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SNES Game Collecting (Tips, discussion, and info for like minded collectors)

IrishNinja

Member
^honestly before i got my upscaler & SCART cables, i had SNES on s-video (with my prior TV that supported it), and i thought it looked nice enough. again the jump to RGB isn't as big as it is for the limited colors on Genesis, i think.

component's not the same as s-vid, it's higher quality but unmodded/without adapters etc i don't know offhand how to get it from SNES anyway, whereas i had some universal gamestop s-vid cable and again that wasn't bad for a cheap option!
 
So should I go S-Video or Component? (If there there even component SNES cables without modding inputs lol)

Also will i finally get 480p from S-video :p

I'm guessing the jump from AV composite to S-video is significant from what Ive read/compared.
 

Peagles

Member
So should I go S-Video or Component? (If there there even component SNES cables without modding inputs lol)

Also will i finally get 480p from S-video :p

I'm guessing the jump from AV composite to S-video is significant from what Ive read/compared.

S-video is supported natively but for Component you'd have to either hard mod or use an RGB SCART cable and convert that to Component with a little converter box.

The difference going from Composite to S-video is significant and worth it. If you have S-video on your TV I'd probably go with that for simplicity as RGB starts to get a bit costly as you fall deeper into the rabbit hole.
 
I have an incredibly nooby question: For my SNES on my HD TV (Yes I know a cardinal sin Im in colege and dont have room for a massive or even relatively small CRT alongside an Flatscreen)

What is the better for my retro systems (I DO NOT HAVE SCART on my tv unfortunately; Also there is no way im buying an RGB Converter like frameister anytime soon lol)

-S-Video (will this give me 480p?)
-or Component
(I'm Confused is component the same as S-video?)

I'm embarrassed I've been playing my SNES/GC with crappy Composite this entire time.

Also do you guys have a specific trusted brand/s-video cables (affordable please!) you can link me too? There are alot of third party s-video cables and I constantly hear horror stories about terrible Chinese cords.
Yeah, you really are confused. Let me clear a few things up for you.

First off: you probably want S-Video. Let's just get that out of the way right now.

Second off: the SNES, as far as I know, does not output Component. Period. You might be able to mod some out of it, but out of the box, it supports RF, composite, S-Video and RGB, and that's it. If you want component, an RGB->component converter box is your only recourse, and you already ruled that out.

Third: no, component is not the same as S-Video. See, here's a basic breakdown:

  • RF: audio and video go through the same wire. Incredibly lossy, as such.
  • Composite: audio is split off into red/white cables. Both chrominance and luminance are sent through the yellow cable. Still lossy.
  • S-Video: chrominance and luminance are separated inside the wire. Not nearly as lossy, as such, but since all color data is still coming out of one pin, there's a little bit of fuzziness to it.
  • Component: video is now three separate wires entirely. One is luminance, as before, but the other two are two of the three primary colors of light (red, green and blue - not sure which two are used off the top of my head) with luminance subtracted from it. Complicated math allows the TV to determine the third channel based on the values of the other three wires. I'm not 100% sure how it works, but the result is a very clean, crisp image - and it can do HD resolutions, too (if the console supports it - the SNES does not).
  • RGB: the red, green and blue color values for each pixel are sent on individual wires. No complicated math; whatever each channel says that pixel should be, that pixel will be. Colors are better than component, allegedly. Doesn't support HD, however, to my understanding, and almost nothing NTSC-U supports this natively.
  • HDMI: totally digital. All of the above were analog. I'm not 100% sure what the logic is for HDMI, but it's the only cable that supports 1080p and higher to my understanding. (Not sure if DVI counts, but that's for computer monitors.)
So no, S-Video is not component.

Fourth, no, S-Video will not get you 480p. That is exclusively in the domain of component and HDMI cables, and even then, the console has to support it; the SNES does not. The first Nintendo console to support 480p was the Gamecube.

Fifth: dunno if he still sells them, but I got my S-Video cables from Racketboy, and they all worked great for me.
 

Evenball

Jack Flack always escapes!
Most SNES's actually possess an encoder that does output Component, but it requires a lot of extra soldering to get proper output. It is possible though to have component output and digital audio with modding.
 

Peagles

Member
Question - Do the guts of SNES consoles differ between regions to the point where they won't fit inside another regions' shell? I only ask because I want to use the insides of my SFC in a US SNES shell, but not sure if it'll fit/work.
 
S-video is supported natively but for Component you'd have to either hard mod or use an RGB SCART cable and convert that to Component with a little converter box.

The difference going from Composite to S-video is significant and worth it. If you have S-video on your TV I'd probably go with that for simplicity as RGB starts to get a bit costly as you fall deeper into the rabbit hole.

