time on LG and Samsung TVs.

It's running on component.

Some people said changing the resolution to 1080p solved their issues. You should try it.

My TV is 720p lol
 

MarkusRJR

Member
I have an older TV, running at 720p through component and the overscan with Wii U, particularly in the OS (but games too) is pretty brutal.

I saw that you can fix it within the eShop, but is this not an option at a system level? None of the games I've played (Nano Assault, Little Inferno, Mario) have the option either. How did this get overlooked? Am I just missing something?

First prick to say "buy a new TV" gets, well nothing, but you're a prick :p
Yeah I have this exact problem on my 48" RP HD CRT. The over scan problems are ridiculous on the Wii U compared to every other console I've tried on my TV (360, PS3, Wii, etc). I just ended up just putting it on my smaller (but newer) LCD TV, but it's kind of sucks not having a big comfy couch to play on (as the TV is in my small bedroom).
 

Mardak

Member
I saw that you can fix it within the eShop, but is this not an option at a system level?
Yeah, I noticed that on my TV (LG 42LE5400) especially in when the circle progress shows in the corners of various apps/games.

Edit: Under my LG's Menu -> Picture -> Aspect Ratio. If I set it to "Just Scan" instead of "16:9" or "Set By Program," it shows the whole screen as expected. You can use the HOME menu as a reference (see if your Mii's colored background is all the way to the edge or if there's a gray background gap that you also see on the Gamepad.)
 
I'm having the same issue. The funny thing is that in the MiiVerse and eShop windows if you go to your user settings you can actually access a feature where you can adjust the screen to fit your TV. I don't know why they just didn't do this for the whole system. My TV is an older 720p Sony Bravia 32" XBR. It doesn't have any overscan options. The only thing I can do is zoom it in even further. That doesn't help at all!
 
Yeah it seems Nintendo has decided that "safe area" is now officially a thing of the past and went all out with using display space to the very last pixel.

So if you're missing stuff on the screen, hate to say it but, get a newer TV! :p
 
Had a similar problem with our first LCD TV and ps3.

It really bugged the hell out of me. Most games are good about keeping overscan in mind but eventually you would get some that didn't and it was annoying having the hud cut off on screen.

Only solution was hoping for games with good overscan options and eventually I got a better TV that had options to change the overscan.


I know this isn't helpful but that my story.
 

Drago

Member
I'm having the same issue. The funny thing is that in the MiiVerse and eShop windows if you go to your user settings you can actually access a feature where you can adjust the screen to fit your TV. I don't know why they just didn't do this for the whole system. My TV is an older 720p Sony Bravia 32" XBR. It doesn't have any overscan options. The only thing I can do is zoom it in even further. That doesn't help at all!
Pretty much my exact sentiments.

It blows my mind that the option is there for a few apps but not the whole damn system.
 

bryehn

Member
I'll ask again. Which tv model is it?

It's an old Envision LCD, there are no options on it that will fix this unfortunately. All I can do is change the aspect ratio/zoom and mess with noise reduction and colour settings.

Hope this is on their checklist lol
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
It's an old Envision LCD, there are no options on it that will fix this unfortunately. All I can do is change the aspect ratio/zoom and mess with noise reduction and colour settings.

Hope this is on their checklist lol

Model number man?
 

Zoe

Member
No man, my TV is 6 years old, LCD and made by Envision, no such setting unfortunately.

There's probably a hidden technician screen where you can change the settings. I had to do that on my behemoth of a 1080i 32" CRT a few years ago. You have to be careful or you'll distort the image though.
 

DonMigs85

Member
I searched the model number and this thread is the only result. Lol
Can you post pics of your TV's screen size options? There's gotta be an overscan or scaling setting somewhere. You have the manual too?
 

Ranger X

Member
If your TV doesn't have an option to prevent it's not us being pricks, it's you that is fucked. Non console of electronic device that I know of is having such options for handling TVs overscan, it's always on the TV side my friend.
 

Osiris

I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
Google says that model doesn't exist.

That's quite common with some early HDTV's, according to google my old 38" 720p set doesn't exist either, not a single hit for the model number, anywhere.
 
Hahaha, my receiver is equally old and I'm out of HDMI slots.

I guess it's time to upgrade. Luckily, Black Friday is around the corner. Get a new HDTV instead.

Oh also, no audio over HDMI, optical or SPDIF only.

Well then. You're a test subject to see if WiiU will broadcast Audio through multiple sources i.e. HDMI for Video, and RCA for Audio.

Personal opinion, I would've invested in a better HDTV than getting a Wii U, considering you already own multiple gaming devices.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
The manual says it's got a hdmi input. Why aren't you using that?
 

bryehn

Member
I guess it's time to upgrade. Luckily, Black Friday is around the corner. Get a new HDTV instead.



Well then. You're a test subject to see if WiiU will broadcast Audio through multiple sources i.e. HDMI for Video, and RCA for Audio.

Personal opinion, I would've invested in a better HDTV than getting a Wii U, considering you already own multiple gaming devices.

Yeah good time of year to need a new TV I guess and no, you can't use HDMI for video and RCA for audio.
 

bryehn

Member
The manual says it's got a hdmi input. Why aren't you using that?

One on my receiver is taken up by my cable box, the other by my PS3. I could try a splitter, but then I'm stuck with the audio issue.

Yeah, my gear's old, but it looks and sounds fine (to me at least). I'm really hoping they decide to correct this at a system level. I'm sure as hell not the only one in this position
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
One on my receiver is taken up by my cable box, the other by my PS3. I could try a splitter, but then I'm stuck with the audio issue.

Yeah, my gear's old, but it looks and sounds fine (to me at least). I'm really hoping they decide to correct this at a system level. I'm sure as hell not the only one in this position

You could try hooking it up directly to the tv using HDMI to see if that works. If it does. You can get a hdmi splitter that will split out the audio via spdif or coax for your amp.
 

DSix

Banned
Yeah it seems Nintendo has decided that "safe area" is now officially a thing of the past and went all out with using display space to the very last pixel.

So if you're missing stuff on the screen, hate to say it but, get a newer TV! :p

Thank god Nintendo did it. TV manufacturers shall have no choice but to stop that nonsense.
 

bryehn

Member
You could try hooking it up directly to the tv using HDMI to see if that works. If it does. You can get a hdmi splitter that will split out the audio via spdif or coax for your amp.

That is doable I guess, but frankly probably not worth the inconvenience of having to unhook something else. Most of my Wii U time will be spent gamepad-only anyways, but it's still an annoyance.
 
Considering the number of 768 line displays that were sold as HD for years, these overscan issues could lead to tons of head-scratching on the average end user side.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
That is doable I guess, but frankly probably not worth the inconvenience of having to unhook something else. Most of my Wii U time will be spent gamepad-only anyways, but it's still an annoyance.

Okay. Still worth a try to see if it would solve the problem.
 

MarkusRJR

Member
If your TV doesn't have an option to prevent it's not us being pricks, it's you that is fucked. Non console of electronic device that I know of is having such options for handling TVs overscan, it's always on the TV side my friend.
Consoles usually have UI elements within a "safe area" so important parts won't get cut off. It seems Nintendo decided to not do this, and thus the fault would be on their end by not designing their UI around that like how everyone else does. They can't expect people to upgrade their TVs just for their console.
 
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