S-Video killed the RF star

[ManekiNeko]

Was there an S-Video adapter available for the Sega Saturn? How about its descendant, the Dreamcast? If anyone knows where I could find either of these items, I'd greatly appreciate it. I've been using my video capture card to take pictures of my favorite Saturn and Dreamcast games in action, but since I'm using the standard RF cable to connect the systems to the capture card, the video output is mediocre at best. It's not a big deal when I shrink the pictures down to use on my web site, but I'd prefer the utmost clarity for the larger snapshots I store on my hard drive for personal use.

Also, is there any way to get S-Video from a standard cable connection? Is it necessary to have a cable box to do this?

JR

[Kamino]

if what youre looking for is just S-VIDEO leading FROM the systems,
www.electricquarter.com has the cables you need. That's where i got the cables i use to hook my saturn and dreamcast into my tv on S Video..

[evilmess]

Yes

Saturn
http://www.electricquarter.com/saturnsvhs.htm

DC
http://www.electricquarter.com/dccables.htm

Also see'em on ebay

[ManekiNeko]

The Saturn cable's been purchased, thanks to the power of... PayPal!

(sound of thunder crashing)

Thanks for letting me know about this! Hopefully the pictures I'll take with my capture card will be a lot crisper from now on.

JR

[Mr. Smashy]

Yup. S-video is pretty great. So far, my Xbox, PS2, GameCube, Dreamcast, N64, and SNES are on S-video. I should be getting a Saturn with S-video in the next couple days, too. I'd eventually like to get my Genesis, TG16, and whatever else on S-video, too. I've also been playing around with some VGA connections to the Dreamcast and they're pretty cool, too.

I can wait to get a TV for progressive scan on the Xbox, PS2, and GameCube.

[FABombjoy]

If anybody else needs a Saturn s-video cable, I have 1 extra, $6.50 shipped. Somebody buy it!

A Genesis modded for s-video rocks. It is so very much clearer than without.

[Zach]

I've modded my Atari 2600 and Atari 600XL for S-video, and the picture is amazing!

Here's my total list of S-video systems:
Atari 2600
Atari 600XL
Atari Jaguar
Super NES
Super Famicom
N64
GameCube
Panasonic 3DO
Dreamcast
PS1
Xbox

I'd love to mod my Genesis, but it's a "Model 2", and I've never seen any info on how to get S-video out of that. Also, the AV Famicom, NES TopLoader, and TG-16 all seem to be composite only. Anyone have any info? Help me get my entire shelf of game systems running with S-video!

[Syxx573]

Hmmm.... I would like to know how to mod my genesis for s-video. I need to look into it.

I already got some s-video cables for the saturn. They are definately a must have for me. :)

As far as the DC goes... just buy a VGA box. You can hook it up to a computer moniter for the best output, or just run a standard s-video cable through it.

[Jason One]

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[FABombjoy]

If I'm not mistaken, the TG16 is modded for s-video by adding an RGB decoder chip to it. If you're going to go that route, might as well spend a little more and have something made that'll convert any RGB source to s-video. Or buy an RGB->Component converter & locate scart cables for all RGB capable systems.

[ManekiNeko]

Kind of off-topic, but do you guys know how I convert my cable signal into S-Video?

JR

[davidleeroth]

RF... yewww...

As suggested above, buy a CXA1645M chip or hoax it from a crap early PlayStation. The chip converts RGB to S-video among other things and with that you can make a SCART-->S-video adapter to hook up all your systems. 8-)
Then start buying those RGB SCART cables like mad.

But that's just extra work only to have your signal degraded. Buy a RGB capable monitor and enjoy the best picture. :)

[FABombjoy]

Kind of off-topic, but do you guys know how I convert my cable signal into S-Video?

Converting broadcast signals into S-Video will only serve to bypass the comb filter (if present) in your television set & further degrade the already poor image quality.

But if you're insistant, the easiest way is to buy an SVHS VCR and connect it's S-Video output to your TV. On my SVHS setup, the composite output is superior to the S-Video for anything except actual SVHS recordings.