Official Nintendo AV Cables for SNES, N64 and Gamecube - resistors & capacitors?

[Link83]

Here are more...

Thanks for the extra pictures RGB32E, you have saved me from buying an SVHC-10 cable purely for curiosities sake! 

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In the past few days I thought id have a look at a PAL N64 motherboard to see what differs between the S-Video lines on a PAL and NTSC board, and there are some surprising differences (Well surprising to me anyway)

Basically it looks like Nintendo decided to remove some components on the video lines on the PAL N64 - I can only assume they did this to act as some form of 'region locking' on accessories like they did with the PAL NES and SNES controllers.

Heres some pictures I have taken showing the differences on the AV lines, I have traced out the Composite, Chromo and Luma lines onto the pictures. Please excuse any extra wires you may see 
NTSC


PAL

Close up of the rear of the PAL boards DENC-NUS chip:-


Colour Guide:-
Composite - Yellow
Luma - Cyan/Blue
Chroma - Purple
Ground - Brown/Orange

There are six main components that I can see missing.

Two are for the Composite line labelled R5 and JP4. R5 should be a 75ohm resistor to Ground, and JP4 should be a 220uf 10A Capacitor. Instead Nintendo added these two components inside the PAL Composite AV cable instead

The other four components should be for the S-Video Chroma and Luma lines. The problem here is Nintendo in their infinite wisdom not only removed some crucial components for S-Video, but then also never released a PAL N64 S-Video cable, meaning most PAL owners never even got an decent S-Video picture from an N64 

The four components are labelled R6, R7, JP5 and JP6. Heres what I think they should be
R6 = 75ohm Resistor to ground
R7 = 75ohm Resistor to ground
JP5 = 220uf 10A Capacitor
JP6 = Capacitor - not sure of the value.

Heres the problem - im not sure what value capacitor JP6 should be. Im guessing it should be the same as the capacitor at location C14 on the NTSC board, but unfortunately I dont have a Capacitor meter so cant measure the value - can anybody help?

Also, would it be possible to add the missing components externally to a Nintendo S-Video cable? Im guessing whats needed is a 75ohm resistor to ground on the Y and C lines, and then a capacitor on each line aswell. Would the ordering of these resistors/capacitors be important at all?

Im also curious as to why Nintendo used large 220uf 10A Capacitors on the Luma and Composite lines - why didnt they just use the 'normal' 220uf 6.3v Capacitors they used in the Official Scart and Composite cables? or why didnt they just use small surface mounted Capacitors instead?

Any advice would be much appreciated 

[Holering]

Could anyone tell me how to open a third party snes plug (the male end that goes into the console itself). This cheapo RGB cable I got from ebay has no visible tabs and just two tiny holes on the top and bottom of the casing. I really wanna open this thing and check out how the grounds are wired up. The video noise going into the sound is terrible and I'm really curious as to why it's there compared to the standard AV cable which has no noise whatsoever. At first I thought it was a ground loop but there is just no way after all the testings I've done. I'm convinced it's either a missing ground or I just need to take the audio wires off the scart end of the cable and use them on some standard phono jacks to hopefully see any improvement (after reading some threads here it seems that cheap rgb cables probly introduce horrible buzz-fuzz noise into the sound)

Also is there any such wiring that's easily available-low cost that is shielded to prevent any EMI or other interferences. I'm talking about wire that's small enough to rebuild an RGB+SOUND scart lead. Wouldn't shielded wire prevent this noise from being introduced into the sound?

[NFG]

Could anyone tell me how to open a third party snes plug (the male end that goes into the console itself).

Many of the cheap ones are glued together.  The key is usually in the seams...  If you can't pry them apart, they're probably glued...  The holes may not be relevent, what do you see when you shine a light down 'em?

If they are glued, you'll either have to pry 'em apart with a screwdriver, or cut 'em with a very sharp knife.  Make lots of small cuts, rather than trying to force through it in one go.  Fewer chances for error.

[Link83]

Also is there any such wiring that's easily available-low cost that is shielded to prevent any EMI or other interferences. I'm talking about wire that's small enough to rebuild an RGB+SOUND scart lead. Wouldn't shielded wire prevent this noise from being introduced into the sound?

