Wii U and TVs that Overscan

[Jamisonia]

This is an issue I've seen debated on other forums and I want to bring up here with a 2x4 of knowledge.

The Wii U does not respect "safe zones" It expects your TV will show 100% of the imagine being delivered to it, and does not overscan.


Primer on overscan
For those that do not know overscanning was invented because of early (we're talking 50s/60s) TV's capacity to shrink the image as they aged. They decided to create overscan so that the TV would slowly start showing more and more of the image before showing black borders. In response, the broadcasters created what was known as the safe image zone and safe title zone. The same image zone is to be a safe area to place any images, and could be seen by any TV cutting off up to 5% of the image. The safe title zone was said to be a place safe to put all essential worded information, and could be seen by any TV cutting off up to 10% of the image.



The above image shows and overscan test pattern from the Digital Video Essentials line of calibration DVDs and Blu-Rays. Its purpose is to test how much overscan a TV performs, and to all one to make adjustments to the desired proportions.

When movies were began to be released on VHS and Laserdisc, they also respected these safe zones, as all TVs were overscanning. By the 1980s TVs technology was far enough along that TVs no longer shrank the image overtime. Yet they continued to overscan because broadcasters would treat the outer 5% of the image as parts nobody would see. They would often leave "junk" there in the form of lines, numbers, production notes etc. So if one set their TV not to overscan they would be treated to a 5% border of distracting junk.

HDTV tried to turn this all around. Blu-Rays are now specifically designed to be watched with no overscan. Many HDTVs allow you to switch between 5% overscan and no overscan. Usually this is found in advanced picture settings, or HDMI picture settings or something to similar effect. However broadcasters stubbornly refuse to treat the entire image as 100% viewable by audiences. I keep overscan set to off on my TV, and I will often see lines of junk on the top of my local NBC affiliate's pictures. They should know better. Damn NBC Washington.

SD CRTs will likely not have overscan adjustments in the user accessible menus. They can only be adjusted in the service menu. I have heard that 720p TVs often do not allow one to adjust overscan in the user accessible menus. I can't confirm this as all the HDTVs I have owned 720p, or 1080p allowed for this adjustment in the user menu.

Overscan and the Wii U

The Wii U does not respect the established safe zones. They place text all the way up to the edge of the image. This has little effect when playing games, but makes the e-shop and Miiverse nearly unviewable if overscanning 5%. Before you buy a Wii U you may want to make sure that you can turn overscanning off on your TV. Most HDTVs allow you to do this from within the user accessible menus. Some do not. All TVs should allow for some overscan adjustment within the secret service menu.

Note when using service menu adjustments

Before you make any service menu adjustments, write down all values you see. There is no return to default options, and messing with some options too drastically can cause you picture of become unviewable. Values are adjusted at the factory and are custom to that particular set. This is especially true of CRT TVs.

If you are making any overscan adjustments, in the service menu, you must absolutely get a calibration disc first. Without a calibration disc you will be unable to know at what percentage you are now overscanning. Its extremely important you buy the calibration disc suited to your TV type. If you're calibrating a SD CRT, make sure your calibration disc has a 480 line pattern. Same thing with 720p and 1080p. Digital Video Essentials BD has patterns for every resolution. The DVD has patterns for SD resolutions only.

Should Nintendo Update the Firmware to Respect Safe Zones?

This is a matter of opinion. The opinion I see across the internet is yes they should, because not everybody can turn off overscanning in the user accessible menus. I personally disagree with this philosophy. I'm glad a company finally came out and said overscanning should not be happening, we are not respecting this archaic, unnecessary practice. TVs have not needed this since the 80s. Broadcasters stubbornly refuse to respect 100% of the image is now viewable by the public.

Being able to see, and utilizing 100% of available picture area improves the experience. Digital TVs (LCD, Plasma) achieve overscan by zooming into the picture until they cut off 5%, and blowing up the rest back to 1080. That means a drop in picture quality. A drop in picture quality because NBC Washington refuses to clean up some lines in the top of their picture. Yeah way to go Nintendo, put overscan in the grave where it belongs!

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Miiverse and the Internet Browser can be set to account for overscan.

[Zing]

I agree that it is about time we do away with the concept of safe zones. There is no technical reason for overscan on digital displays. It's absurd.

