SNES Jr. S-Video

[izarate]

First, sorry if this has been posted, but I couldn't find it in the forum and the first 20 pages of a Google search didn't turn up any substantial information. I'm pretty sure that someone else has discovered this before me since I think that I've seen one or two sites that offer the S-Video mod and, also, I know that some of you might have figured this out way before I did, but I haven't seen this info accessible anywhere so I'm posting it here.


The mod is based on the SNES rev. SNS-CPU-RGB-01 which has the chip U7 "S-RGB" (ROMH BA6595F). That "S-RGB" chip has the same pinout of the chip present in rev. SNS-CPU-1CHIP-01 and SNN-CPU-01 (ROMH BA6596F) BUT different from the U7 chip in older revisions (ROMH BA6592/93/94F):


U7 chip in rev. SHVC-CPU-01, SNES model SNS-001. Notice how pin 12 ISN'T connected.


U7 chip in rev. SNS-CPU-RGB-01, SNES model SNS-001. Notice how pin 12 IS connected. This suggest that it's a different chip.


U7 chip in rev. SNN-CPU-01 a.k.a. SNES Jr. model SNS-101.


The mod:






Pictures:





Those two resistors are 150 Ohm in parallel = 75 Ohm

[Link83]

Sorry for the slight bump but I didnt want your thread to go unnoticed.

To the best of my knowledge you are the first person who has shown how to successfully add S-Video to a SNESJr/2 so very well done on all your hard work - and thanks for sharing it

I am guessing your also the same member from this forum?:-
http://www.retrogaming.com.ar/forum/...php?f=4&t=2652
I was also very impressed when I came across that thread last month (even though I had to uses Google's translation function to read it!)

Would you maybe consider adding your information to the GamesX wiki? Or would you mind if somebody else added it and credited you?

[izarate]

Yes, in fact I'm a member on that forum. I have other guides there, mainly for pretty well known stuff like the SNES region mod and the Genesis S-Video mod. I have a couple that might be worth translating and putting up here (how to build you own SNES cardboard inserts, how to identify original carts for Nintendo consoles) and I've posted some of my stuff in other threads as well (Eye laser of vintage systems).

I'm pretty sure that someone else came up with the SNES Jr. S-Video mod before me since what sparkled my interest was that some site offered said mod for sale. Sadly I don't recall which site it was. I've visited MultiMODS and OSG but they don't have that mod for sale. I just remember that the background was dark blue.

Anyway, the thing is that, as far as I know, the mod wasn't well documented and accessible anywhere in the net. I knew about the Gamesx.com mod but, looking at the complexity of the mod, I think that they based their research on the first SNES revisions which have a different chip, as you noted in the PM you sent me.

Yeah, I would love to add the information. Do I need to register or something?

[doubledownon11]

Here's the one I did back in July of 2005:

[ooXxXoo]

I offer this upgrade at my website, but my s-video amplifier is definitely a bit more complex than yours...



....
....

[izarate]

After giving a look at your site I think that it might be the one I saw. I recall it having a dark blue background, but that might just be a fuzzy memory. Maybe I got the blue background from your banner. The layout is similar to what I remember.

Certaintly, the mod it's pretty different. It might be that yours gives an even better picture.


By the way, where do you get the S-video jacks? I've been trying to buy those in my city but the shops here only have PCB mount jacks. I hope they have international shipping.

[gonintendo]

can somebody post a diagram for that one separate board? I am new to this type of stuff. also, can someone make a list of supplies needed? thanks to anyone who replies, i know this is really old.

[gonintendo]

or if there is a newer better guide, can i have a link please? (I literally spent the last 3 hours googling and i couldn't find anything)

[izarate]

The mod is pretty straighforward, you don't even need a board since only 2 components go on each wire. You could even solder the components directly to the multiout pins and then a wire to the pins on the S-RGB chip.



If you're new to this I would recommend you to practice or at least to get another SNES Jr. as a backup. It's a little dificult to maneuver around the S-RGB chip with a soldering iron since the area is pretty crowded:





You can look at my original guide (in spanish) but I think the extra pictures should be enough: http://www.retrogaming.com.ar/forum/...php?f=4&t=2652 skip to the "-:- [ Agregando S-Video ] -:-" part.


The components needed are:
- Wire
- 220 uF electrolitic capacitor
- 100 nF polyester capacitor
- 2 75 Ohms resistors

[gonintendo]

thanks! my dad is really good at soldering, so ill see if he wants to do it. I really appreciate the help. lets hope my high school spanish finally proves useful

[gonintendo]

also, what type of wire do you recommend?

[izarate]

22 Awg

[DaddyLongLegs]

I know this thread is pretty damn old but thank you so much for posting it. I used your guide and got perfect S-Video from my SNES Jr. I've been wanting to use the SNES Jr. for years now but composite wasn't cutting it, and the old style SNES has an ugly dark thick line going down the middle of the screen (I think I've read it's an RF issue). So again, thank you so, so much!