I think I have had the exact same RGB cable (cheap one available from Play Asia) There is no shielding in it at all and I am positive thats the cause of the interference. On mine I even had interference in the video signal aswell
The official cable doesnt introduce any noise and is shielded - though thats probably not what you wanted to hear - sorry!
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Just thought id also add that thanks to Viletim in another thread I now know that C14 on an NTSC board is a 68nf capacitor, so:-

R6 = 75ohm Resistor to ground
R7 = 75ohm Resistor to ground
JP5 = 220uf 10A Capacitor
JP6 = 68nf Capacitor

Im guessing if Nintendo had released a PAL N64 S-Video cable it would have contained all of these components.

The only thing im unsure about is if the component ordering is important - eg should the 75ohm resistor be first on each line, or the capacitors? 

Now if I am to follow the motherboard ordering the 75ohm resistors to ground would be first, followed by the capacitors.

But when I looked at the Official PAL Composite/AV cables the capacitor appears to be first, followed by the 75ohm resistor to ground.

So im beginning to think the component ordering is unimportant?

Also, can I add the missing components externally into the cable? Or would they have to be added to the N64 motherboard (I imagine I can add them to the cable but just want to be sure)

[MKL]

Could anyone tell me how to open a third party snes plug (the male end that goes into the console itself). This cheapo RGB cable I got from ebay has no visible tabs and just two tiny holes on the top and bottom of the casing. I really wanna open this thing and check out how the grounds are wired up.

I wrap a cloth around the plug and hit it *lightly* with a hammer on one of the sides: quick, effective and doesn't leave marks on the hood:



The wiring is indeed of a very low quality: the wires are too thin (28AWG), poorly insulated and soldered and the cable is unshielded:

Also is there any such wiring that's easily available-low cost that is shielded to prevent any EMI or other interferences. I'm talking about wire that's small enough to rebuild an RGB+SOUND scart lead. Wouldn't shielded wire prevent this noise from being introduced into the sound?

I replaced the cable with a shielded 8x0.25mm (8 cores, 24AWG each) one:

http://www.tasker.it/prodotti/prodotti_scheda.php?idcat=11&cod=C8025&idcod=269



Next to the stock cable:



Since there are two ground pins on the connector I used one for the shielding and the other for one of the wires. Perhaps I'll post a short guide on how to make a snes cable detailing all the steps (replacing the strain relief grommet, etc.).

[Holering]

Did this get rid of the buzz-fuzz noise in the sound or at least improve it? What about diagnol scanlines? Did it get rid of that? These weren't visible with an svideo lead...

[MKL]

I didn't even test it since it was for gamecube and wouldn't work with a SNES. I modded it straight away and all I can say is that it works perfectly, no audio interference at all. The little A/V box in the middle of the cable could also be responsible for degrading the audio signals.
One thing you could do if all else fails and you feel like doing a bit of work is fitting stereo jacks on the SNES case and run audio and video on separate cables (after disabling audio on the scart cable) and see if it gets better. If it does then you can be sure about the crappy chinese cable being the responsible for the audio issue.

[Holering]

Cool that looks nice and neat! I'll probly start modding all my bastard systems and keep the non-modded-boxed systems stored away since those have all the books and what not...

Also could I rebuild my rgb-scart leads with 24AWG shielded speaker wire? Isn't it the same? I don't think RGB+sound needs a certain cable with specific ohm ratings does it (component-yuv cable comes to mind...)?This seems easily available where I'm located and cheap too.

[Link83]

I realise this thread is quite an old thread now, but I have some relevent info that i'd like to update it with 
I was reading what phreak97 said here:-
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3510

...and I started wondering, what was really inside an Official Nintendo PAL SNES and PAL N64 AV/Composite Cable - were they really different to the PAL Gamecube Composite cable?

