By means of a well-grounded mapping scheme linking Schwinger unitary operators and generators of the special unitary group SU(N), it is possible to establish a self-consistent theoretical framework for finite-dimensional discrete phase spaces which has the discrete SU(N) Wigner function as a legitimate by-product. In this paper, we apply these results with the aim of putting forth a detailed study on the discrete SU(2) ⊗ SU(2) and SU(4) Wigner functions, in straight connection with experiments involving, among other things, the tomographic reconstruction of density matrices related to the two-qubit and ququart states. Next, we establish a formal correspondence between both the descriptions that allows us to visualize the quantum correlation effects of these states in finite-dimensional discrete phase spaces. Moreover, we perform a theoretical investigation on the twoqubit X-states, which combines discrete Wigner functions and their respective marginal distributions in order to obtain a new function responsible for describing qualitatively the quantum correlation effects. To conclude, we also discuss possible extensions to the discrete Husimi and Glauber-Sudarshan distribution functions, as well as future applications on spin chains.