[Mason P.]

yes thanks for posting this

[Zing]

I know this thread is pretty damn old but thank you so much for posting it. I used your guide and got perfect S-Video from my SNES Jr. I've been wanting to use the SNES Jr. for years now but composite wasn't cutting it, and the old style SNES has an ugly dark thick line going down the middle of the screen (I think I've read it's an RF issue). So again, thank you so, so much!

The SNES model 2 also has this line. To be fair, it does take certain circumstances for it to be visible, but trust me, it is there. After scrutinizing mine for a week, I was sure I didn't have it. But later, I saw it in games such as Super Metroid and Yoshi's Island.

[theclaw]

Hey. Does SNES model 2 have the first's RGB diagonal interference lines? I notice it on my model 1 with certain bright colors. Say, the yellow eyes of that intro boss robot in Megaman X2.

[xuande]

I know this thread is pretty damn old but thank you so much for posting it. I used your guide and got perfect S-Video from my SNES Jr. I've been wanting to use the SNES Jr. for years now but composite wasn't cutting it, and the old style SNES has an ugly dark thick line going down the middle of the screen (I think I've read it's an RF issue). So again, thank you so, so much!

Another necro bump! Sorry I made an account here just to thank you for this guide.

I too was looking for a solution for the vertical line problem. My SNS-001 has a hideously noticeable one, not one you have to pay special attention to notice but one that's an eyesore and detracts from enjoyment...

I came across a SNS-101 and much to my surprise it's virtually invisible in most games, even problematic titles (Super Metroid). In fact I needed to load Final Fantasy 3 to even confirm it was still there (easily the most pronounced display, right on the title screen).

The problem was, going from S-Video to composite was a huge downgrade, but this guide allowed me to have my cake and eat it too. Thank you sooo much!

I have one question, for someone who might know: What is the purpose of the capacitors and resistors between the points on the S-RGB and the multi out? Can they not be directly connected?

[Live_Steam_Mad]

Hi, I have a big problem with diagonal lines on S-Video on my early NTSC SNES model 001 (full sized, revision SNS-CPU-RGB-01, Copyright 1994, genuine Nintendo, the RGB / SVideo encoder chip in it is the Rohm "S-RGB A BA6596F" with "507 179" date / batch code on it. My PSU is 9V DC, 1A, negative tip, unregulated (there is a 7805 regulator in the SNES), I also tested with a second PSU (Uniross 1200R Regulated, 1.2A capability, very large and heavy PSU, on 9V DC, negative tip). I see the horrid diagonal lines on Zelda A Link To The Past NTSC USA version (3 yellow triangles on the 1st screen).

Also, my Infocus IN76 projector won't lock onto the Composite signal from either this large SNES or my SNES 2 (JR / Mini) because there is no audio ground to ground to that both SNES's need. At least with the cheap 3rd party Composite SNES cable I am using.

I have to connect either SNES into my Pioneer DVR-LX60D DVD / HDD recorder Composite input and then pass the Pioneer's signal to the IN76 pj via Component. In fact the Pioneer won't even sync with either SNES unless I have BOTH video and AT LEAST ONE RCA audio lead plugged in from the Composite SNES cable. Then the audio ground allows it all to work. Which suggests that the cheap cable is tying audio and video ground together which is probably what causes some low volume humming on the audio (SNES seems to have 2 separate grounds, I assume they are separate video and audio ground).

The IN76 pj doesn't have any audio inputs so there is nothing to ground to. However I did find that when I connected either audio cable to the LX60D, the picture sync'ed with both large and small SNES's. When I use this method to get a picture on the IN76 pj, the quality of the Composite video from my large SNES seems to be a little noisy, with dot crawl when the video scrolls, but on the SNES 2 I get a much sharper image which has less noise and is really very good. When put through the LX60D, there is an additional color encoding error on both SNES's pictures (some colored lines become little diagonal short lines).

On S-Video my pj is perfectly fine with my CLD-D925 laserdisc via S-Video (looks great) or my Pioneer LX60D DVD / HDD via S-Video (looks fabulous). Component from the LX60D looks excellent, PS3 via HDMI looks amazing on my pj. But both SNES's have diagonal lines on S-Video.

I recently tore apart my cheap 3rd party SNES S-Video cable I was using and removed all wires leaving just the plugs at each end, then soldered thicker wires directly between the S-Video socket and the SNES Multi-IO (S-Video Luminance plug pin to Multi-IO Luminance, S-Video Chrominance plug pin to Multi-IO Chrominance, S-Video plug shell to (upper) Ground of Multi-IO, and when S-Video plug is inserted into my Sony 29" KV5 Black Trinitron 4:3 CRT TV it automatically connects S-Video Luma Ground pin and S-Video Chroma Ground pin to S-Video plug shell) with my own thicker wire, to see if the picture is perfect on my TV. BUT it made no difference (still diagonal lines).