After a few hours rumaging around I managed to find my two boxed PAL cables for SNES and N64 (The Composite AV cables were sold separately here in the UK, as we only got RF cables supplied in the box with the SNES and N64 )
Firstly the PAL SNES AV cable.
Heres the box:-


Inside the plug:-


As you can see it only has a 75ohm resistor to ground (which I have to say looks to me pretty poorly done - I mean it goes all over the place - and wheres the insulation?!) So it is different to the PAL Gamecube Composite cable as that had a little circuit board with a 220uF capacitor in series aswell as the 75ohm resistor to ground (See first page of this thread for pics)

Next I opened up an Official PAL N64 Composite cable. The box says its suitable for both the SNES and N64 so I was still expecting to see the 75ohm resistor to ground, but I also thought there would be a 220uF capacitor aswell - as these are the two components missing off the PAL N64 motherboard's Composite line (Please see my post further up for comparison pics)
Heres the box:-


Inside the plug (Plug is the opposite side up to the SNES pictures as otherwise you couldnt see the resistor):-


I was surprised to see that its pretty much identical to the PAL SNES cable - except that they have now secured and insulated the resistor by wrapping a clear piece of plastic insulation round the resistor and the composite wire.

Whats got me really puzzled is why they havent used a 220uF capacitor aswell? We already know its missing from the PAL motherboard and I very much doubt PAL Composite signal levels should be different to the NTSC Composite signal levels?

I'm guessing the missing capacitor is meant to remove the 'DC offset' like the NTSC SNES RGB cables capacitors, but why then would Nintendo leave it out?  The space on the motherboard suggest the PAL N64 needed it to some extent.

I have also updated the Nintendo MultiAV PAL/NTSC Chart here:-:-
http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:nintendomultiav
Hopefully you can see its more detailed now

...Nintendo really like messing with their PAL consoles and video cables - im so glad the Wii has done away with all this 'components in cables' nonsense....

[phreak97]

maybe theyre expecting your tv to have a cap on the line? are there different composite video tolerances for pal regions?

this could possibly explain why my snes never worked with my tv capture card.. it always displayed all garbled.

[Link83]

maybe theyre expecting your tv to have a cap on the line?

I thought that, but then surely there would be no need to add the capacitor in the Gamecube AV cable?

this could possibly explain why my snes never worked with my tv capture card.. it always displayed all garbled.

Possibly! Maybe give it a try if you have a Gamecube Composite cable handy? Alternatively maybe your TV capture card doesnt support PAL Composite?

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I found a little bit of information which is quite interesting. I was looking though the support section of the Nintendo Europe website (The support section used to comprise of simply an email address, postal address and phone number - but since the site 'revamp' last year it now has FAQ sections aswell) I wasnt expecting the person writing them to have been that knowledgable on differences between cables, but it appears they did know there was a difference. These are the interesting bits:-

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/support/nintendo_gamecube_162_168.html

Stereo AV Cable and Scart Adapter
...
NOTES:
The Nintendo GameCube stereo AV cable is downwardly compatible with the Nintendo 64 and the Super Nintendo.
With the Nintendo GameCube, only the Nintendo GameCube stereo AV cable or other products licensed by Nintendo must be used.
Do not connect a stereo AV cable to the Nintendo GameCube that is intended for the Super Nintendo or the Nintendo 64.

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/support/nintendo_gamecube_162_205.html

Game has a white tint
The image problem occurs in all games:
Check whether the Nintendo GameCube was connected to the TV with a Super Nintendo or Nintendo 64 stereo A/V cable (can be seen from the dark grey multi-out plug) - the original Nintendo GameCube stereo A/V cable has a black multi-out plug).
Connect your Nintendo GameCube - if possible - to another TV to exclude a defect on the TV.
If possible, test the Nintendo GameCube with another original Nintendo GameCube stereo A/V cable (recognised by the black multi-out plug)....

Seems like the Gamecube Composite cable should work fine with all three consoles, whilst the SNES and N64 cables cannot be used with the Gamecube as it produces a 'white tint'.

I think its safe to say that there should be no problems adding the 220uf capacitor for the PAL N64 - it seems it was originally intended (based on the motherboard spaces) and 'straight from Nintendo' we know the PAL Gamecube Composite cable works fine with the PAL N64. The only reason I think as to why Nintendo left out the capacitor is to save money if they could get away without it - I certainly think you should use one if you can - if it makes any difference to the picture quality or not I cant say as yet.

Id be intrigued to know if the PAL SNES should have used the capacitor or not - there isnt a 'space' on the motherboard though like the PAL N64 so its hard to say.

When I have time I think I will try comparing each cable on each console and note any visual diifferences, aswell as seeing if I can measure the 'DC offset' produced from each cable.

