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How the hell do I properly calibrate my Wii?

• Thread starter blurredvision
• Start date Aug 30, 2007

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blurredvision

Lifer

Oct 19, 2000 17,860 4 81 After picking up Metroid Prime 3 yesterday, the horrible calibration on my Wii is magnified tremendously. To explain my problem, if I look directly down the face of the remote while pointed at the TV, the resulting cursor on the screen is WAY above where it should be. I don't expect it to be perfect, but it should be close. My current setup is that the sensor bar is directly centered under my TV, about 7 inches below the bottom of the screen (the closest I can get it). The front of the sensor bar is plum with screen both horizontally and vertically. I sit approximately 7-8' away from the screen. Typically, with the games I've played like Wii Sports, ExciteTruck, or Super Paper Mario, it's not been that big of a deal. But with MP3, it's horrible trying to aim. While in the game with the advanced control setup, I literally end up pointing my remote to the base of the TV stand to get the cursor to the bottom of the screen in the game. To get my cursor to the top of the screen, my remote needs to be pointed towards the middle of the screen. It's completely off, and although I could probably live with it, it ruins the experience when I'm pointing the remote at the ground. At some point tonight, I will try placing the sensor at the top of the TV, which will allow it to be about 3 inches from the screen, but I've had it like that on another TV with no better results, although I've not played anything that has resulted as bad as MP3. I'm not sure how much distance of the sensor to the screen itself factors into the accuracy. I typically sit down while playing, but if standing up is the option to fix it, then I'll sell the entire damn thing and be done with it. Before someone asks, the sensor bar position is set correctly in the Wii Options, and the sensitivity is fine as well, going by the instructions they give you. Is there any way in hell to manually configure the Wii to know the boundries of the screen? I haven't seen anything like that, but I'm hoping that I just grossly overlooked it. Otherwise, I'll be pretty mad at the inaccuracy of this thing. Thanks for any tips or tricks.

mugs

Lifer

Apr 29, 2003 48,920 46 91 You can tell it whether your sensor bar is above or below the screen... have you done that already?

purbeast0

No Lifer

Sep 13, 2001 53,766 6,646 126 Metroid Prime 3 controls like crap IMO. All I wanted to do while playing it was use the damn gamecube controller And if you are playing with Advanced Controls, I suggest tuning it down. I too put it on advanced from the start because I saw people recommend that, and immediately went back to the normal control after going thorugh like 15 pause menus.

blurredvision

Lifer

Oct 19, 2000 17,860 4 81

Originally posted by: mugs You can tell it whether your sensor bar is above or below the screen... have you done that already? Click to expand...

Ya, that setting being wrong is pretty obvious . C

CKDragon

Diamond Member

Jan 22, 2001 3,875 0 0 I had the sensor bar at the bottom of my screen for the first week or so until I tried it on top of the TV (and the 5" center speaker, even) and I liked that much better. My initial problem also stemmed from the vertical axis not registering unless I aimed low. It was odd, it almost seemed as though the System Option that asks whether your sensor bar is on the top or bottom of the screen did absolutely nothing. I have a 56" DLP and I'd love to be able to change the Y-axis calibration but I don't think it's in the cards at the moment. I haven't played Metroid Prime, yet, but I haven't had trouble aiming in any of the other games since putting it on top of the TV. As far as I remember, there isn't much aiming in Wii Sports, Excite Truck, or Super Paper Mario so hopefully you'll get used to it. I've played through Rayman, Elebits, Zelda, and WarioWare, all of which make very heavy use of pointing/the sensor bar, so I'm very used to it by now. M

mlm

Senior member

Feb 19, 2006 933 0 0 I think everybody has had better results with the sensor bar on top. Also, make sure you don't have any other light sources surrounding the TV. C

CKDragon

Diamond Member

Jan 22, 2001 3,875 0 0

Originally posted by: mlm I think everybody has had better results with the sensor bar on top. Also, make sure you don't have any other light sources surrounding the TV. Click to expand...

Oh, and check to make sure there is nothing reflective around the area. My parents have a glass door on their entertainment center that really screwed up the light sensors in the Wiimotes until I physically adjusted the sensor bar placement. The Wiimote is a light-slut. It doesn't care what the light is or where the light is coming from, it will register and the results will be seen on-screen.

mugs

Lifer

Apr 29, 2003 48,920 46 91

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: mugs You can tell it whether your sensor bar is above or below the screen... have you done that already? Click to expand...

Ya, that setting being wrong is pretty obvious . Click to expand...