The SNES 2 is very sharp on S-Video but has very bad diagonal lines, and the color is about only 1/2 as strong as it should be. The large SNES is fairly sharp but has bad diagonal lines. No real video noise though on either SNES. I suspect that the Composite video is somehow getting into the chroma / luma wires from inside the SNES due to the way the video processing works inside the SNES (since e.g. when I put Composite Video into my RGB SCART to S-Video converter as sync I got the diagonal lines - see below, whereas when I used Composite Sync instead I had no diagonal lines).

I noticed that my NTSC SNES mini (JR) has a way sharper Composite picture than my large SNES, both have NO diagonal lines on Composite Video.

I know my 2 TV's and IN76 pj can give a PERFECT picture without any diagonal lines on colors on NTSC S-Video, as now I have no diagonal lines on my PSX (UK model 7500) in S-Video now that I have the genuine Sony PS3 S-Video cable (I was previously getting diagonal lines via RGB SCART to S-Video converter into my pj from my PSX using a cheap 3rd party RGB SCART PSX cable, or when putting RGB into the LX60D and then onto my pj) - I can check by playing Tomb Raider (USA NTSC version) and looking at her large face on the title screen. Also I had diagonal lines on my Pioneer DVR-LX60D HDD/DVD recorder in S-Video (PAL) until I threw away the 2 cheap bad S-Video cables and used one that was perfect, now I have no lines on my LX60.

Interestingly I found out that the LX60D and PSX both give BLACK AND WHITE picture on Composite input when using S-Video, which is correct, BUT MY OLD LARGE NTSC SNES DOES NOT (and tellingly, same with my SNES 2 that I just modded for S-Video), it has color on the Composite input and diaginal lines on the S-Video (Color). Conclusion - my own large SNES's revision is a bad design and perfect S-Video is NOT possible from it in my personal opinion.

Last night I finally modded my SNES 2 (JR / Mini, genuine Nintendo, SNN-CPU-01 with Rohm S-RGB 9729 BA) to give S-Video. I did NOT yet use any resistors or capacitors between the chip and the Multi-IO (just wanted to try and see). I was VERY ANNOYED to see that I got exactly the SAME nasty diagonal lines on Zelda on the yellow triangles.

So unless there's something going on here that I don't understand, I don't see how I can get clean S-Video out of any SNES without having stupid diagonal lines on S-Video.

I have also now modded my SNES 2 for RGB and now get NO DIAGONAL LINES in RGB. When I was using my large SNES in RGB I got diagonal lines on RGB BUT NOT AS BAD as when it's using S-Video, i.e. only a mild herringbone pattern. Annoying though!

My IN76 projector gives me the same lines as my 29" TV. Thank goodness at least my PSX doesn't have the lines in S-Video, I have no diagonal lines on my 29" TV or IN76 pj when in S-Video input, from my PSX or LX60.

For RGB, my USA large SNES AND my RGB modded SNES 2 that I just finished both have an RGB output that my IN76 projector won't lock onto directly, even though I'm using a DIY SNES cable with 220uF caps on the R,G,B lines. Wierd, since my pj locks onto my SCART RGB picture from my LX60D in both 50Hz and 60Hz. Also odd since my pj required Composite VIDEO from my LX60D at the same time as R,G,B in order to sync (separate sync), and I tested the LX60D Composite video separately down the same cables and it was good quality, whereas the large SNES was giving fair quality Composite video (I checked it) and RGB at the same time but still the pj would not lock onto the SCART RGB signal, or when I had Composite Sync (not Composite video) going to the pj instead (it locked onto C-Sync just fine, giving me a black screen).

When I put the RGB with Composite video from large SNES into my SCART RGB to S-Video converter and then feed that into the pj, I get diagonal lines as though the Composite video is contaminating the picture, WHEREAS if I feed this SCART RGB to S-Video converter with Composite Sync INSTEAD, I have a nice S-Video picture but with a small amount of noise from going through the converter! And the RGB from the large SNES via the converter is a little soft (blurred slightly). The SNES 2 RGB is not all that sharp either when I tested it.

The RGB from my SNES 2 was very much too strong. I'm gonna need some resistors on a perf. board inside the case to lower the RGB signal strength, the amplification from the internal RGB amplifier is too strong, which I find odd.

But the SNES 2 has NO diagonal lines on RGB AT ALL, whereas the large old SNES has a moderate herringbone pattern (not as bad as the diagonal lines I was seeing on S-Video).

Regards,

Alistair G.

[Mitch]

Wow, this is kind of an old thread. Anyway, have you tried an official Nintendo S-Video cable? I don't recall getting diagonal line via S-Video on my SNES 2 with it. There are a lot of poor quality 3rd party S-Video cables for the SNES/N64 out there.

Mitch

[wiggyx]

Really doubt it's the cable. It's pretty hard to seriously muck up spelling so simple. I don't have a single S-vid or component cable set that's OEM and I've never had a single issue. We're taking 2 wires in a plastic sheath.


I'd suggest wiring S-vid up to the SNS-101 properly and trying again. S-vid out of the 001 units is pretty "meh" at best, based on my experience.