[phreak97]

maybe the pal snes and n64 remove the dc offset somewhere earlier in the process? obviously my theory of the tv doing the work is wrong if other consoles are still affected.

it isnt entirely true that the gamecube cable is backwards compatable.. some games have a messed up image when using the gamecube cable with my setup. super mario world is one.

[Link83]

I just wanted to update that I tested both a PAL SNES/N64 Composite cable and a PAL Gamecube Composite cable on a PAL N64 console.

Visually I couldnt see any difference using either cable (but maybe im not looking hard enough)

I then decided to measure the DC offset from the PAL N64. Using the PAL Gamecube Composite cable (75ohm resistor to ground and 220uF capacitor in series) it measured 0.00V as I expected.

Next I tried the PAL SNES/N64 Composite cable (75ohm resistor to ground) and somewhat surprisingly got readings betweens 0.7V and 1.35V DC - varying according to how bright the game picture was. During gameplay it seemed to average out at about 1V DC.

I am not sure what effect this DC offset would have on the picture quality, but I dont think it would be for the better. I have read in many audiophile forums that having a DC offset on headphone amplifiers higher than 20mV (0.02V!) can have a detrimental affect on the sound and can damage the speakers , so I assume a 1V DC offset on Composite video would be the same/similar(?)

All this suggests that to me their definitely should be a 220uF capacitor in series on the PAL N64 Composite line aswell as the 75ohm resistor to ground, and that Nintendo just cheaped out on making the PAL N64 Composite cable because they could get away with it

I havent been able to test the PAL SNES yet as I have just accidentally blown the fuse on my console (Even though I 'discharged' it for 10 seconds first) but when I get a new fuse I will compare the PAL SNES aswell and update this thread.

Sorry if anyone finds this info boring - I realise it wont interest many as its only Composite Video!

[Cainam]

Well, I for one am interested anyway! Actually, I am more interested in the s-video side of things, but I think the same logic applies to both.

Out of interest, and not understanding much about electronics, why a resistor to ground on the video line? Wouldn't a resitor in series work just as well?

[Piratero]

Anyway, having tested a totally unmodified cable I can confirm that there is indeed a 75ohm resistor between Composite and Ground on the Official Gamecube Scart cable. I was very surprised at this, as it isnt on the little PCB. Also, I didnt notice it before in my previous 'testing' because I was connecting the probes after the Capacitors, not before them, Doh!

Thanks for the confirmation. It seems my diagram is correct after all.

Funny thing is though that the Official Gamecube Scart Cable doesnt use Pin 18 for Ground - it uses Pin 17 for Ground instead! Isnt that incorrect for the 'proper way' or wiring a Scart cable? Ground is the Grey wire in this pic:-

It doesn't matter, both pins are connected to ground in all TVs.

So the Composite line has a 75ohm resistor connected to ground, and a 220uf capacitor on it, just like the Official PAL AV Cables.

At least they're consistant...

Sorry for the bump. But connecting pin 17 to GND is essential. I just built an RGB cable using the official GameCube PAL SCART cable. In other words, it does matter!

[zedrein]

Oh sweet, so there is a RGB scart cable that will work with NTSC Super NES systems with the composite sync actually brought out? I'd love to get one of these so I don't have to build a sync-separator.

[Link83]

Wow, this thread will never die! 

Sorry for the bump. But connecting pin 17 to GND is essential. I just built an RGB cable using the official GameCube PAL SCART cable. In other words, it does matter!

I know your agreeing with me and all, but I think what Viletim was saying is that it is still essential to connect the ground pin, but with a Scart connection it doesnt matter if you use Pin 17 or Pin 18 as they are both connected to ground internally inside a Scart enabled TV. Since you say you built an RGB cable out of a PAL GameCube Scart cable im guessing you are not using a Scart connection anymore so will need to connect the ground wire to whichever pin your monitor uses for ground.
The ground wire must always be connected at both ends of the cable to the grounds of the console and TV/Monitor

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Oh sweet, so there is a RGB scart cable that will work with NTSC Super NES systems with the composite sync actually brought out? I'd love to get one of these so I don't have to build a sync-separator.

I have never found a manufactured Nintendo cable that has Composite Sync already connected, so im not sure what you mean If you require C-Sync you would need to build/alter a cable yourself. Also, if your TV/Monitor requires separate H & V Sync's you will still need to use a sync-separator circuit.