I thought so too, but what you're describing sounded like it might be wrong. The only other setting is sensitivity. Try adjusting that. It will never be dead on, but you should be able to get it close enough so that it doesn't interfere with gameplay (not sure how Metroid works, but I had no problem playing COD3 with the Wii remote). They could have made you go through a calibration each time you play to get the pointer to be dead on like they did with the Super Scope, but that would require you to always be sitting in the same spot (or calibrate it every time you move). I think the route they chose works pretty well. B

BD2003

Lifer

Oct 9, 1999 16,815 1 81

Originally posted by: blurredvision After picking up Metroid Prime 3 yesterday, the horrible calibration on my Wii is magnified tremendously. To explain my problem, if I look directly down the face of the remote while pointed at the TV, the resulting cursor on the screen is WAY above where it should be. I don't expect it to be perfect, but it should be close. My current setup is that the sensor bar is directly centered under my TV, about 7 inches below the bottom of the screen (the closest I can get it). The front of the sensor bar is plum with screen both horizontally and vertically. I sit approximately 7-8' away from the screen. Typically, with the games I've played like Wii Sports, ExciteTruck, or Super Paper Mario, it's not been that big of a deal. But with MP3, it's horrible trying to aim. While in the game with the advanced control setup, I literally end up pointing my remote to the base of the TV stand to get the cursor to the bottom of the screen in the game. To get my cursor to the top of the screen, my remote needs to be pointed towards the middle of the screen. It's completely off, and although I could probably live with it, it ruins the experience when I'm pointing the remote at the ground. At some point tonight, I will try placing the sensor at the top of the TV, which will allow it to be about 3 inches from the screen, but I've had it like that on another TV with no better results, although I've not played anything that has resulted as bad as MP3. I'm not sure how much distance of the sensor to the screen itself factors into the accuracy. I typically sit down while playing, but if standing up is the option to fix it, then I'll sell the entire damn thing and be done with it. Before someone asks, the sensor bar position is set correctly in the Wii Options, and the sensitivity is fine as well, going by the instructions they give you. Is there any way in hell to manually configure the Wii to know the boundries of the screen? I haven't seen anything like that, but I'm hoping that I just grossly overlooked it. Otherwise, I'll be pretty mad at the inaccuracy of this thing. Thanks for any tips or tricks. Click to expand...

How big is your TV? I'm guessing its huge. The way the sensor works, it has NO idea how big your TV screen is, it doesnt even begin to take that into account, and on a huge tv, it can become way off. My friend has a 65" DLP, with the sensor on the bottom, and you have the hold the controller so low its ridiculous, not to mention outrageously sensitive at that distance. The wii remote isnt a gun - it will never point exactly where youre aiming on ANY TV. It should work a little better on top of the TV (due to the reduced distance between sensor and screen), but on a huge TV, its not going to be dead on. Some games (zelda) let you tweak it though - metroid isnt one of them.

blurredvision

Lifer

Oct 19, 2000 17,860 4 81

Originally posted by: CKDragon

Originally posted by: mlm I think everybody has had better results with the sensor bar on top. Also, make sure you don't have any other light sources surrounding the TV. Click to expand...

Oh, and check to make sure there is nothing reflective around the area. My parents have a glass door on their entertainment center that really screwed up the light sensors in the Wiimotes until I physically adjusted the sensor bar placement. The Wiimote is a light-slut. It doesn't care what the light is or where the light is coming from, it will register and the results will be seen on-screen. Click to expand...

Hmmmm, I haven't played my Wii in a couple of weeks at my house, with my playing Metroid last night the first time it's been hooked up in a while. The change? I switched TV's, and am now using a glass TV stand. The sensor bar doesn't sit on glass, but sits on the LCD stand, which is on the glass. I played Zelda when I first got my Wii, and it never seemed even remotely as bad as Metroid is. Before, I had the sensor on top of my old TV, which was a floor-standing models with no relective sources around. Even then, it wasn't perfect (which I don't expect it to be), but it sufficed. Hell, Duck Hunt way back when did a pretty good job at knowing where you were pointing. I know it was completely different technology, but you'd think Nintendo would atleast give you a few more options to fine tune your pointer, like inputting TV size and the option to manually tune the axis' based on your viewing and seating arrangements.

mugs

Lifer

Apr 29, 2003 48,920 46 91

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: CKDragon

Originally posted by: mlm I think everybody has had better results with the sensor bar on top. Also, make sure you don't have any other light sources surrounding the TV. Click to expand...

Oh, and check to make sure there is nothing reflective around the area. My parents have a glass door on their entertainment center that really screwed up the light sensors in the Wiimotes until I physically adjusted the sensor bar placement. The Wiimote is a light-slut. It doesn't care what the light is or where the light is coming from, it will register and the results will be seen on-screen. Click to expand...