^honestly before i got my upscaler & SCART cables, i had SNES on s-video (with my prior TV that supported it), and i thought it looked nice enough. again the jump to RGB isn't as big as it is for the limited colors on Genesis, i think.

component's not the same as s-vid, it's higher quality but unmodded/without adapters etc i don't know offhand how to get it from SNES anyway, whereas i had some universal gamestop s-vid cable and again that wasn't bad for a cheap option!

Yeah, you really are confused. Let me clear a few things up for you.

First off: you probably want S-Video. Let's just get that out of the way right now.

Second off: the SNES, as far as I know, does not output Component. Period. You might be able to mod some out of it, but out of the box, it supports RF, composite, S-Video and RGB, and that's it. If you want component, an RGB->component converter box is your only recourse, and you already ruled that out.

Third: no, component is not the same as S-Video. See, here's a basic breakdown:

  • RF: audio and video go through the same wire. Incredibly lossy, as such.
  • Composite: audio is split off into red/white cables. Both chrominance and luminance are sent through the yellow cable. Still lossy.
  • S-Video: chrominance and luminance are separated inside the wire. Not nearly as lossy, as such, but since all color data is still coming out of one pin, there's a little bit of fuzziness to it.
  • Component: video is now three separate wires entirely. One is luminance, as before, but the other two are two of the three primary colors of light (red, green and blue - not sure which two are used off the top of my head) with luminance subtracted from it. Complicated math allows the TV to determine the third channel based on the values of the other three wires. I'm not 100% sure how it works, but the result is a very clean, crisp image - and it can do HD resolutions, too (if the console supports it - the SNES does not).
  • RGB: the red, green and blue color values for each pixel are sent on individual wires. No complicated math; whatever each channel says that pixel should be, that pixel will be. Colors are better than component, allegedly. Doesn't support HD, however, to my understanding, and almost nothing NTSC-U supports this natively.
  • HDMI: totally digital. All of the above were analog. I'm not 100% sure what the logic is for HDMI, but it's the only cable that supports 1080p and higher to my understanding. (Not sure if DVI counts, but that's for computer monitors.)
So no, S-Video is not component.

Fourth, no, S-Video will not get you 480p. That is exclusively in the domain of component and HDMI cables, and even then, the console has to support it; the SNES does not. The first Nintendo console to support 480p was the Gamecube.

Fifth: dunno if he still sells them, but I got my S-Video cables from Racketboy, and they all worked great for me.

Thanks alot guys!

And...Oh my Shadow you answered everything I asked so exhaustively and detailed....Thank you so much!
Edgeworth-bow(a).gif


BASED SAHDOW HOG IS BASED!
 

Quackula

Member
Second off: the SNES, as far as I know, does not output Component. Period. You might be able to mod some out of it, but out of the box, it supports RF, composite, S-Video and RGB, and that's it. If you want component, an RGB->component converter box is your only recourse, and you already ruled that out.

Certain models of the SNES actually do have a video chip that outputs component, but you have to wire up those connections yourself.

Just sayin'
 
Question - Do the guts of SNES consoles differ between regions to the point where they won't fit inside another regions' shell? I only ask because I want to use the insides of my SFC in a US SNES shell, but not sure if it'll fit/work.

Won't work. The mechs for the power, reset and eject are completely different, for one.
 

Peagles

Member
Won't work. The mechs for the power, reset and eject are completely different, for one.

Dangit... Then my second question is, is there a way I can get a power adapter for a US SNES that will work here in NZ? Or somehow make an adapter for my Mega Drive 1 power cable (which works with my Super Fami) - I assume it should work with a US SNES, but the end won't fit.
 

Teknoman

Member
Another thread that brings to mind my idea for replacement cases. Too bad I'm not an entrepreneur. lol!

lol yeah thats like 3 different threads so far? The market is there, but I dunno how lucrative it would be. Maybe a side hobby type thing.


Also damn it people, STOP bidding so close to retailer prices for Earthbound *_*

Yes i'm bitter that I got outbid in 1/2 a second left on Earthbound this morning...by multiple people.
 

Hibachi

Banned
I recently moved houses and found these in a box stuffed away in the attic. Missing two boxes but everything else is in really good condition.

5wbl.jpg
 

Mzo

Member
Super Mario World was probably your pack-in, so no box, and Mario Paint had an oversized box since it came with the mouse and plastic mousepad.
 

Peagles

Member
You could just buy an SFC and carve out the cart slot so it can fit north American SNES carts. I've seen it done before.

looks ghetto as fuck

I have a SFC but it's CIB so I don't want to butcher it. My US SNES on the other hand is loose, yellowed, and yuck. I just can't find a power adapter to fit that funky input!
 

Hibachi

Banned
Super Mario World was probably your pack-in, so no box, and Mario Paint had an oversized box since it came with the mouse and plastic mousepad.