I think you may be getting mixed up between Composite Video and Composite Sync?

[RGB32E]

I have never found a manufactured Nintendo cable that has Composite Sync already connected, so im not sure what you mean If you require C-Sync you would need to build/alter a cable yourself. Also, if your TV/Monitor requires separate H & V Sync's you will still need to use a sync-separator circuit.

I think you may be getting mixed up between Composite Video and Composite Sync?

Like I've stated before, the Official GameCube SCART cable does have pin 4 wired to the SCART connector.  However, it's purpose is to carry +12VDC.  When used on a NTSC SNES/SFC, what is carried over that wire is composite sync instead!  I cannot say if there were different Official GameCube SCART cables, but the one I have is already wired with pin 4... 

[zedrein]

^That's great. Can you link me up to that specific cable you are talking about? Do you have to put a cap or something in the C. sync line?

[Link83]

Like I've stated before, the Official GameCube SCART cable does have pin 4 wired to the SCART connector.  However, it's purpose is to carry +12VDC.  When used on a NTSC SNES/SFC, what is carried over that wire is composite sync instead!  I cannot say if there were different Official GameCube SCART cables, but the one I have is already wired with pin 4... 

Doh! Thanks for pointing that out.  I actually already knew that yet it totally slipped my mind when I made that post, sorry  Its the only pin thats different on the MultiAV port between NTSC and PAL regions. However, Scart pin 8 is not meant to be carrying a C-Sync signal, so at least I was half right  as you will still need to build/alter the cable yourself in order to make use of the C-Sync signal (or make a specific adaptor to suit your needs/TV/Monitor)

...and zedrein, its an Official GameCube RGB Scart cable, you can only really find it on European eBay's now though. Theres a few new ones on eBay Germany:-
http://cgi.ebay.de/N64-SNES-GameCube-RGB-Scart-Kabel-Original-Nintendo-NEU_W0QQitemZ300316564233
(I dont know the seller, or even if they will ship outside of Germany)

The official cable has a little circuit inside it (Picture can be seen on first page) that could make it quite difficult to fit it inside your own custom connector. It might be easier/cheaper for you to buy two official Composite AV cables and then open the connectors and use the pins from both plugs to make a MultiAv port with up to 8 pins? Then you could use whatever cable you want, and add whatever components you need.

I have read mixed opinions on if you need a Capacitor and/or Resistor on the C-Sync line of the SNES so I really cant say for sure whats needed, expecially since no Official Nintendo cables were ever designed/meant to use the C-Sync signal so theres nothing we can compare to.

As you may already know, beware of unofficial Nintendo scart cables as they are usually missing the C-Sync/+12V wire entirely and rely on the +5V wire only for both scart switching signals, using a resistor between Pin 8 and 16 (This leads to a default Widescreen ratio selection on most Scart enabled TV's) I assume they do this to ensure scart switching compatibility with both PAL and NTSC consoles, but it also makes the cables useless for your needs (The C-Sync signal)

[kamiboy]

Waise from your Gwaive!

Hey, while doing some casual searching for the source of a RGB problem of mine I fell upon this thread and some of you seem pretty knowledgeable. So I thought I'd resurrect this thread for your input on this.

Here is my setup, I have NTSC SNES, I bought it new and thus the chance of it being faulty is pretty low. The words "EJECT" are molded on its eject button instead of being printed which according to this site means that my SNES is of a newer revision with a smaller motherboard and some cost cutting. It is not one of those small SNES's mind you, it is the big old ugly NTSC one, just with a never revision internals.

I bought the official SHVC-010 RGB21 cables to connect it to a XRGB unit. This is a neat piece of hardware from Japan that takes 240p video from older consoles and scandoubles them to 640x480 VGA. This way you can connect your old consoles to a PC monitor, or even a HDTV if you so please.

What is neat about it is that it has a RGB SCART input built into the machine, but it is wired for Japanese RGB21 SCARTs obviously. Also it can make the scandoubled lines be fake scanlines so games look like they did on older CRT TV's.

I believe it is an analogue device, so no conversion to digital is taking place, so there is no lag, and what you get in is what you get out, only with double the vertical frequency.

Now, plugging your SNES into this via RGB21 SCART and plugging the VGA output into your CRT monitor should work, but here a problem.

