official nintendo svideo cable

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

anybody have experience with these?

what do you think of their performance?

i would like to use them with n64 and gc via crt. 

Edited March 15, 2020 by skinnygrinny

[zeppelin03 | 314]

I bought a third party cable and almost immediately ordered a Nintendo OEM cable.  Much better than composite.  I ended up modding those consoles for component/RGB and the improvement was modest.  S-video with the real cable is the sweet spot I would say.

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

27 minutes ago, zeppelin03 said:

I bought a third party cable and almost immediately ordered a Nintendo OEM cable.  Much better than composite.  I ended up modding those consoles for component/RGB and the improvement was modest.  S-video with the real cable is the sweet spot I would say.

thanks i have hdretrovision cables for snes, genesis and playstation. 

but for n64 and gc i would like to go svideo for simplicity sake (un modded). 

thanks for the info. i agree the improvement from svideo to component isnt huge and n64/gc dont get used much around my house so best video on a budget for them  

[MegaMan52 | 2,442]

My advice, if you do decide to purchase the official Nintendo S-Video cable, is: don't disconnect it. My N64 used to be hooked up with this cable, and the picture quality was definitely improved, but since my TV does not allow for both Composite and S-Video (only one or the other) I needed to disconnect the S-Video cable whenever I wanted to play anything that has a Composite cable. As a result, even though I was careful, my S-Video cable stopped working and my TV no longer picks up a single whenever they're used (just the Audio).

[drxandy | 3,225]

I think s video on a crt looks damn good with the snes, 64 and GameCube.

I don't have the official ones but I do have some handmade ones with nice gold connections and chunky super shielded cables from a swedish guy who used to sell them on eBay and a cheap AliExpress cable without the composite lead. Both look really good on my crt, I was actually surprised at how nice the AliExpress cheap one looked.

Edited March 16, 2020 by drxandy

[Link | 2,709]

S-video is tha shit for old consoles and video tape formats.

I’ve never seen a third party cable, but can attest the official one looks great.

 

Ramble ramble ramble ahead: I doubt it’s a problem of the connector or format; from what I’ve read, a lot of the third party cables are basically RCA internal with S-video connectors, and that’s why they’re suspect in general.

(RCA, similar to speaker wire, has two wires inside. Basically one send and one return, if you understand electrical wiring (which audio-video, telephone, etc are, just at very low voltage). S-video has four wires, in two pairs. One pair for color and one pair for brightness. That’s why it’s better; you basically double the info or quadruple the resolution.)

[attakid101 | 267]

I have an official S-Video cable that I use with my GameCube. It’s a huge improvement over composite. I originally bought the cables for my SNES but have since graduated to the HD Retrovision component cables for that console.

HD Retrovision cables are a decent jump over S-Video. And I’ve since purchased them for my Saturn as well. 

I can post comparison pics if anyone is interested. 

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

thanks for all the replies.

@attakid101 i also have hdretrovision for snes, genesis and playstation. 

im looking into the svideo for n64 and gc as a nice video quality without a mod.

[drxandy | 3,225]

This is the Ali one I bought, now is probably a bad time to order from China but here it is anyway:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_dSiv2r1

That seller kingworld is legit, without the current world issues it took a month to receive though.

Those are so cheap you can snag one just to play around with and not blink. I'm sure similar sets are on eBay selling from the us with a markup.

 

I would honestly just buy this one:

https://retro-access.com/products/n64-s-video-cable?aff=3

Supports small cable makers (pretty sure they're located in Florida too - so support yer economy), quality and a reasonable price. If I needed another set other than official I would get those.

Edit: well poop I guess retro access isn't taking orders till April.. my bad

Edited March 16, 2020 by drxandy

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

@drxandy ive heard good things about retro access

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

On 3/15/2020 at 10:19 AM, skinnygrinny said:

thanks for the info. i agree the improvement from svideo to component isnt huge and n64/gc dont get used much around my house so best video on a budget for them  

How is the jump from 480 to 1080 not a huge step?

