S-Video to component converters for classic games?

[RCM]

I have a 34 inch CRT HDTV and love it, but wish I had a bigger screen to play classic games in their proper aspect ratio. While browsing newer plasmas I noticed they omit s-video support, so I've been trying to figure out how to get around that issue. I've seen s-video to component (and HDMI) converters and am wondering if anyone on here has any experience with them. I'm mostly concerned with lag and know classic systems will always look better on SDTVs. Thanks, homies.

[Greg2600]

There are S-Video to Composite adapters for a couple bucks.

[j_factor]

I've never done this, but converting s-video to component sure doesn't sound very good. What systems are you doing this for? For Genesis, SNES, or Saturn, you'd be better off getting SCART cables and a SCART to HDMI (or component) converter.

[Sonicwolf]

I've never done this, but converting s-video to component sure doesn't sound very good. What systems are you doing this for? For Genesis, SNES, or Saturn, you'd be better off getting SCART cables and a SCART to HDMI (or component) converter.

I didn't think you could get SCART on North American systems.

[jb143]

There are S-Video to Composite adapters for a couple bucks.

You can actually do it with a capacitor.

Converting to component is a bit harder. I think you'd be able to do it without any lag though. Converting to HDMI is trickier and may or may not introduce noticeable lag.

[ApolloBoy]

I didn't think you could get SCART on North American systems.
Most systems post-1985 have RGB output, so you could get a SCART cable and then a SCART to component converter, giving you the best picture quality next to pure RGB.

[Greg2600]

Costs $1.01 only at Monoprice.com (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040105&p_id=4120&seq=1&format=2). You really don't get much of a difference between S-Video and Composite, and I guarantee the TV still has composite jacks. Most new ones lose the S-Video jack now. My Sony did.

[j_factor]

I didn't think you could get SCART on North American systems.

They didn't sell SCART cables here because nobody has SCART-capable televisions, but if you do get the cables, they work just fine on North American systems.

[causticsoda]

Lots of sellers on eBay for RGB/SCART cables for most classic systems. I have a XRGB-3 to make use of the RGB output, but if you are not willing to pay the dollars for one of those units, then I think a RGB->Component converter might be a good option, though I have not tried it myself.

Have a read of this - http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=193&title=Seeing%20is%20Believing:%20Video%20Connectio ns

and this - http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I actually just purchased one after learning the same as you did (in that newer LCDs have no S-Video inputs anymore). I bought one from some company called Atlona and, overall, its pretty good. It's not prefect as i notice some very minute blurring in certain games but nothing too distracting. I have also experienced no lag whatsoever on any game I tried for any system (NES, SNES, Turbo, Gen, SCD). It cost about $150 and I think it was worth it for all my systems....

[XianXi]

XRGB3 is by far the best option for old school consoles. The quality is amazing.

[c0ldb33r]

Most systems post-1985 have RGB output, so you could get a SCART cable and then a SCART to component converter, giving you the best picture quality next to pure RGB.
After reading your post, I'm intrigued. Can you explain a little more?

Would you need PAL systems?

[hamburglar]

XRGB3 is by far the best option for old school consoles. The quality is amazing.

Do you own one? Most people that have one seem to always have some sort of compatibility problem connecting older consoles.

I have an XRGB-2 I purchased from NCSX when they first came out, never had a single problem in terms of compatibility.

[j_factor]

After reading your post, I'm intrigued. Can you explain a little more?

Would you need PAL systems?

The cable has nothing to do with PAL vs. NTSC, so no. RGB SCART is the best thing you can get out of any console between SMS and N64 (although TG16/PCE requires a hefty and unusual mod to do it). But since TV sets in North America never have a SCART input, they never sold them here. Just go on eBay or get them from a UK-based game site. Once you get the SCART cable for your system of choice, you'll have to convert it to something your TV can accept. You can either convert it to component at normal resolution (this with an SDTV set is the #2 best option behind getting an RGB monitor), get a component converter that also upscales, or get an upscaling HDMI converter. There are probably some that go to VGA or DVI as well. Just google "SCART to component (or whatever) converter" and you'll find a bunch. Even though nobody has SCART anything here, these converters are readily available from US sources for some reason.

[c0ldb33r]

I've done a bit of reading into SCART - the SCART connection can carry any time of connection can't it? It's not always RGB but could simply be composite right?

[Arasoi]

SCART cables can carry RGB, composite video, stereo audio, component video, and svideo. It just depends on what the equipment you're using sends/receives on certain pins. Component video and Svideo are passed over the RGB pins.

SCART is also bidirectional for some signals(composite video, audio left, audio right), meaning it has input and output pins for passthrough sockets on some devices.

It should also be noted that there is a second type of SCART used in Japan generally referred to as JSCART. It uses the same 21 pin connector, but has a different pinout entirely and isnt compatible with European/regular SCART devices without an adapter or cable.

Next to none of the classic systems will output component or svideo through their A/V connectors over SCART though, thus the RGBs-component transcoder is needed to put the RGB output on american TVs.

At home I have 3 15khz RGBs capable monitors. When taking my console(s) to a friends place I use a transcoder/switchbox by Micomsoft called an Xselect D4 that transcodes VGA/Component/RGBs to any of those formats and outputs them all simultaneously. There is virtually no quality loss apples to apples between RGBs and component in terms of image quality. Problems generally only arise when a newer TV's internal scaler causes poor image quality and this is when one looks into an external/dedicated scaler like an XRGB 2+/3.

[theclaw]

Europeans tend to find it quite baffling how direly SCART fared here. I'm not aware of a single model TV, computer monitor, VCR, or otherwise, ever sold on North (or South) American shelves that had SCART input.

[Sonicwolf]

Europeans tend to find it quite baffling how direly SCART fared here. I'm not aware of a single model TV, computer monitor, VCR, or otherwise, ever sold on North (or South) American shelves that had SCART input.

This. I have been playing video games and dealing with entertainment electronics for well over a decade and have yet to see even my first SCART cable or SCART connection.

[theclaw]

I doubt a direct RGB to component transcoder would work in my case anyway.

I've got one of those LCD TVs which most absolutely does not support 240p over component. It gets a blank screen from low-res software like Disgaea and PS1 games if I use a component cable on PS2.