I get an absolutely horrid picture by doing this, there is something very wrong.

It seems there is some internal difference between Super Famicom and the NTSC SNES, specifically the newer revision one that I got, which makes for disaster.

I should mention the cables I got are new, so no chance of them being broken, nor is there anything wrong with the XRGB-2 Plus unit that I have. It works great with my SEGA CDX.

As you can imagine those cables did not come cheap, so I am now wondering why they do not work. Would appreciate some expert input, because I am pretty much clueless.

Here are some shots of the problem on a CRT monitor as compared to reference quality emulation on a LCD:

Actual hardware on CRT monitor 1
Emulator 1

Actual hardware on CRT monitor 2
Emulator 2

To describe the image problem in more detail. Other than shadows and colours that are completely wrong. I have a very dark image, requiring me to crank everything up to max to even get a visible picture, and then it seems like each primary colour is being displayed out of sync with the other colours. So RED looks like it is being displayed a few pixels to the right etc. Creating a outline beside everything.

[imparanoic]

I also have a SHVC-010 RGB21 cables to connect to a US NTSC (purple breeze block) to a LCD sony Bravia 3via  XRGB  2 plus unit, no problems at all, I am not sure why you have problems, have you tried via vga slot on a modern lcd/plasma tv to see if the problem is from your console/upscanner or the actual tv

[imparanoic]

i also tried a xrgb 2 (non plus) and an older xrgb1, (every so often i sell these items)  same again, no problems with this cable using US ntsc snes even with super famicom cartridges.

[kamiboy]

Hmm..., that is certainly strange. Could I ask wither your SNES's have the words "EJECT" molded upon the button or is it printed on? I have  a suspicion that my problems are related to SNES internal revision and that is an indicator of wither one has a newer or older revision.

I did try this on my LCD TV as well, but things look even worse there. In fact my LCD does not work very well with the XRGB at all. The CDX and Saturn which are systems that give me the best and most stable image exhibit a very bad shaking problem on my LCD. This is because my LCD has a very bad VGA input, as such I don't use it for playing classic systems.

My CRT monitor on the other hand has a beautiful picture when connecting to the XRGB. The only system to give me problems with it has been my SNES via RGB. In a few weeks I'll be getting some S-video cables for the SNES as well which I imagine will solve all of my problems, still I would like to know why the SNES did not work.

[imparanoic]

i will need to check my purple snes for what ver,  is your cdx plugged via rgb? surely buying a new snes is cheaper or the as the cost of snes/n64/gc s video

btw what lcd brand do you have?

[kamiboy]

Yes my CDX is plugged in via RGB, bought the cables off of a UK guy that makes them himself. My LCD brand is a Sharp 52XS1, sort of a rare television, made in limited quantities and retailed for an insane amount originally.

I originally bought the XRGB to be able to enjoy older games via RGB on it with scanline emulation. But the VGA input gives me a very unstable picture so I will not be playing games that way. Fortunately I rescued a 22" CRT from my work as it was about to be thrown out in batch.

Seeing how good games can look on CRT made my LCD problems a none issue. The cost of a new SNES was a lot, and I have already purchased S-video cables. But I paid a lot for those Japanese SCART RGB cables and I am curious why things didn't work out.

I saw that there has been a lot of talk about resistors and capasitors and internal SNES and SNES cable build and thought people could shine some light on the mystery.

[imparanoic]

but i was under the impression that s video or even worse composite via xrgb  is defeating the point, but with your distorted images, better than nothing, cos i hve a not so good brand tv previously,I was very picky on my current tv as i have checked these forums for the most compatible.

I assume your ntsc snes maybe the problem, but i am not sure, maybe i was just lucky when i brought my one second hand as i have no idea on the revisions/version of snes.

I am currently having minor issues with my rgb modded pc engine (without rgb amp), i can control the colours with my xrgb, but the contrast/brightness is a slight issue, ie, too high, slightly distorted/bleeding, while too low it becomes too dark .

[kamiboy]

as i have no idea on the revisions/version of snes.