Hmmmm, I haven't played my Wii in a couple of weeks at my house, with my playing Metroid last night the first time it's been hooked up in a while. The change? I switched TV's, and am now using a glass TV stand. The sensor bar doesn't sit on glass, but sits on the LCD stand, which is on the glass. I played Zelda when I first got my Wii, and it never seemed even remotely as bad as Metroid is. Before, I had the sensor on top of my old TV, which was a floor-standing models with no relective sources around. Even then, it wasn't perfect (which I don't expect it to be), but it sufficed. Hell, Duck Hunt way back when did a pretty good job at knowing where you were pointing. I know it was completely different technology, but you'd think Nintendo would atleast give you a few more options to fine tune your pointer, like inputting TV size and the option to manually tune the axis' based on your viewing and seating arrangements. Click to expand...

Again, try adjusting the sensitivity. Think of sensitivity as being like mouse speed. A small movement can either move the pointer a lot or a little. How much you want it to move depends on the size of your TV and how far away from it you are. At least that's the way I understand it. S

spidey07

No Lifer

Aug 4, 2000 65,469 5 76

Originally posted by: mugs Again, try adjusting the sensitivity. Think of sensitivity as being like mouse speed. A small movement can either move the pointer a lot or a little. How much you want it to move depends on the size of your TV and how far away from it you are. At least that's the way I understand it. Click to expand...

Yep. You have to mess with the sensitivity to get it right. The part about a large TV just isn't true. I play on a 65" and the wiimote is as acurate as staring down a rifle.

exdeath

Lifer

Jan 29, 2004 13,679 10 81 I have my IR emitter (ie: 'sensor' bar) about a foot below the bottom of 106" wall mounted projection screen sitting on a 28" high top shelf of my AV stand and sit at least 16 feet away and have no problems with cursor precision. I've also had it 2" below my 37" PC monitor sitting 3-4 feet away from it without changing anything in the Wii. Screen size and distance doesn't matter. I think the Wiimote simply computes a weighted average of the sensor imprint and calculates the distance between the centers of two IR 'blobs' so it doesn't matter how diffuse or distant the IR light is as long as there are two distinct 'blobs' with a clear 'center' I love the improved precision in MP3, much better than the clunky movement of the initial games. R

randay

Lifer

May 30, 2006 11,018 216 106 wing it straight at your tv and or wall. make sure not to wear the safety strap or the calibration wont complete successfully.

blurredvision

Lifer

Oct 19, 2000 17,860 4 81 I've switched the sensor bar to the top of the screen (with appropriate setting in the position menu), and fiddled with the sensitivity in the Wii system menu, and it's still pretty far off. I'm now pointing well above the sensor bar on top of the TV to get the cursor to the top of the screen. I don't know what's going on, but I could probably settle with it. I know that when I was playing Zelda, I never really felt that it was far off, because I never questioned it. The first time that I noticed the cursor was way off from where I was pointing was when I was playing the target shooting in Wii Play. I'll try the second controller and see what it does later. B

BD2003

Lifer

Oct 9, 1999 16,815 1 81

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: mugs Again, try adjusting the sensitivity. Think of sensitivity as being like mouse speed. A small movement can either move the pointer a lot or a little. How much you want it to move depends on the size of your TV and how far away from it you are. At least that's the way I understand it. Click to expand...

Yep. You have to mess with the sensitivity to get it right. The part about a large TV just isn't true. I play on a 65" and the wiimote is as acurate as staring down a rifle. Click to expand...

The sensitivity in the wii menu has nothing to do with how fast your pointer moves, it has to do with how sensitive the wiimote is to the IR lights the sensor gives off. Other light sources can still emit IR light and screw it up - those are the blobs youre seeing on the sensitivity screen. The only way the sensitivity will help in his case is if there is another IR light source that the Wiimote is confusing with the sensor- the sensitivity will allow you to "tune it out". The wiimote cant see anything but those two IR dots. It has no idea how big your TV is, and I bet if you checked it more carefully, you'd see its not quite as accurate as you think. Unless you're sitting at enough of a distance that the 65" projects an image to your eye (and thus the sensor bar to the wiimote) that would be similar to someone sitting closer to a smaller TV. If you sit far from a small TV, or close to a large TV, it wont be nearly as accurate. Hence my friend's problem with sitting 6 feet from a 65". Anyways, it does seem to work better for most people on the top of the screen. And if you want to adjust the "sensitivity" as PC users understand it (as in how fast your pointer moves), you can move the sensor bar further or closer away from you. Move it further back and, itll move faster, and vice versa. Which is most likely easier said than done. Either way, does it really matter as long as its comfortable? You're not actually looking down the wiimote when youre playing. As long as you can get a full range of motion and its close enough to be believable, you shouldnt have any problems with the actual game.

blurredvision

Lifer

Oct 19, 2000 17,860 4 81

Originally posted by: BD2003 The sensitivity in the wii menu has nothing to do with how fast your pointer moves, it has to do with how sensitive the wiimote is to the IR lights the sensor gives off. Other light sources can still emit IR light and screw it up - those are the blobs youre seeing on the sensitivity screen. The only way the sensitivity will help in his case is if there is another IR light source that the Wiimote is confusing with the sensor- the sensitivity will allow you to "tune it out". Click to expand...

