Dreamcast s-video troubles [Archive] - Retrogaming Roundtable

16bitter

01-09-2009, 05:06 PM

I just purchased an s-video cable for my Dreamcast, however the picture is in black & white and very fuzzy. I double checked the s-video port on my TV with my Retro Duo and it works fine. So I'm wondering if this could be a defective cable or something wrong with the system.

I'm trying to hook it up to this tv. (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9106631)

SnowKitty

01-09-2009, 06:26 PM

I just purchased an s-video cable for my Dreamcast, however the picture is in black & white and very fuzzy. I double checked the s-video port on my TV with my Retro Duo and it works fine. So I'm wondering if this could be a defective cable or something wrong with the system.

I'm trying to hook it up to this tv. (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9106631)

probably a bad cable, if you get black and white with s-video it means chroma isnt connected

klausien

01-09-2009, 06:27 PM

I had the same problem until I plugged in the yellow composite video plug in addition to the S-Video connector. My Wii does that too. Probably the cheap aftermarket cables I'm using though.

SnowKitty

01-09-2009, 06:56 PM

i had a dreamcast s-video cable that would go black and white sometimes, if i jiggled the plug that went into the DC it would fix it. you should try that and see if it helps

spoon

01-09-2009, 07:36 PM

I had the same problem with my GC.

Take a look at the end of the pins on the s-video cable. If any are bent or not sitting correctly, fix them and try hooking it up again.

izarate

01-09-2009, 08:14 PM

the picture is in black & white and very fuzzy

Bad cable. It might be wired backwards (Chroma in Luma pin, Luma in Chroma pin).

evildragon

01-10-2009, 02:49 PM

Ive seen a lot of cheap cables not even wired correctly.

wingzrow

01-10-2009, 06:38 PM

You have a bad cable. This exact same thing happened to me awhile ago. Bought a new one and it worked fine. I even put up a picture of the cable that was faulty so if it matches yours it's the same bad chord. Here's the topic i made.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123024

raylydiard

01-10-2009, 07:59 PM

just buy a new one on ebay for a few dollars

16bitter

01-10-2009, 11:46 PM

Thanks y'all. I found out that it is indeed a bad cable. I'll try another one.

zakrox

03-16-2009, 11:34 PM

I just received a cheap cable of ebay. Black and white with the s-video and the composite worked fine. Took apart the plug and found no wires on the chroma and luma pins. There was two wires on the composite pin and one of them went out to the s-video pin.

Does anybody have any ideas?

wingzrow

03-17-2009, 12:56 AM

Does it look like the one i posted in the link up there? If so you got ripped off just like me. Demand a refund and then buy a different brand cord.

Kitsune Sniper

03-17-2009, 01:35 AM

That's the problem with eBay, most of the cables sold there are cheap, unbranded knockoff crap.

You're better off buying a cheap (but good) VGA box. The things usually have S-Video output, you just have to get a standard S-Video cable. There was no official S-Video cable made for the system as far as I know.

zakrox

03-17-2009, 09:19 PM

Yep. Komodo Cable is the brand. I doubt I'll be able to return it since I took it apart. What are the odds a VGA box will have messed up wiring too? I was looking at the Dreamcast AV pinout. I'm half tempted to rewire the cord myself.

b1aCkDeA7h

03-22-2009, 06:15 PM

Just bought a "S-Video AV Cable for SEGA DREAMCAST SYSTEM NEW GOLD" on eBay, like many others here, its crap and the s-video doesn't work but the composite does.

I filed a PayPal claim and said it was a faulty item. Got my $7 back and didn't have to send the crappy cable back.

I'm just going to get a VGA box at this point.