That is easy, does your SNES EJECT button look like this, with the words "EJECt" printed on:



Or This, with the words molded on:

[imparanoic]

sorry, dodgy english, i meant, I did not know about the difference until come across this forum, i am familar with revised ver of pc engine, ps1, ps2 etc, but not snes

[imparanoic]

i like to tell you quickly which ver of snes, but i am in the middle of moving, thus, not sure when i check up on the ver of snes for a few days.

yes, i am aware that native j rgb leads are pricey, but as i am based in hk, every so often i will come across one same with the xrgb's, i paid 11gbp for snes  j rgb lead ( no demand in hk) and my japanese friend help me get a scph-1050 j rgb for ps1/ps2.

[kamiboy]

I see. Well as for your remarks regarding using XRGB via S-video and composite being pointless, then that depends on what you want to use it for.

For some the XRGB is the only way to make use of the best connection method of their console, RGB. But for me I just want the XRGB for the Scanline emulation. I am using it with a CRT monitor so S-video and even composite actually perform very, very well. Switching between RGB and S-video on my Saturn I cannot see any difference between them. And of course RGB does not even work properly on the SNES so my only option there is S-video.

And of course, some systems only have composite, like the NES. But all the systems that I have working, via RGB, S-video or even component look great on my CRT monitor. With scanlines turned on it looks just like on an old TV.

[imparanoic]

newer ver snes

[kamiboy]

Well then that would have ordinarily settled it, but then I went ahead and opened up my SNES to have a gander inside and it turns out, out of the two different revisions of the newer SNES's I have the very last, which is apparently very rare in NTSC. What gives away the difference between the two newer SNES's which both have the molded button is wither the sound hardware is in one or two chips. The normal newer SNES's have a two chip sound solution but mine has just the one. Nintendo prolly removed or added some caps from the RGB signal path while doing this last NTSC revision which made the signal incompatible with the SHVC-010 cables.

I don't have the knowhow or equipment to figure out what the problem is exactly, so I'll settle for S-video, it prolly looks almost as good anyway.

[imparanoic]

but surely if you willing spend SHVC-010 cables cost at -around 45 to 55gbp, a second hand us ntsc snes will cost around 10 gbp?, is that worth the cost?, especially considering the xrgb alone would cost around 80gbp for xrgb2, 100 for xrgb 2 plus and 150 for second hand xrgb3

[kamiboy]

I ended u paying closer to 180 gbp for my XRGB2+, and the threes come quite a bit more expensive than that.

You are correct, I can pick up a used SNES for around 30 gbp, but the thing is I have having loose consoles around. And I especially hate having two of a thing when one should suffice. I have just made a purchase of a NEC XM29 CRT monitor and hope that perhaps that will not have any problems with the SNES, otherwise I'll just go S-video.

[kamiboy]

In case anyone is interested, and for the sake of future internet archive diggers. I got my NEC XM29, and my Rev 3 NTSC/U SNES gives me the same crippled image via the official Famicon RGB21 cables.

This settles it then, the third revision NTSC/U SNES has combination of resistors and/or capacitors that are not compatible with the official Famicom RGB cables.

The image is extremely dark and the colours look inverted at places, which leads my to make a uneducated guess that the picture level has been brought down too low by an extra set of 220 resistors, but what do I know.

Just a heads up for prospective buyers, check your SNES revision before you spend a lot of money on those RGB21 cables. Also, S-video works great.

[Endymion]

In case anyone is interested, and for the sake of future internet archive diggers. I got my NEC XM29, and my Rev 3 NTSC/U SNES gives me the same crippled image via the official Famicon RGB21 cables.

This settles it then, the third revision NTSC/U SNES has combination of resistors and/or capacitors that are not compatible with the official Famicom RGB cables.

It does? Don't you want to try the cables bare to the monitor without the XRGB before saying that?

[kamiboy]

I'll try it through an XSELECT once that parcel arrives, short of that, nay. Let someone else put in time and effort. I dont like the harshly sharp and pixelated imageI get directly from s-video, no point in trying to make it even more computer like than it already is.

[AlmostOriginal]

This is probably one of the most interested threads i have ever read. I am planning to mod N64/Gamecube cables but so far i have only been making RF & Composite (NES, SNES, Master system, Megadrive, Atari jaguar and Turbo Grafx 16 and more)

Is this something interesting or should i post a new thread?

Huge cable project

[AlmostOriginal]

I recently added the capacitor on my Composite cable but it stopped working.  When i remove the capacitor the cable works again.