[bryan_65]

I agree that it is about time we do away with the concept of safe zones. There is no technical reason for overscan on digital displays. It's absurd.

How would that effect my old ass TVs since I never want an HD set?

[isiolia]

I agree that it is about time we do away with the concept of safe zones. There is no technical reason for overscan on digital displays. It's absurd.

How would that effect my old ass TVs since I never want an HD set?

Ideally, you'd get a choice of black bars or picture content cut off. It'd be a compromise either way, but so is displaying 1080p content on a 480 screen in the first place.

Realistically, it'd probabe be messier.

[bryan_65]

I agree that it is about time we do away with the concept of safe zones. There is no technical reason for overscan on digital displays. It's absurd.

How would that effect my old ass TVs since I never want an HD set?

Ideally, you'd get a choice of black bars or picture content cut off. It'd be a compromise either way, but so is displaying 1080p content on a 480 screen in the first place.

Realistically, it'd probabe be messier.

And that is why I hate new technology. That form was full of people bitching about the fact that people like me don't have a HD set. Damn I miss the standard that was SD. TV set ups and devices should not be this confusing and picky about sources and ways of viewing. I know HD 16:9 will become the standard but I still hate it. I also know the day will come when no HD 16:9 set will be switchable to 4:3. I guess when that happens I will start to sell all my retro stuff while it is still playable and worth a little. When no one can play the old stuff on their new TV it will worthless. Defiantly never getting any new system now.

I guess it is time to stock up on CRTs and parts and learn to become a repair man.

[isiolia]

It's completely unrealistic to expect that technology will continue to account for older devices indefinitely. Relative to the computer side of things, consumer TV/video has seen far fewer major shifts, but it still should be allowed to move on.

That being said, I think it's far less doom and gloom as all that. While it might stop making sense for manufacturers to stop integrating support for particular inputs or output formats, if there's a niche for it, third parties will step in. While not quite as common now, there are still plenty of scan converters on the market (expensive as most of them may be) if you really need to scale an HD signal down to a CRT.
When mainstream TVs drop support for more input modes, that'll probably mean more readily available video scalers.

So I see it less as that there will come a day that I can't use any of my old stuff, and more that there may be a point where I need an extra box in between the consoles and the TV.

[Jamisonia]

How would that effect my old ass TVs since I never want an HD set?

I mentioned in my original post how you can minimize the overscan on CRT sets. Its just necessary to get into the service menu with those to do it.

In response to your other concerns, I'm not sure what you're worried about exactly. I don't believe there will ever be HDTVs with no support for 4:3, 16:9, Zoom, and Horizontal Fill modes. Additionally the Wii U can use the MultiAV out port that the Wii used, which supports composite, s-video, and component. So you can still use your Wii U on a SD CRT.

SD TV set viewing was full of things that were just as picky. Most people just didn't bother with it, like most people don't bother now. Most people just stretch everything to fill their 16:9 sets, without regard for aspect ratio. Back in the SD days people who watch pan and scan without concern, because they hated the "black bars" of letterbox, and did use superior video connections like s-video and component. The complicated shit is and remains the realm of those who like to go the extra step to get the very best experience possible.

[CRTGAMER]

Only makes sense to use 100% of the image. Most that buy the Wii U will be plugging the console into a HDTV. I wouldn't mind the correct signal and I use a HD CRT. As for the non overscan signal that eventually will be the norm, I will not do the risky Service Menu tweak it unless the border gets bad.

On the PS2, the last couple of Tomb Raiders offer a 480p mode that actually leaves a small black bar all the way around the screen. I always thought this was just the programming, but really? An underscanned image?

What gets me is why do some HD broadcast stations send a widescreen signal that leaves large borders on the sides or even all the way around such as the Tomb Raider game I mentioned earlier. Even worse, is that broadcast HD signals that still have the black bars on top and bottom even on a wide screen TV. I'm not talking about movies but regular live broadcast such as sports. Yeah, they can be zoomed or stretched but a loss of the resolution compared to a correct signal up front.

[Zing]

I agree that it is about time we do away with the concept of safe zones. There is no technical reason for overscan on digital displays. It's absurd.

How would that effect my old ass TVs since I never want an HD set?

I said digital displays. Also, I'm not sure anyone without an HDTV is buying a Wii U.