Ah yes, I didn't think about that. I do have the Mario Paint mouse and mousepad but no box.

You lucky bastard.

Seriously, nice find, someone's probably kicking themselves right now.

I've had the games in a box under my bed for.....a long ass time. I just didn't realize I had kept the boxes and manuals as well until I went up in the attic.
ETA: My post wasn't very clear, I found the box in my attic, not in the new house.

Hey I just moved houses and left a box of SNES games in the attic. Has anyone seen them?

Hahaha :D
 

Bar81

Member
I recently moved houses and found these in a box stuffed away in the attic. Missing two boxes but everything else is in really good condition

NICE. I had a similar surprise recently when I found a Rendering Ranger R2 amongst my SFC games in storage that I didn't know I had.
 

Bar81

Member
Wow, that would be an excellent thing to forget about and come across years later.

It was kind of crazy to not know I had it given that even when I picked it up 10 years ago, it was something like a $250 game. I was just going through the stacked SFC boxes and was like that doesn't look too familiar and then I pull it out and do a double take. Then later I find that people are now making repros and so I check current prices and I was floored (it's not even a particularly good game). By far, my best "find".
 

Bar81

Member
How is it even possible?
Do cartridges grows up in your attics?

LOL. Mine was in storage at my parent's place :) I blame shoddy record keeping, not realizing that I had two copies (sold one so that's why I didn't think I had it - the good old days when I could find everything - I used to have multiple MD Eliminate Down, PCE Sylphia, etc.) and moving to a different continent.
 

Teknoman

Member
LOL. Mine was in storage at my parent's place :) I blame shoddy record keeping, not realizing that I had two copies (sold one so that's why I didn't think I had it - the good old days when I could find everything - I used to have multiple MD Eliminate Down, PCE Sylphia, etc.) and moving to a different continent.

Good lord o_o
 

-TK-

Member
ZrabB8h.jpg


My latest purchases.

Zelda Parallel Worlds (remodel) and Super Metroid Redesign are so amazing hacks. Haven't tested that Zero mission yet. It was so hard to find pal-versions of those.

FFVI is still the best jrpg and one of my favorite games ever.
 

televator

Member
lol yeah thats like 3 different threads so far? The market is there, but I dunno how lucrative it would be. Maybe a side hobby type thing.

I think the safest route would be to start with the SNES/SFC. It's both the most popular and most in need of replacements. Offer up straight replacements and maybe also an SFC styled case that accommodates the SNES mobo and larger SNES carts. If you can't sell enough of those, then I guess it's hopeless.
 
Quick question: I have my SNES plugged into my LCD over RF, which obviously looks awful. What's the best I can do image-wise without spending a ton of money on a framemeister or doing some sort of mod? It seems like ebay/amazon has s-video cables for around $10. Is that the best I can do given the limitations I've set (for the moment)?
 
Quick question: I have my SNES plugged into my LCD over RF, which obviously looks awful. What's the best I can do image-wise without spending a ton of money on a framemeister or doing some sort of mod? It seems like ebay/amazon has s-video cables for around $10. Is that the best I can do given the limitations I've set (for the moment)?

Does your LCD have S-Video inputs? Most modern ones don't, so keep that in mind.

Cheap options:
1. Find a free CRT on craigslist and use that.
2. S-Video upgrade
 
Does your LCD have S-Video inputs? Most modern ones don't, so keep that in mind.

Cheap options:
1. Find a free CRT on craigslist and use that.
2. S-Video upgrade

Yeah, the LCD is from 2008 so it has s-video. Part of the reason I haven't bothered to upgrade. If I spot a smallish PVM somewhere I'd snag that, but I don't really expect to. Don't have the room for a CRT. Thank for the replies.
 

woodypop

Member
(Cross posted from the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive thread.)

This week was great for retro reading material!

698BE4AC-2E8D-4F16-A4D5-D95967CC0DE8-10864-00000A82BDB6287E_zpsd90a9131.jpg


And the flip side of the same magazine:

D36D9AB5-EDC9-4779-849E-58B60E5546AE-10864-00000A82A6CEBCCC_zps3b1c4726.jpg


Latest issue of Retro Gamer:

DAA81BE9-09A4-4DFA-B0FA-33C914BCE36E-10864-00000A8288D3A057_zps84cd15f7.jpg


Yeah, you UK folk got this stuff a month ago, but it's new to me! =P
 

D-e-f-

Banned
(Cross posted from the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive thread.)

This week was great for retro reading material!


And the flip side of the same magazine:

D36D9AB5-EDC9-4779-849E-58B60E5546AE-10864-00000A82A6CEBCCC_zps3b1c4726.jpg



Yeah, you UK folk got this stuff a month ago, but it's new to me! =P
The UK folk also go the actual, superior SNES on the cover.
 
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