Snes Screen tearing issue

[BricatSegaFan]

So I finally picked a Snes, I was about 5 min into it and I noticed some really bad screen tearing. Im using a 3rd party S-video cord and a 32 Sony HD CRT.


Before you say it's the TV, I've used the same cord on the same tv for my N64 and GC with no issues. None of my systems have this issue on my tv. Everything from my AES and Coleco to Ps3 and 360 are fine.

Sorry but this issue is driving me nuts. :banghead:

[Rickstilwell1]

That's really weird, I've seen screen tearing on a PC before, especially during emulation, but never on an authentic game console.

[wiggyx]

So I finally picked a Snes, I was about 5 min into it and I noticed some really bad screen tearing. Im using a 3rd party S-video cord and a 32 Sony HD CRT.


Before you say it's the TV, I've used the same cord on the same tv for my N64 and GC with no issues. None of my systems have this issue on my tv. Everything from my AES and Coleco to Ps3 and 360 are fine.

Sorry but this issue is driving me nuts. :banghead:

Sorry, it's likely the TV. The SNES tends to not get along very well with a LOT of HD TVs in my experience :(

[Rickstilwell1]

Sorry, it's likely the TV. The SNES tends to not get along very well with a LOT of HD TVs in my experience :(

Which kinds/brands have you tried? All the LCDs or HD tubes I've used SNES on have had no problems.

[wiggyx]

Samsung, Sony, and Philips.

[Tanooki]

I've never had tearing on a SNES either on any LCD/LED I've put one to, and I don't see a cable causing it either. The only tearing I know of is disabling vsync on an emulator.

[Thrillo]

Is it one of those Trinitrons that were made in the last decade (2000+)? From what I've seen, most seem to digitize the signal and process it before sending it to the tube; maybe that's the source of the issue. Have you tried messing with the various settings on the TV's options menu?

[BricatSegaFan]

Is it one of those Trinitrons that were made in the last decade (2000+)? From what I've seen, most seem to digitize the signal and process it before sending it to the tube; maybe that's the source of the issue. Have you tried messing with the various settings on the TV's options menu?

Yes it is! It's a Sony KD-32XS945

[Rickstilwell1]

Samsung, Sony, and Philips.

Oh ok. The good ones I have experience and no tearing with are Sharp, Toshiba, Magnavox and an extremely large Sony CRT that probably cost a lot more than any Trinitron model.

[BricatSegaFan]

Ok so finally resolved my issue. I ended up trying on my Toshiba and it works pretty good.

My next issue, I happen to play some link to the past when the game freezes for no reason. I re insert the cart and it does not boot. I then clean the cart and the game boots but now my save is gone.


I wonder if I cleaned it soo well the save came off in all that dirt lol. Needless to say the Snes is not leaving a good impression. I remember why I was a SEGA fan.

[Tanooki]

Hah you're dumping on a 20 year old system that's admittedly dealing with a dirty game. Your being a Sega fan is what's causing you to get a bad impression of the SNES as the hardware itself is super sound as long as it and the games aren't treated like junk. I've never had a game fail on me from cleaning it causing it to also clean the save off. You have a battery problem plain and simple and it's not a surprise given the game is 20 years old. It happens, it's not super common but it does. I've picked up a used NES game that ended up having a dead battery but was otherwise nice (Crystalis) and the only time I've come across a dead SNES battery was when someone spilled something and left it in there to rust for years which fried the battery but amazingly not the game as I got it cleaned up nice (Super Punchout.)

Clear your head and start over from scratch, it's not the system itself.

[BricatSegaFan]

Hah you're dumping on a 20 year old system that's admittedly dealing with a dirty game. Your being a Sega fan is what's causing you to get a bad impression of the SNES as the hardware itself is super sound as long as it and the games aren't treated like junk. I've never had a game fail on me from cleaning it causing it to also clean the save off. You have a battery problem plain and simple and it's not a surprise given the game is 20 years old. It happens, it's not super common but it does. I've picked up a used NES game that ended up having a dead battery but was otherwise nice (Crystalis) and the only time I've come across a dead SNES battery was when someone spilled something and left it in there to rust for years which fried the battery but amazingly not the game as I got it cleaned up nice (Super Punchout.)

Clear your head and start over from scratch, it's not the system itself.

Well to be fair it only wiped my save but not the other two that were on there. And after testing it it still seems to save. If I do have to replace the battery, is it a CR2032?

[Gameguy]

Well to be fair it only wiped my save but not the other two that were on there. And after testing it it still seems to save. If I do have to replace the battery, is it a CR2032?
If your saves are still there then the battery is fine. Dirty contacts can currupt game saves.

[Rickstilwell1]

Yeah corrupted game saves also happen on Nintendo 64 from dirty contacts, except there is a difference on Nintendo 64 since the data is handled differently. You might have a save file vanish on a Nintendo 64 game when it is dirty, then when you clean the game and put it back in sometimes the save comes back.

[BricatSegaFan]

Ahh well that all makes sense then. Guess I should clean games before I make any progress then.

Well I think I'm done with the Snes for today. I think I'm gonna play some Christmas Nights on the Saturn ;)

[Tanooki]

Yes the CR2032 would be it, and as others said dirty contacts is probably your issue if the other saves are intact.

[SpudBug]

I was using my original SNES from near the release of the system about a year ago and noticed the same issue with screen tearing in games like yoshi's island and other super fx games.

I assumed it was the ppu dying in the SNES because of age, not the TV causing the issue. I've since switched to a revision 2 board SNES on the same TV and setup (scart to component) and have no problems at all.

I would be wary of a dying ppu in that SNES as screen tearing can be a symptom of a chip on its last legs. The system is basically a loss at that point. Unfortunately they don't last forever. :(

[Rickstilwell1]

I was using my original SNES from near the release of the system about a year ago and noticed the same issue with screen tearing in games like yoshi's island and other super fx games.

I assumed it was the ppu dying in the SNES because of age, not the TV causing the issue. I've since switched to a revision 2 board SNES on the same TV and setup (scart to component) and have no problems at all.

I would be wary of a dying ppu in that SNES as screen tearing can be a symptom of a chip on its last legs. The system is basically a loss at that point. Unfortunately they don't last forever. :(

That's also true, I have a female friend whose SNES displays glitched graphics on the world map of Final Fantasy III. We tried putting her cart in my SNES, loaded up the save and didn't have the issue. On hers it makes it look like she is walking/landing on water when using the airship. We ruled that it must be a dead graphics chip. Her copy of Super Mario World was unaffected but she doesn't know if problems will surface with any of her other games. She mostly plays RPGs.

[PreZZ]

I got a used snes recently and all games that use mode 7 or special effects have screen flickering problem, like the intro of super metroid, or the map overworld in zelda.