Wii Will Have 480p

It has been confirmed that Wii Component Cables, which will enable the Wii to be played at 480p resolution on the TV, will be available at the launch of the Wii. However, these cables will only be available to purchase online. The Gamecube launch had a similar set-up, but those with a Gamecube Component Cable are out of luck as they are not compatible with the Wii.

480p is basically the shorthand term for a video mode. 480 is the number of vertical lines while the ’p’ stands for ’progressive scan’. Traditionally TV’s use a method called ’interlacing’ for displaying images which means first the odd horizontal lines are loaded and then the even lines. Progressive scan loads every horizontal line in order so makes for a much clearer image. See the diagrams at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlace to make this easier to understand.

Basically, the availability of the Wii Component Cables means that it will be possible for people with compatible plasma and LCD televisions to play the Wii at it’s maximum graphic capability.