Display Issues
The purpose of this page is to inform about typical display issues common to wii homebrew. Unwitting developers and users seeking information/help concerning their display problems should be directed here in order to avoid wasting time with lengthy explanations.
The Problem
Not all television sets are created equal. This means that the display area will often mismatch the actual picture. If a developer does not properly compensate for certain factors, the results are usually not good. There will be ugly black borders on some user's picture output and in some cases certain elements will even be placed outside the physical display range, such as buttons and status elements (health, lives, ammo, score, etc). For the end-user, this can be frustrating and even confusing.
Preventative Measures for Developers
The first and easiest thing to do is make sure not to place anything like buttons or status displays too close to the edges of the screen, because this creates the likelihood of having them partially or completely cut off. The BBC recommends keeping a margin of 5 percent on each side. There's also a way to specify a bigger or smaller output such as in the following example:
...
rmode = VIDEO_GetPreferredMode(NULL);
if( CONF_GetAspectRatio() )
{
rmode->viWidth = 678;
rmode->viXOrigin = (VI_MAX_WIDTH_PAL - 678)/2;
}
...
But of course this will not yield the same results for everyone. Some users will be pleased with certain settings and others will not. The best thing to do is to allow the user more than one option so that they can pick whatever best suits their television.
Useful Links
- http://www.gamasutra.com/gdc2004/features/20040326/caminos_01.shtml
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overscan
List of Applications and Display Support
This are tables based on user feedback indicating whether or not a the latest version of a given application is likely to show correctly on different types of displays. If an 
appears it means support is absent or incomplete, meaning some users may experience problems with the particular display type while others will not. If a 
appears, then it means that app works well with that display type (no screen elements out of physical display range and no black bars). Console mode applications are not included.
Emulators:
| Application | NTSC SD TV | PAL SD TV 50Hz | PAL SD TV 60Hz | NTSC 16:9 TV | PAL 16:9 TV 50Hz | PAL 16:9 TV 60Hz | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AtaWii |
|
||||||
| Chippy |
|
||||||
| FCE Ultra GX |
|
May require configuration. | |||||
| Genesis Plus |
|
May require configuration. | |||||
| Gnuboy GX |
|
May require configuration. | |||||
| Hugo-Wii |
|
||||||
| Neopop Wii |
|
Attempts proper support but fails for some users. | |||||
| RIN Wii |
|
||||||
| SDL MAME |
|
Depends on Wii Linux. | |||||
| SMSPlus |
|
May require configuration. | |||||
| Snes9x GX |
|
May require configuration. | |||||
| Trojan Wii |
|
||||||
| uMSX |
|
May require configuration. Attempts proper support but fails for some users. | |||||
| UAE4Wii |
|
||||||
| Visual Boy Advance GX |
|
May require configuration. | |||||
| Wii64 |
|
||||||
| WiiEngine |
|
||||||
| Yabause |
|
Media Players:
| Application | NTSC SD TV | PAL SD TV 50Hz | PAL SD TV 60Hz | NTSC 16:9 TV | PAL 16:9 TV 50Hz | PAL 16:9 TV 60Hz | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DragonMedia Player |
|
||||||
| GeeXboX |
|
|
Depends on Wii Linux | ||||
| MiniMP3 Player |
|
||||||
| MPlayer |
|
||||||
| MPlayerWii |
|
|
May require configuration | ||||
| Wii MFE Port |
|
Depends on Wii Linux | |||||
| WiiMPC |
|
Loaders:
| Application | NTSC SD TV | PAL SD TV 50Hz | PAL SD TV 60Hz | NTSC 16:9 TV | PAL 16:9 TV 50Hz | PAL 16:9 TV 60Hz | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-in-1 Emuloader |
|
||||||
| Homebrew Channel |
|
|
|||||
| Wii Homebrew Launcher |
|
Games
| Application | NTSC SD TV | PAL SD TV 50Hz | PAL SD TV 60Hz | NTSC 16:9 TV | PAL 16:9 TV 50Hz | PAL 16:9 TV 60Hz | Notes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Another Rock Paper Scissors |
|
||||||||||||||
| Asteroids |
|
||||||||||||||
| Ballion |
|
||||||||||||||
| Barrage |
|
||||||||||||||
| BibleQuiz |
|
||||||||||||||
| Bichejos |
|
||||||||||||||
| BuscaWiinas |
|
||||||||||||||
| CharioMan |
|
||||||||||||||
| Chess |
|
||||||||||||||
| Chess Wiimote |
|
||||||||||||||
| Commander K. Wii |
|
||||||||||||||
| CosmoRaketti |
|
||||||||||||||
| DopeWars Wii |
|
||||||||||||||
| Duck Hunt |
|
||||||||||||||
| Dungeons |
|
||||||||||||||
| Freecell | |||||||||||||||
| Fuse | |||||||||||||||
| Gravity | |||||||||||||||
| Guitarfun | |||||||||||||||
| Jewel Quest | |||||||||||||||
| Jump 'n Bump | |||||||||||||||
| Kobo Deluxe |
|
Depends on Wii Linux | |||||||||||||
| MadQuiz | |||||||||||||||
| MahJongg Wii | |||||||||||||||
| Masteroids | |||||||||||||||
| Matching Cards | |||||||||||||||
| Minesweeper | |||||||||||||||
| Missile Command | |||||||||||||||
| OpenTyrianWii | |||||||||||||||
| Particle accelerator | |||||||||||||||
| PONG | |||||||||||||||
| Pong2 | |||||||||||||||
| Pop Me! | |||||||||||||||
| Portii |
|
||||||||||||||
| Quake |
|
May require configuration. | |||||||||||||
| REminiscence | |||||||||||||||
| Rick Dangerous Wii |
|
||||||||||||||
| Rock Paper Scissors | |||||||||||||||
| Rokoban |
|
||||||||||||||
| Scogger |
|
||||||||||||||
| ScummVM |
|
|
May require configuration. | ||||||||||||
| Simon | |||||||||||||||
| Smashing |
|
Attempts proper support but fails for some users. | |||||||||||||
| Snake | |||||||||||||||
| Space Shooter | |||||||||||||||
| Sudoku | |||||||||||||||
| Sudoku2 | |||||||||||||||
| Tetris Wii | |||||||||||||||
| TicTacToe | |||||||||||||||
| Touhou Fangame | |||||||||||||||
| UNO | |||||||||||||||
| uschtris |
|
||||||||||||||
| Wii-Tac-Toe | |||||||||||||||
| Wii Breakout | |||||||||||||||
| Wii Quizz | |||||||||||||||
| Wii Shooting Gallery | |||||||||||||||
| Wii Solitaire |
|
May require configuration. | |||||||||||||
| Wiibreaker | |||||||||||||||
| WiiDoom |
|
||||||||||||||
| Wiiero |
|
||||||||||||||
| WiiOperation | |||||||||||||||
| WiiPoker | |||||||||||||||
| Wiiship | |||||||||||||||
| WiiPoker | YOG |
Other:
| Application | NTSC SD TV | PAL SD TV 50Hz | PAL SD TV 60Hz | NTSC 16:9 TV | PAL 16:9 TV 50Hz | PAL 16:9 TV 60Hz | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homebrew Browser | |||||||
| Wii Linux |
|
||||||
| WiiPaint | |||||||
| WiiPhysics | |||||||
| WiiStrobe | |||||||
| WiiWhiteboard |