Thanks for explaining that, I didn't quite understand it either. Regardless, all 5 sensitivity settings show only those two blinking lights, so no other light sources are hampering me. R

RaiderJ

Diamond Member

Apr 29, 2001 7,582 1 76 I wonder if a sensor bar could be built in two pieces, allowing you to place one end on each side of the TV. You could then adjust the height to best match your setup. Since they are just IR LEDs, you might just be able to split the sensor bar wires and use that. B

BD2003

Lifer

Oct 9, 1999 16,815 1 81

Originally posted by: RaiderJ I wonder if a sensor bar could be built in two pieces, allowing you to place one end on each side of the TV. You could then adjust the height to best match your setup. Since they are just IR LEDs, you might just be able to split the sensor bar wires and use that. Click to expand...

Hell, you can use candles if you want. You can certainly split it, but the internal wires wont be any longer. All you could do is pull them closer together, which will make it more sensitive. I just checked my own, and from my distance - 6 feet from a 34inch, with the wiimote on top, the cursor is WAY off. I honestly never noticed until now. I imagine the wii zapper games will allow you to calibrate it though.

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones

Moderator Aug 23, 2003 25,375 142 116

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: mugs Again, try adjusting the sensitivity. Think of sensitivity as being like mouse speed. A small movement can either move the pointer a lot or a little. How much you want it to move depends on the size of your TV and how far away from it you are. At least that's the way I understand it. Click to expand...

Yep. You have to mess with the sensitivity to get it right. The part about a large TV just isn't true. I play on a 65" and the wiimote is as acurate as staring down a rifle. Click to expand...

Actually the sensitivity setting isn't like mouse speed sensitivity at all. It adjusts the sensitivity of the sensor bar. The higher the sensitivity, the further back you can be from the sensor bar and still operate. Wii Remote sensitivity is an in-game setting (if offered). L

LeiZaK

Diamond Member

May 25, 2005 3,749 4 0 You would think Nintendo would offer a calibration tool like those used in PDA's... so you would have to point at the 4 corners of your screen and the center, for adjusting to differing TV sizes.

Born2bwire

Diamond Member

Oct 28, 2005 9,840 6 71 I don't think they really bothered because the remote is used as a pointing device. It's about the differential not where you are actually aiming. Still, I would have liked to see the calibration that was done in Zelda:TP in all games because that took into account the screen size and allowed you to give a vertical offset.

NikolaeVarius

Lifer

Oct 25, 2006 11,036 11 91 That was the first thing that stopped me from buying a Wii. I was trying it out at a friends house before buying it , and the accuracy was freaking horrible. we even messed around with the calibration for a half hour, but no dice. It doesn't help that the freaking half second lag gets on my nerves. It also somehow got out of range every time I swung it or moved it, causing me to die multiple times.

mugs

Lifer

Apr 29, 2003 48,920 46 91

Originally posted by: LeiZaK You would think Nintendo would offer a calibration tool like those used in PDA's... so you would have to point at the 4 corners of your screen and the center, for adjusting to differing TV sizes. Click to expand...

Again, if they did that it would only work if you sat in the same spot the whole time you're playing a game. That wouldn't work for "party" games or games where you move around. Think about the way you use a mouse. Does it matter to you if the pointer is in the middle of the screen when your mouse is in the center of the mousepad? No, you move relative to your current position. I can do pretty darn well on the duck hunt type game in Wii Play, so I guess I don't see why it's such a big deal. I can play CoD3 without any problems.

Originally posted by: tenshodo13 That was the first thing that stopped me from buying a Wii. I was trying it out at a friends house before buying it , and the accuracy was freaking horrible. we even messed around with the calibration for a half hour, but no dice. It doesn't help that the freaking half second lag gets on my nerves. It also somehow got out of range every time I swung it or moved it, causing me to die multiple times. Click to expand...

I think the half second lag is between your eyes and your brain. You must log in or register to reply here. Share: Facebook X (Twitter) Reddit Tumblr WhatsApp Email Share Link

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