Is there really that big of a difference between S-Video and RGB on SNES?

[substantial_snake]

the jump isnt huge, but it is with the genesis. i purchased a scart -> component adapter for around 50 bucks. with that adapter and a scart switchbox, i had space for 4 different scart connections. the scart cables themselves werent that expensive so i bought cables for the genesis, snes, saturn, and neo geo. the entire setup was around 120 dollars. the jump in quality for the saturn and snes (s-video) wasnt huge, but it certainly was for the genesis and neo geo.

I have a question, are you saying your setup went like this?

X Game Console - Scart - Scart Switchbox - Scart Output -Scart Converter - Component - TV

I honestly didn't know they made just switchboxes for Scart and if its cheap and works I would like to do something similar with my settup. It would largely eliminate the back and forth between different cable settups for different games.

[Sneak613]

I myself was looking for an S-video cable for connecting my SNES just last week.

I've heard that a lot of the 'no name' generic brand ones are garbage, so I wanted to try finding a nintendo brand (1st party) one. I found out after searching, it's no easy feat!

I saw on eBay (link here) , that there was a japanese seller selling Super Famicon ones (1st party), and am told they work with the North American consoles.

Figured I'd share.

[Informationator]

I have one of the purple monster cable S-Video connectors. As much as people hate Monster (and they're not entirely unjustified), I believe their S-Video connector is the best. The S-video screenshots in my above post were taken while I was using that cable.

[jwmollman]

I've heard that a lot of the 'no name' generic brand ones are garbage, so I wanted to try finding a nintendo brand (1st party) one.

I bit the bullet and tried a third-party S-Video cable from Amazon, and it actually works great. The colors are very vibrant and I notice a big difference. I mentioned it here.

[chrisbid]

I have a question, are you saying your setup went like this?

X Game Console - Scart - Scart Switchbox - Scart Output -Scart Converter - Component - TV

I honestly didn't know they made just switchboxes for Scart and if its cheap and works I would like to do something similar with my settup. It would largely eliminate the back and forth between different cable settups for different games.

yes, that is the setup. the one issue is the scart > component adapter does not have audio, so i found a switchbox with an additional av port to use for audio. the switch box isnt too expensive, i believe it was around 12 dollars.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/scart-multiw...h-switch-43158

i have the 5-way (one port is an AV in) version with the additional a/v output

[substantial_snake]

yes, that is the setup. the one issue is the scart > component adapter does not have audio, so i found a switchbox with an additional av port to use for audio. the switch box isnt too expensive, i believe it was around 12 dollars.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/scart-multiw...h-switch-43158

i have the 5-way (one port is an AV in) version with the additional a/v output

Ok, I think I see what you did here.

Then all you used was a set of audio cables for the A/V output and it would switch the sound to whatever selected Scart input you were using at the time? This seems deceptively simple and easy...like I am somehow missing something. lol

[chrisbid]

the concept/flow chart is simple, but the mess of cables certainly isnt

[Zing]

I just got an official Nintendo s-video cable. For some reason, the red and white cables are reversed. On every other cable I own, along with the inputs on the TV, the order of connections is yellow/white/red. This cable is s-video/red/white. I guess I need to find a game that has distinct left/right sounds so I can test that the cables are wired correctly.

*edit*
I tested the sound and it is wired correctly. I got this cable from Japan, but I can't imagine that Japanese audio inputs are reversed. I guess the s-video cable is just like that.

[Zing]

So I did a few comparisons with various games like Castlevania IV, Super Mario World, and Mega Man X. At first I didn't notice much difference. But when switching between the two, the difference is clear in the details and colors seem much more accurate. However, the difference isn't huge as with the PSone composite to s-video upgrade.

[Drixxel]

yes, that is the setup. the one issue is the scart > component adapter does not have audio, so i found a switchbox with an additional av port to use for audio. the switch box isnt too expensive, i believe it was around 12 dollars.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/scart-multiw...h-switch-43158

i have the 5-way (one port is an AV in) version with the additional a/v output

chrisbid, do you notice any loss of picture quality by using that switch box versus connecting a console directly to your component video converter? I encountered a discussion of SCART switch boxes on Segasaturn.co.uk and there was some concern that push button switchers don't do as good a job at isolating the individual SCART sockets, potentially resulting in noise when multiple devices are connected. The audio out jacks on the switcher you linked to make it pretty appealing, hopefully there's no such signal muckery going on with it.

