Hey all,

Been sort of busy this weekend - watching the AFL finals, having some mates over ... and playing with my new TV.

I went into JB HiFi with the intention of buying a replacement car stereo - and walked out with a new TV instead (my wife isn't here, so I'll probably cop it in 2 days when she returns...).

Picked up a 50'' HD Plasma set. Its a Chinese brand ("Soniq"), and goes up to 1350x768 (or so). It also does 1080i, has a HDMI port, integrated HD-tuner, PIP and a bunch of other features.

And the kicker - it cost under $2000AU (approx $1500US) - apparently the first commercial 50'' Plasma set to hit for us this price point. 

Now...

GOOD: the picture quality is fantastic. Compared it to other sets in the store, and its really crisp and looks amazing. I never intended to pick up a 50'' set, but at this price - I couldn't resist. The interface is slick, has a really good response time, great colours - and all the general benefits associated with Plasma sets.

BAD: my set has a slight "defect" - and entire row of pixels near the top of the screen, is missing one of the colours (I think that is what it is). Heading back to the store now, and expect they will have to drop off another set and pick this one up. Boo for them...

...

The VC issue:

I never realised most *PAL* VC titles (NES, SNES, Megadrive) have an issue working over component. I am not exactly sure what the problem is - there is some news of it on the web, but its not as widespread as I would have thought.

The odd thing is they work fine on component on my old HD set. I suspect the video signal being generated by these games is slightly different from either PAL or NTSC - maybe less scan lines or something.

For whatever reason, they don't work on my new set :(.

I did some research into the issues, and discovered some bizarre things: 

a) All (most?) of the recent VC titles work. The titles are marked with "Supports component" in the Ninty press release. I know Metroid works natively for me.

b) I can play all the titles by using composite. Its a little annoying though, as it requires switching the output cable for the Wii.

c) Some VC titles (Super Mario Bros) have this bizarre feature - some optional thing they have "hacked" into the emulator I suspect:

    i) Enter the game guide

    ii) Attach the Nunchuck controller

    iii) Press A + Z + 2 at the same time. You will hear a "beep"

    iv) The game now works

Its really frustrating. I am even tempted to upgrade to another set - only if I know for certain that the VC issue will not occur again. 

I really consider it unacceptable, and its just another reason why us poor PAL users should get the NTSC version of VC titles. At the least, Nintendo is obligued (IMO) to fix these issues. I know they can do it - maybe with a simple emulator update, then rebuilding each VC ROM.

Has anyone here come across this issue at all?

Yeah that sucks...I don't have an HDTV and I live in the US though...so no problems here. I've seen VC games over component on a few Wiis before, on various HDTVS, no problems though.

Too bad about your luck shams, but once you get your system all hooked up, if its not too much trouble can you take some pics of your TV running MP3 in 480P. i want to see how much better it looks in HD compared to the crappy shots of it on the net. I'm sure lots of wii fans would love to see it too.

Happy too - but you'll have to wait until its released here :P

PS - from what I gather its only PAL users who can suffer this component VC issue. 

(and an update - visited JB this morning, and they will come over and swap the set over in a couple of days).

oddly, my vc titles only work on 480p when using component cables. (i'm in the US) I tried to switch it to 4:3 and the screen goes black in the VC titles.