RF Generation Message Board

So, here's a question for the US users (since we don't have RGB over in the States). For our vintage game systems, Svideo is the best resolution signal available.  What brand of multisystem (N64/PS2/xbox) Svideo cables are the best you've found?

From my experience, the best one I've found is actually one sold at Radio Shack back in the day. It's a heavy duty six foot cable with gold connectors. Compared even to the equivalent Monster brand Svideo cable, the Radio Shack cable had the least incidence of moire pattern.  I've also used the madcatz cables, which pretty much are no good.

Anyone else have any opinions?

What do you consider to be vintage? For PS2 and Xbox I use component. I use S-Video for those that support them, and try to go with first party cables whenever possible.

I love going in to game stores and asking for Original XBox Component cables and watching them grab composite cables.  After explaining what I asked for most are like "I don't think they make those."

I picked up third party component cables for the (original) Xbox on eBay a couple of months ago and they work great. I also picked up a component switch box, that allows me to hook up three component sources at the same time. It does use a little switch though (no auto-detect). I currently have my PS2, Xbox and component cable for PSP hooked up to it. For the price, it's fantastic.

Component cables really are the way to go (if you can) for PS2/Xbox/GameCube/Wii systems. But S-video and RGB are still a definite improvement over composite, with RGB being better than S-video but worse than component.

In terms of image quality of connectors (depending on the source of course), from best to worst:

HDMI (and DVI) > VGA > component > RGB > S-video > composite > RF

Hope this helps. :)

What's RGB?

SCART RGB, doesn't exist in the US. No US console supports it.

More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scart

> UHF/VHF
I hooked my coleco up with that.

Actually, quite a few consoles released in the US support RGB right out of the box, like the Genesis, SNES, PSX, etc. SCART (which is a connector standard, not a video standard) actually does exist in the US, but it's extremely rare to find a TV with it. However, many professional video monitors and some Commodore monitors support RGB and you can use special cables or SCART cable converters to take advantage of the RGB inputs on those monitors. I use a Sony PVM monitor with RGB, and I play a good chunk of my systems through RGB with the rest using S-video and composite.

Actually it's more like this:
HDMI > DVI > VGA = RGB >component >S-video > composite > RF

As usual, Apollo is completely correct. :)

I was going to post to respond back, but he beat me to it.

Isn't the video portion of HDMI equal to DVI? I thought the only main difference is that HDMI does sound transport.

I use an official Nintendo s-video cable for my N64, but I have an ebay s-video cable for my SNES that works fine.  I generally try to go with the highest quality cable available for a console, even if it means dropping $40 on component cables for the GameCube (although they are worth a bit more than that now).

I'll clarify my list a bit then:

HDMI/DVI > VGA > component > SCART > S-video > composite > RF

SCART connectors can't do 720p, like component can, which is why I rate it lower. VGA can do much higher resolutions than something hooked up with SCART.


I think it is. HDMI (or atleast its latest revision) can do 3D though, and I'm not 100% sure if that is supported by DVI or whether you only need a 3D source and 3D monitor and the connector doesn't matter.

3D is supported by HDMI 1.4, so it would just need an HDMI cable at that point.
Not sure about DVI.

After doing a little reading it appears that HDMI and DVI video quality is exactly the same for the time being. HDMI supports resolutions past DVI up to the 4K display range, but who knows when that will matter to consoles.

Well, let me start over here. I was talking about the universal svideo cables they used to sell back int he day of Xbox, Gamecube and PS2. Those cables were compatible with Ps1, Ps2, SNES, N64, GC and Xbox. Some even had a Dreamcast end.

N64, PS1, SNES and such do not use component video.  For the Gamecube, component cables are pricy (not to mention that you have to have an earlier version gamecube to use them at all) so svideo is the best most people will have. The Dreamcast can do VGA, but the cables are 20 bucks a pop and Svideo is the next best option.

Svideo is the best format available (short of RGB for those who have a tv available for it) for the SNES, PS1 and n64.

So, I was fishing for brands of cable you use and whether or not you get the dreaded moire pattern. This assuming your using a modern flat panel tv that can even do svideo.  Mine can.

This thread got just a bit derailed, though if it helps inform a few folks, good!

I have no experience with any multi-system S-Video cables. All the ones I use are first party ones for that particular system.

I would HIGHLY recommend VGA for the Dreamcast, it is well worth it and S-Video isn't close to the same quality.

If you want to avoid Gamecube cable costs, just do component on Wii. For PS, I have the S-video cables, but I just play them on PS3 due to the great HDMI.

SNES and N64 utilize the same S-video cable, so if you get a 1st party one you can just buy one and swap it.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I also think that the PS and PS2 S-Video cables are interchangeable.

I get the moire pattern for almost all cables on my 2nd-gen flat panel LCD HDTV, which was made by Westinghouse. No problems on my 3rd-gen flat panel LCD HDTV though, which was made by Sony. It's all about brand, not cables :(

I don't get any moiré with any of my systems. My N64 somehow looks atrocious with its standard composite cables and the SCART cable I use for my GameCube doesn't work with it (screen blacks out).