[chrisbid]

i havent noticed, but i havent extensively tested it either

i would imagine the degradation would be the same as using a component, s-video, or composite switchbox. ive noticed a far bigger degradation by using crappy cables, than i have with a switchbox. im sure there are videophiles out there that can scientifically measure how good a signal is and show how much degradation a switchbox produces. but the leap in quality especially for the genesis and neo geo far outpaces any loss a switchbox is responsible for.

funny story on auto switches, my friend had an automatic scart convertor, and it would strangely power up other consoles attached to it, and then it would get a weird mixed signal. it couldve been a faulty box, but "signal muckery" (awesome term, btw) was the norm with the auto switchbox.

[Drixxel]

but the leap in quality especially for the genesis and neo geo far outpaces any loss a switchbox is responsible for.

That's an excellent point - it's fairly pointless sweating over a loss of picture quality that would be largely imperceptible when you're experiencing that jump from composite to converted RGB, but at the same time, it's nice to know that the switcher itself is doing a good job. When I decide to take the RGB plunge, I'll keep those switch boxes from Maplin in mind, they do seem pretty classy.

There was unanimous support for a MadCatz SCART switch box in that thread I linked to in my last post. The main distinction with the MadCatz swticher is that, rather than push button selectors, it features a sliding switch which is, apparently, the superior mechanism for the noble act of signal preservation.

http://www.consolesandgadgets.com/ca...or-p-1954.html

No convenient audio out on that one, though.

[Pedro Lambrini]

This may sound obvious but the biggest boost to old console pictures won't be seen without a good CRT. I have most of my consoles running on RGB and the difference isn't that great on a cheap Mitsubishi TV I have in the bedroom and the picture looks terrible on my LCD telly.

On the other hand, when I run any of my consoles in RGB on my Panasonic CRT the improvement is astounding. Sharp, crisp and vibrant, all my consoles look much, much nicer.

I can't stress enough the importance of CRT for old consoles. Afterall, they were designed around this technology and some systems/games even rely on things like raster scanning etc for smoothing, extra colours and special effects.

In short, buy a good quality RGB telly or monitor (I recommend Panasonic or Sony) and decent RGB cables.

[chrisbid]

This may sound obvious but the biggest boost to old console pictures won't be seen without a good CRT. I have most of my consoles running on RGB and the difference isn't that great on a cheap Mitsubishi TV I have in the bedroom and the picture looks terrible on my LCD telly.

On the other hand, when I run any of my consoles in RGB on my Panasonic CRT the improvement is astounding. Sharp, crisp and vibrant, all my consoles look much, much nicer.

I can't stress enough the importance of CRT for old consoles. Afterall, they were designed around this technology and some systems/games even rely on things like raster scanning etc for smoothing, extra colours and special effects.

In short, buy a good quality RGB telly or monitor (I recommend Panasonic or Sony) and decent RGB cables.

excellent point. NOW is the time to be on the lookout for a good quality CRT monitor/tv. thrift stores have plenty of them and they are as cheap as they ever will be. in a few years, they will be much harder to come by.

[chrisbid]

That's an excellent point - it's fairly pointless sweating over a loss of picture quality that would be largely imperceptible when you're experiencing that jump from composite to converted RGB, but at the same time, it's nice to know that the switcher itself is doing a good job. When I decide to take the RGB plunge, I'll keep those switch boxes from Maplin in mind, they do seem pretty classy.

There was unanimous support for a MadCatz SCART switch box in that thread I linked to in my last post. The main distinction with the MadCatz swticher is that, rather than push button selectors, it features a sliding switch which is, apparently, the superior mechanism for the noble act of signal preservation.

http://www.consolesandgadgets.com/ca...or-p-1954.html

No convenient audio out on that one, though.

besides audio out, another feature of the switch is each of the switch buttons is independent of one another. its not a device where you push one button in, and the other button pops back out. that may help avoid "signal leakage" between the various connections.