Should I get a SNES or SNES II or is there any difference?

[stargate]

I believe the SNES II does not have RGB out, but besides that, is there any difference between the 2 systems?

[bargora]

What about S-video?

[stargate]

oh, ok no S video. anything else? I remember hearing that the NES II had crappier picture quality than the NES so I was wondering if there was anything along those lines.

[Starcade]

Both versions are the same thing when it comes to graphics quality man.... @_@

[Raedon]

yes and no.. the SNES Jr. has no S-Video so the total quality can't be as good as an original SNES.. Plus the original is cheaper if buying online.

[hamburgler]

the first snes i liked better then the second model.

[stargate]

yes and no.. the SNES Jr. has no S-Video so the total quality can't be as good as an original SNES.. Plus the original is cheaper if buying online.

That brings me to another question.......is the S-video really THAT much better than AV jacks? I have most of my systems running on AV jacks now and they look pretty good (TG16, Genesis, NES, DC).

[BenT]

Yes, it's far better.

And RGB / Component, in turn, is better than that.

[stargate]

Yes, it's far better.

And RGB / Component, in turn, is better than that.

not sure I believe you. but, I could be wrong.

[Raedon]

if it works for you then cool, but Component mixes the luma and chroma onto one wire and this causes dot crawl and color effects. S-video splits the luma and chroma keeping the Color info and Contrast info seperate.. Composite goes even farther splitting the 3 colors RGB. S-video is fine for all NTSC TV's, HDTV and component is awsome.

Basically a blind man wouldn't notice the difference.. not saying your blind, just that maybe you haven't tried S-Video with your consoles, there is a marketable difference even my Sister notices.

[stargate]

if it works for you then cool, but Component mixes the luma and chroma onto one wire and this causes dot crawl and color effects. S-video splits the luma and chroma keeping the Color info and Contrast info seperate.. Composite goes even farther splitting the 3 colors RGB. S-video is fine for all NTSC TV's, HDTV and component is awsome.

Basically a blind man wouldn't notice the difference.. not saying your blind, just that maybe you haven't tried S-Video with your consoles, there is a marketable difference even my Sister notices.

Is there a way to have systems like TG-16 and Genesis use S-video without doing a major modification?

Thanks for the info by the way. I'm just pissed because all my systems are hooked up with AV.

what is "dot-crawl" BTW?

[Raedon]

DO NOT CLICK THIS IF YOU DO NOT KNOW AS YOU WILL SEE IT ON EVERY A/V CONSOLE FROM NOW ON! you've been warned.





http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/VideoArtefacts/VideoArtefactsDotCrawl.html

explanation of dot crawl, it is a hard core problem with consols as they are mostly contrasty CG.

[CrazyImpmon]

Eh, I see them all the time. Can't do anything about them on older consoles like NES. I do plan to replace as many AV cables I have with S-Video cables as my massive switch box already supports S-Video.

[stargate]

Eh, I see them all the time. Can't do anything about them on older consoles like NES. I do plan to replace as many AV cables I have with S-Video cables as my massive switch box already supports S-Video.

so............. how does one go from AV to S-video on systems like TG16 and Sega Genesis?

[CrazyImpmon]

#1 hit Google and search for web sites documenting S-Video support or hack
#2 hack your console if it doesn't support S-Video.

AFAIK TG-16 doesn't have S-Video support but it does have RGB somewhere so you should be able to make RGB to S-Video adapter. Genesis may have S-Video support but I'll have to open up and see what kind of chip it has. I don't think Genesis 3 can have S-Video or RGB as it was built as cheaply as possible. (It doesn't support PBC, 32X, or Sega CD either so why bother)

Update, (http://labwww.csv.cmich.edu/luke/videogames/Sega/GenesisCD32X/svideo/) Genesis 1 can have S-Video but Genny 2 and 32X can't so you'll have to make RGB to S-Video adapter as well.

www.gamesx.com covers a lot of the video mods. if it's not there then either it's not well documented, not popular, or no one's tried to make a mod yet.

Beside Genesis and TG-16, NES doesn't have S-Video support and it doesn't have RGB capability either! Odyssey, Intellivision (all versions), SMS (both versions) and Colecovision don't have RGB or S-Video support. :P

[bargora]

Yeh, I made the switch from composite to S-Video last year for all of my consoles that support it. My Dreamcast was the first one I did, and it just made for a cleaner image.

The bummer is that my TV won't recognize composite input if an S-video cable is plugged in the back. I HATE going back behind the TV into the rat's nest to switch cables (very awkward with my current setup) so I essentially had to buy a bunch of cables and a selector box and switch everything over at once. So now I've got two daisy-chained Gamestop multi-system selectors to go between Xbox, PS2, DC, N64, PSX, and SS. Now that I recently read that my SNES (version 1) can output S-video, I'll be moving up from RF.

Unfortunately, because I won't go back there to swap S-video and composite cables on the TV, I'm stuck using RF for any system that doesn't output S-video, even if I theoretically could use a composite cable (like my Genesis 2).

That is, until the day I go Crazy Impmon on my consoles with a soldering iron...

[Eternal Champion]

According to some online sources, the Genesis is NOT s-video compatible. It DOES output RGB...you just need to build a cable and get an analog RGB monitor (with a horizontal scan rate of 15 khz), which haven't been around at least 10 years...TVs now have COMPONENT video inputs, for DVD players, which is NOT RGB!!!
Games X covers this:
http://www.gamesx.com/rgbadd/
Redmond Cable makes custom RGB cables for Genesis 1 and 2 for various plugs:
http://www.connectworld.net/rcc/pages/game.html
If you have the A/V cable for the Genesis, you could use a Video RCA to s-video adaptor--it splits the video signals into chroma and luma:
http://www.trianglecables.com/1insvidsvhst.html
But I don't know if it works well or not. Anyone know?

So it seems the only options for most consoles are A/V and s-video if possible...and if you're willing to pay for the custom cables and find a compatible monitor, RGB (if it outputs it--N64 does NOT, SNES DOES, but Redmond has trouble getting the parts to make RGB cables for SNES).

[Bug]

yes yOU SHoulS GET SNeS theyr g00d and get gENESIS troo my shuld get them

[Raedon]

Please stop pushing the A/V to S-video adapter. It does not improve quality as video artifacts, once introduced, cannot be removed.

[Eternal Champion]

So how can a composite video to s-video adaptor justify its existence? It is essentially a scam?

[bargora]

So how can a composite video to s-video adaptor justify its existence? It is essentially a scam?
Well, if your TV won't read the composite input when you have an S-video cable plugged in, and you're like me and don't want to go behind the TV to swap cables, then I suppose it would be justified if it didn't cost too much and if you didn't expect the composite artifacts to magically disappear.

[Chunky]

Please stop pushing the A/V to S-video adapter. It does not improve quality as video artifacts, once introduced, cannot be removed.
I always wondered about these. seems like every digital camera you buy now comes with one. but i have never used it on a console.

[Eternal Champion]

OK, on related note--what about
a composite to s-video convertor, not adaptor:
http://datapro.datapro.net/products/CSV-900C.html
This thing apparently has filters that separates the signal into chroma and luma...but, as posters have said here, if the video signal is composite, does it still have artifacts?
This "convertor" is $80!!! I would hope that it makes a difference...but for that price, it's more worth it to find an old RGB monitor and get a custom cable...