Problems with reading the dialogue!!! (can't see the letters properly)

I just started playing Skyward Sword some hours ago and I am still in Skyloft. Everytime there is a dialogue, I am having problems with reading it (without having to lean closer to the TV). I had no problem with reading the dialogues from any other Zelda game. I play the game on a normal TV, not a HD TV. I don't watch much TV and I don't care much about size and looks when it comes to a TV screen. Isn't it possible to play Skyward Sword on a traditional TV? I've looked for "game options", but I haven't found them. Are there no game options? Is it possible to adjust the game to the screen size? dialogue/text size? I don't like to be forced to sit too close to the TV.

Is there no way you can adjust the contrast on the TV itself to solve the problem?

Originally Posted by Zesty Crouton

Is there no way you can adjust the contrast on the TV itself to solve the problem?

I will try.
But is there no way to remove the "black border"? I hate black borders.

I have tried adjusting the contrast, and nothing happens. I still get a half-headache when trying to read the dialogue boxes. The letters are too small. Apart from that, Skyward Sword has been a lovely experience until now.
Please help me!

See if you can mess with the Wii settings. It may be set to an HD tv instead of a standard one and you can mess with the contrast and sharpness if I remember right.

SS is 16:9 only. If you set the system to 4:3, it'll use black borders.

And does your TV take component in? I find using component video makes it much easier to read text

I have trouble reading the red text but I think that's because our TV is terrible quality.

It's unfortunately not a fixable issue unless adjusting your TV helps.

I don't have a HD TV myself, or at least not one that I'm planning to play my copy of SS on. So I may as well ask, how small exactly are the text? If I may also ask, how big/wide is your "traditional" TV? "Traditional" is a bit confusing as it can mean the small TVs from a decade ago, or can mean the non-HD wide screen TVs.

If it's anything like the small text from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (god awful game), then I'll be annoyed, but at least I know that Skyward Sword won't flash by the text on its own.

Originally Posted by The Goron Moron

I don't have a HD TV myself, or at least not one that I'm planning to play my copy of SS on. So I may as well ask, how small exactly are the text? If I may also ask, how big/wide is your "traditional" TV? "Traditional" is a bit confusing as it can mean the small TVs from a decade ago, or can mean the non-HD wide screen TVs.

If it's anything like the small text from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (god awful game), then I'll be annoyed, but at least I know that Skyward Sword won't flash by the text on its own.

Traditional = 4:3 aspect ratio and a maximum of 480 lines displayed in an interlaced manner (or 525 lines for PAL TVs)

The text was not small at all IMO, but I haven't tried playing in 4:3 mode. Since the Wii doesn't output HD at all, playing on an HDTV vs SDTV should have no impact all else being equal (in fact, an SDTV should look better).

^As far as I know plasma TVs run on 480p so that would be fine too. As for HDTVs a lot of people can get a kinda crappy image with the Wii, though some claim not to for some reason. I guess they just have more compatible TVs or their screen sizes happen to be closer to what the Wii works with best.

Also with 480p you preferably go with a component cable instead of the regular scart cables (red yellow and white ends) though it's not a necessity.

Cheapest solution would probably be to get a small HDTV or plasma TV. Plasmas may be cheaper, not sure

Originally Posted by WillZ4E

^As far as I know plasma TVs run on 480p so that would be fine too. As for HDTVs a lot of people can get a kinda crappy image with the Wii, though some claim not to for some reason. I guess they just have more compatible TVs or their screen sizes happen to be closer to what the Wii works with best.

Also with 480p you preferably go with a component cable instead of the regular scart cables (red yellow and white ends) though it's not a necessity.

Cheapest solution would probably be to get a small HDTV or plasma TV. Plasmas may be cheaper, not sure

Depends on what you mean by running at 480p. Any HDTV will accept a 480p signal, but the native resolution will usually be quite a bit higher. The only exception are the so-called EDTVs. Since the native resolution doesn't match, the graphics will look "off" compared to an SD/EDTV

HD CRTs also do okay with SD feeds, since CRTs don't have fixed pixels. This allows the monitor to adjust the pixel pitch so that only the exact number of pixels needed are drawn

Anyway I decided to take some pics of text with a random NPC. The last pic is from OoT for reference

Skyward Sword 16:9


Skyward Sword "4:3" (it's being displayed on the same TV, but I put it in 4:3 mode)


OoT (OoT only supports 4:3)


I tried to keep the TV roughly the same size in each shot. The text is definitely smaller in 4:3, since Nintendo is effectively reducing the resolution by forcing the game to be letterboxed. Compared to OoT, not only is the text smaller, but the its using a less contrasty font. In my case it's still pretty readable, but I do have a fairly high end plasma and I'm using component cables. I wouldn't be surprised if the text ends up bleeding into the background when being viewed on an older TV using composite video (or worse yet, RF).