[zeppelin03 | 314]

1 hour ago, Code Monkey said:

How is the jump from 480 to 1080 not a huge step?

The GameCube is 480p over component. N64 still is the same resolution as the game.  The signal is higher quality with component though.

[zeppelin03 | 314]

3 hours ago, skinnygrinny said:

@drxandy ive heard good things about retro access

They make great cables. I only use theirs or HDretrovision.

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

39 minutes ago, zeppelin03 said:

The GameCube is 480p over component. N64 still is the same resolution as the game.  The signal is higher quality with component though.

You're talking about what the system is capable of outputting. I'm talking about what the cables are capable of carrying.

He said S-video doesn't show a huge improvement over component and that's crazy talk, component is way higher resolution.

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

6 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

You're talking about what the system is capable of outputting. I'm talking about what the cables are capable of carrying.

He said S-video doesn't show a huge improvement over component and that's crazy talk, component is way higher resolution.

i said component isnt a huge jump from svideo

the jump from composite to svideo is the most significant imo.

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

4 hours ago, skinnygrinny said:

i said component isnt a huge jump from svideo

the jump from composite to svideo is the most significant imo.

How can you possibly think that? Both composite and S-video are 480 maximum, S-video simply separates the white from the colours, that's all it does. Component actually supports 1920x1080 which is a huuuuuuuuge jump over 480.

[zeppelin03 | 314]

34 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

How can you possibly think that? Both composite and S-video are 480 maximum, S-video simply separates the white from the colours, that's all it does. Component actually supports 1920x1080 which is a huuuuuuuuge jump over 480.

I'm pretty sure his reasoning is in reference to the consoles he listed in the OP. Not the capabilities of the cables and signal.  Everyone would take 1080p over 480p but if his N64 isnt going to offer it there isn't much value to that debate.

 

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

54 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

How can you possibly think that? Both composite and S-video are 480 maximum, S-video simply separates the white from the colours, that's all it does. Component actually supports 1920x1080 which is a huuuuuuuuge jump over 480.

 

i have hdretrovision cables for genesis running to a pvm 1351q and it looks really good.

so, when i look at s video on a consumer crt it looks pretty good. not as nice as component, i just dont see a huge jump like composite to s video. i guess thats what i meant? not like technically i suppose, just using my naked eye. idk?

 

[zeppelin03 | 314]

12 minutes ago, skinnygrinny said:

 

i have hdretrovision cables for genesis running to a pvm 1351q and it looks really good.

so, when i look at s video on a consumer crt it looks pretty good. not as nice as component, i just dont see a huge jump like composite to s video. i guess thats what i meant? not like technically i suppose, just using my naked eye. idk?

 

I ran into the issue where all of my CRTs supported 480i at best. That really limited the benefit of RGB or component.

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

2 minutes ago, zeppelin03 said:

I ran into the issue where all of my CRTs supported 480i at best. That really limited the benefit of RGB or component.

so i have an rgb modded nes that i use with the hdretrovision cables as well (im trying to understand more here). is the only difference from the pvm and my consumer set (panasonic tau) tvl? i mean, im not sure what resolutions the pvm supports. will an rgb modded nes look better on a set that supports higher resolutions than 240p or does that not matter?

[zeppelin03 | 314]

9 hours ago, skinnygrinny said:

so i have an rgb modded nes that i use with the hdretrovision cables as well (im trying to understand more here). is the only difference from the pvm and my consumer set (panasonic tau) tvl? i mean, im not sure what resolutions the pvm supports. will an rgb modded nes look better on a set that supports higher resolutions than 240p or does that not matter?

Won't matter. The different cables each split color and sync differently.  The signal improves as each gets it's own dedicated path. While a cable might be capable of higher resolution it's only going to send what the console outputs. 240p. 

 

If you used an upscaler you would get a nice result since the RGB would be the best output possible. Then that would get multiplied to 1080p with an OSSC etc.