Question about Wii & NTSC format

We brought our Wii here (Scotland) from the US. I thought that all we had to do it get a UK power cord, but after reading things here I think I may be wrong. What is NTSC format? How do I know if my TV is compatible with that? We have a UK TV here. I know I can only use American games, and since we are only here for a year, we are fine with that. Should I now even attempt to hook it up?

Cari

Your TV should be able to play NTSC formats.  Most here can, so my hub's vcr plays NTSC tapes and the tv shows the picture. 

The main problem is that you will need more than just a UK plug.  You will need a transformer, or at least that is what someone on here told me when I was considering buying a WII in the US.

Thanks for the answer bookgrl. Maybe I will try it. As far as needing a converter, I don't think I do. If I buy the whole A/C supply unit, I should be fine. Or at least I think I should be. Now, I am worried. I would hate to blow up the Wii. I thought as long as the power supply unit was the correct wattage/voltage I would be okay. If someone knows otherwise please tell me.

Thanks again,
Cari

If you plug your USA 110Volt Wii into a UK 220 Volt socket it will fry the Wii immediately.

DO NOT PLUG IT IN UNTIL YOU HAVE GOT A TRANSFORMER. YOU NEED TO CONVERT THE POWER TO 110VOLTS FOR YOUR USA Wii.

  Ok, now I am confused (which doesn't take much  ). I thought the "power" for the Wii came from the the A/C power adapter, not the actual Wii. For example, my laptop works here because the power adapter says 120v-240v not the actual laptop. Am I making sense? So I thought it would be the same for the Wii. As long as the power adapter says up to 240v then it should be okay. So if I get a UK power adapter with a UK plug I would be fine. I guess I am wrong?

Cari

Hi Movin2scotland

Ok, I'm not an 'expert' on gaming systems even though I have a few lying around the house! our 'Wii' has been lent out to someone for well over 8 months now so I forget it's characteristics!

Firstly, take a look at your Power Adaptor, If it says '110-240V' then you know you can source a little £2.99 adaptor off ebay to accep the USA plug on one side and plug in the 3 pins to the UK outlet.

If it does NOT - and only shows 110v then do not plug it in, as previously stated you'll fry it. In this case, scour Ebay for a Wii power supply and/or ask one of the high street shops if they carry replacements etc.

that will then sort the 'power' requirements!

NTSC - this is a video broadcast system (generally speaking, I know it but not the intricacies) and is most widely used in the North American market (USA and Canada) - The UK uses a system called 'PAL' - they are NOT interoperative with each other. That said, SOME UK TV's (nowadays it may be many more) will playback (show) the output from a NTSC piece of hardware - You'll need to check to see if your particular TV has this capability. If so, you should then be able to hook up the wii. If not, then either you'll need to source a TV that has the capability or get some convoluted extra boxes which 'convert' the signal etc (i'm pretty sure things like this exist) - for that time and expense you might as well just get a UK wii !

There is another UK Yankee poster who knows gaming systems very well, I can't quite place who she is, but hopefully she'll see this thread and be able to answer more in depth and any inconsistencies in my posting.

I'd also suggest looking at www.avforums.com - as they have a very active community with all things home electronics wise!

Good luck!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I'm not familiar with all the game consoles either, but the compatibility issues of power suplpy and video standards are the same ones that crop up with any other piece of video equipment.

If the unit has an external power supply unit, you need to look at the specifications on that unit.  If it's 120V only, then you'll either need to plug that into a 240-to-120V step-down transformer, or replace it with an equivalent unit which will accept a 240V input.

Does anyone know what type of video outputs are provided on this console?   There are different degrees of compatibility with different interconnects.

With S-video or composite video connections the TV will need to have NTSC compatibility to work properly.  Many modern U.K. sets will display NTSC video, but not all.

If the game console has direct RGB component outputs there's a greater chance that your existing TV will be all right.  Most modern British sets will accept a 525-line American video signal on the RGB inputs, as this completely bypasses all the NTSC vs. PAL encoding issues.