Lendorien, I would suggest seperate cables for every system if possible. Not all of those all-in-one cables are good. Component for GameCube is expensive indeed. I wouldn't bother with that. Use S-video instead, or play GameCube games on your Wii and hook that up with component (those are very easy to come by, both Nintendo brand and third party).

Your best bet:
PS2 -> component (play PS1 games on your PS2 and you get component quality visuals)
Wii -> component (play GameCube games on Wii)
OR GameCube -> S-video (still better than composite)
SNES -> S-video
Xbox -> component
Dreamcast -> VGA
N64 -> S-video (I'm pretty sure it does RGB with a mod)
NES -> composite (I'm not sure it does S-video or RGB, perhaps with some modding)
PS3 -> HDMI
360 -> HDMI
Saturn -> VGA(?) or S-video. (I've got mine hooked up with SCART (RGB))
Genesis/Mega Drive -> S-video(?) (or RGB with a mod, I think....) or does it do VGA out of the box? I can't remember.
TurboGrafx -> RF or composite? (can do RGB with a mod as well I think)

Earlier GameCubes do have component as an option, but for later ones you only have S-video and composite. You Europeans got lucky though as PAL GameCubes have RGB (but no S-video).

All SNES and Super Famicom consoles except for the SNES mini/SFC Jr. have RGB straight out of the box. The SNES mini only has composite and needs to be modded for S-video or RGB.

Only early N64s can be modded for RGB, later ones including all the colored N64s can't be modded at all.

The NES can only do composite but it can be modded for RGB, which is fairly expensive as you need to swap the PPU with one out of a PlayChoice-10 board or the like. S-video can be done too, but you not only need to do an RGB mod, you also have to wire up a video encoder board to get S-video out of the RGB signals.

The Saturn does RGB but not VGA.

No Genesis/MD supports VGA but they do have RGB out of the box. You need to do a mod for S-video, and some Genesis 2s can't be modded for it.

The TG-16 and original PC Engine only do RF out of the box, but can be easily modded for composite. You could also use an adapter like the TurboBooster/AV Booster if you're adverse to modding. Other PCE/TG-16 variants like the Core Grafx and TurboDuo have composite out of the box, and all TG-16 and PCE systems can be modded for RGB.

The PS1, PS2 and PS3 all use the same cables, although the PS1 doesn't support component. The RGB cables are totally interchangeable though, so you could use RGB with a PS3 if you wanted to.

Oh yes I know about that. RGB is quite a nice intermediate between composite and component, imo. The reason why I wasn't mentioning component for the GameCube is that Lendorien seems to be on a budget so I doubt he'd want to spend however much the GameCube component cables are nowadays. :)

Btw, thanks for the info. I'm glad to see I wasn't too wrong for most consoles though. ;)

Question: if all SNES and SFC systems (except for the mini/Jr.) do RGB out of the box, then why does the image turn black after a few seconds when I hook up my SNES with my GameCube SCART cable? The sound remains audible. The stupid thing is that for a few seconds I get crystal clear RGB visuals, which would mean RGB does work with the SCART cable, but then the image just goes black and stays that way. Any ideas?

The PAL SNES uses a slightly different cable than the PAL GameCube, although that kinda sounds more like a problem with your TV. Did you try the GameCube cable with your Super Famicom?

From my experience, RGB is about on par, if not better than component. I don't even consider it an intermediate step, it blows composite and even S-video out of the water in terms of video quality. RGB is especially something to see if you have an RGB-capable CRT.

IRC I am using a gold plated multi-cable for my SNES that is a Radio Shack job. I got it at goodwill for a couple bucks and it was totally worth the gamble.  It's got the best picture of all the cables I have.  I have a pair of dedicated Monster brand cables for the N64 and Gamecube that work really well.  The Dreamcast is plugged in with an OEM svideo cable which seems to be just fine. For the PS1, like others, I just use my PS3 if I need to play. I have not come across any compatibility issues as yet.  

My PS2 is hooked up via Component. My TV doesn't support PS1 games through Component. Can't translate the resolution I gather.

From my experience a crappy TV can be the cause of crummy picture. My TV, a 3 year old 720p Olievia (company no longer exists) handles analog signals surprisingly well. My roommate's Vizeo on the other hand, well, Svideo almost looks as bad as composite.

Does your TV support 240p? If not, that's most likely why PS1 games won't work on your PS2 through component.

Interesting, I've never had problems with PS games on the PS2 or 3 via component.

I think it supports 240p, because my PSone works just fine on the tv.  I think the issue is that the TV just won't do it through component.

The PS1 doesn't do 240p when you're not using a component cable, but 480i (or 240i?). So that doesn't mean anything. The resolution probably isn't supported by your TV.

^ This. RF, Composite, and S-Video are encoded to the appropriate standard (NTSC or PAL) and then output.

Thanks for the clarification. Then the answer is that my TV does indeed not do 240p. I may have known that at some point, but time does tend to make the brain turn to cheese.