Nintendo Wii on a Computer Monitor

Maybe your computer screen is larger than your TV. Maybe your TV is broken. Maybe your like me and don’t even have a TV. Gor whatever reason, you want to play your Wii on your computer screen. No problem — here are the options.

Firstly, we have to know whether you are using a stand alone monitor, or whether you’ve got a computer to go with it. You might not have thought of this, but it is actually going to be easier to run the video through your computer onto the screen. If all you’ve got is the screen and no computer, this is going to become a little more expensive. First I’ll explain how to route it through your computer, which is also useful for taking Wii videos.

First, you’ll want to check if your computer can do this automatically. If you have an s-video in slot on the make of the computer, you are good to go. Note that not all s-video slots are s-video in. Next to the s-video slot there should be a box with an “s” in it and an arrow pointing into the box. Sometimes the arrow isn’t there, but you know you’ve got the wrong thing if the arrow is pointing out of the box. You probably aren’t going to have s-video in capabilities unless you have a pretty high-end graphics card, and even then it is only 50/50. If you are one of the lucky ones, you should have software hiding somewhere to display the input. Plug ‘er in and play.

If you aren’t lucky, there are still many options open for you. If you were thinking of upgrading your video card anyway, this might be a perfect excuse. What you want is a card with s-video VIVO (video-in video-out) capability. A high end video card like this will run you $150-$300. Or, you can get a card designed for TV inputs like the ATI All-in-Wonder, which’ll run you about $100.

OK, so you don’t have that much money, or you can’t upgrade because you’re on a laptop. One fail safe solution is to use USB as your input, every computer has that. Right here is the cheapest s-video to USB converter I’ve found at $40. It comes with software to display the video. Unfortunately, this type of converter is rare, and you aren’t going to find it at your local Radioshack. In fact, the only place I could find it is at the website I just gave. So there you go, Wii on a monitor for forty bucks.

So what if you just have the monitor, no computer. In that case, you’re going to need some type of stand-alone self powered s-video or RCA to VGA adapter. Here is the cheapest I’ve found at $70. You can sometimes find this at a Radioshack, but they usually jack the prick to about $100.

If anyone else out there has come up with any solutions, feel free to comment, and good luck converting.