Famicom question..can you hook it up with av cables?

[jesse977]

Hello , I want to hook up my Nintendo Famicom with the AV cables that are attached to it (black and red cables). When I connect it to my crt tv the image looks kinda dark. I have connected it with the NES rf switch and it looks ok but I was wondering if there was a way to hook it up with the AV cables that are on the famicom for a better clearer picture. Are the AV cables that are attached to the famicom just for Japanese tv's? Thanks

[kedawa]

NTSC is NTSC.
It won't look any better on a Japanese set.

[jesse977]

I forgot to mention my tv has a yellow and white AV inputs while the Famicoms AV cables are red and black.

[kedawa]

Composite is composite. It doesn't matter.
The NES uses red and yellow instead of white and yellow.
Maybe they're colour blind.

[SparTonberry]

Do you mean an AV modded original Famicom (red and white with attached controllers) or the official AV Famicom (that looks like the top-loader NES, including removable controllers). For the former, don't know. For the latter, it uses the same AV cable as the SNES, N64 and GameCube.

As to NTSC-U vs NTSC-J, I've heard the Japanese variant of NTSC has a different "black" value and that is pretty much it.

[jesse977]

I have the famicom with the attached controllers. Are the AV cables that are attached to it for another device or to hook it up to a tv?

[XYXZYZ]

Where did you get this Famicom? Unless there was some official derivative I don't know about, this sounds like a botched mod job. Open it up and see if there's any sloppy soldering or something like that.

I did an AV mod for an Atari VCS and the picture was too dark despite using the same components listed in the circuit diagram. I wound up replacing the resistors with potentiometers that I could tweak until I got a good picture. When I tried that same console on another TV, the picture was bad again. (But still fine on the former TV)

[jesse977]

Where did you get this Famicom? Unless there was some official derivative I don't know about, this sounds like a botched mod job. Open it up and see if there's any sloppy soldering or something like that.

I did an AV mod for an Atari VCS and the picture was too dark despite using the same components listed in the circuit diagram. I wound up replacing the resistors with potentiometers that I could tweak until I got a good picture. When I tried that same console on another TV, the picture was bad again. (But still fine on the former TV)

I got this Famicom like 15 years ago at a flea market for $10. I played Super Mario Bros for for maybe 2 minutes and kept it on my shelf ever since. It didnt know my Famicom was modded and assumed they all had av cables connected to them similar to the way the controllers are connected. I opened it and the job looks ok...but then again I dont really know to much about soldering or fixing electronics. Im going to try and find someone that can fix it for me. Thanks XYXZYZ for the help.

[Drixxel]

jesse977, are you sure this is a Famicom you're dealing with? The red and black RCA cables that you say are hardwired to the system make this out to be something else. If you're able to share a photo of the console and the AV cables, that may be a big help towards figuring out this situation.

Does your console look like the attached image?

6352

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Might be an old clone.

I own (and treasure) a pre-NOAC era "Famiclone" that has standard AV output (mono audio, just like NES) that I use for my Famicom disc system, I SWEAR you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and the real deal if it didn't say "Video Game" on the front panel instead of "Family Computer". Even has the expansion port for keyboard/Famicom 3D glasses.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b328/FrankieViturello/2784787B-918F-4DAD-982D-C9E75E112743-6713-000001763832F19B_zps745193f4.jpg

[jesse977]

Here are some pics of my Famicom
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/jesse977/001Small_zpsf0a60661.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/jesse977/002Small_zps2b1d5e77.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/jesse977/019Small-1_zpsc225eddb.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/jesse977/021Small-2_zps4fda2279.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/jesse977/003Small_zps77d4e139.jpg

[o.pwuaioc]

I could be wrong, but it looks like a stereo mod to me. The black should correspond with the white AV jack. But that doesn't make any sense because there's still the RF jack there. When you said the screen was dark, could you actually see any of the picture at all? If so, I'm at a loss. If not, it just might be a weird stereo mod.

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

I could be wrong, but it looks like a stereo mod to me. The black should correspond with the white AV jack. But that doesn't make any sense because there's still the RF jack there. When you said the screen was dark, could you actually see any of the picture at all? If so, I'm at a loss. If not, it just might be a weird stereo mod.

That seems easy enough to test.

OP, just plug both cables into the audio inputs on your tv and see if anything comes out.

[jesse977]

When i hook it up with the av cables you can see the image and play without any problems. The image just looks way darker than normal and I could not make it brighter with the tv's settings. I hooked it up to 3 tv's and the image looks dark and the colors are a bit off.

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

I think you might be getting a weak connection. Open the system up and see if the cables are securely soldered in place.

[Pikkon]

Reason the picture is darker is because who ever modded the fami used some low value resisters.