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[Hero_of_the_Day]

Holy shit that's awesome. Can you provide direction on who to contact for one and the cost? How much better is this than s video?

How much did it cost to have done, and what are the benefits over s-video or rgb?

Well he's local for me, so I didn't have to pay shipping or anything. I'd rather not say who did it in case he doesn't want a bunch of people flooding him with requests. He's in this thread so he'll make himself known if he wants to be, I'm sure.

He switched over to Svideo for a bit so I could see the difference. Component blew svideo away. Seriously, I cannot oversell how blown away I am by how good it looks.

 

[Superblatt]

Well he's local for me, so I didn't have to pay shipping or anything. I'd rather not say who did it in case he doesn't want a bunch of people flooding him with requests. He's in this thread so he'll make himself known if he wants to be, I'm sure.

He switched over to Svideo for a bit so I could see the difference. Component blew svideo away. Seriously, I cannot oversell how blown away I am by how good it looks.

I'm genuinely shocked you're saying it's significantly better than svideo. If it's $100 or less for the mod, and clearly noticeable, it's worth it. Hopefully the gent who took care of you is open to helping other gaffers. Would love to see svideo vs component screen shot comparison.

 

[Dr Stabbingworth]

I found this post on SDA which has some pics

I'd be interested in hearing more about the cost from the person who does these, if possible.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Mine looks way better than those screenshots. It may just be something you really have to see in person to get. I'll try my best tomorrow. I think I have a nintendo s-video chord around. If not it will only be composite and component.

 

[TnK]

What is the difference between component and S-video? Since we did have a discussion about S-Video and composite.

I also bought Yoshi's Island in really good condition for $30, that a good price?

 

[inner-G]

If the modder would want to take requests, I'd be in!

I may be local too... me and Hero hit the same spots game hunting sometimes.

 

[KDash31987]

What is the difference between component and S-video? Since we did have a discussion about S-Video and composite.

Component has better color and brightness separation than S-video, which leads to pretty much perfect picture. S-Video suffers from some color bleeding, which component does not (for the most part), which leads to a better overall picture with more vibrant colors.

I've only seen some really, really minor color bleeding, like...once with component, and it was barely noticeable, and might just have been me. While S-Video looks great for the most part, there's still a quite a bit of color bleeding, most noticeable around red-colored things. Component should get rid of that.

Component also supports higher video modes than S-Video (480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p; S-Video only supports 240p and 480i)...though that part doesn't matter for the SNES, since it only outputs "240p."

Composite doesn't separate anything and just compresses it all into one cable, which is why it looks so bad in comparison to S-Video and component, which do separate picture, color, and brightness. RF is even worse than composite, though, since it also stuffs audio into the same one cable as video and is really prone to static interference.

 

[TnK]

Component has better color and brightness separation than S-video, which leads to pretty much perfect picture. S-Video suffers from some color bleeding, which component does not (for the most part), which leads to a better overall picture with more vibrant colors.

I've only seen some really, really minor color bleeding, like...once with component, and it was barely noticeable, and might just have been me. While S-Video looks great for the most part, there's still a quite a bit of color bleeding, most noticeable around red-colored things. Component should get rid of that.

Component also supports higher video modes than S-Video (480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p; S-Video only supports 240p and 480i)...though that part doesn't matter for the SNES, since it only outputs "240p."

Composite doesn't separate anything and just compresses it all into one cable, which is why it looks so bad in comparison to S-Video and component, which do separate picture, color, and brightness. RF is even worse than composite, though, since it also stuffs audio into the same one cable as video and is really prone to static interference.

Thanks a lot, this is exactly what I wanted to know, and clears a lot of stuff that was going on in my head.

Was also thinking of modding my console to component, but then a friend told me that the upgrade from s-video to component won't be that huge since the snes already has a limited set of color pallets. Makes the upgrade in sharpness only.

 

[HaL64]

Thanks a lot, this is exactly what I wanted to know, and clears a lot of stuff that was going on in my head.

Was also thinking of modding my console to component, but then a friend told me that the upgrade from s-video to component won't be that huge since the snes already has a limited set of color pallets. Makes the upgrade in sharpness only.

It depends on the TV. The Chroma is combined into one line in S-video, and the Luma on another line. Component's Chroma is separated into two lines (the red and blue connections), and the green connection is Luma. This basically gives you something that is close to RGB. The chromas being combined into one on S-Video is bad. Some TV's can process it better than others. But you can only do so much.
I have a theory that some people say component doesn't look much better than S-Video because they have a tv that does neither well. But the color palette has little to do with it. The SNES color palette is fairly rich. It is not an atari 2600.
Don't get me wrong here, component and RGB on these retro consoles is for videophiles, and collectors. Your average gamer will be like, "what? I don't get it."

 

[TnK]

It depends on the TV. The Chroma is combined into one line in S-video, and the Luma on another line. Component's Chroma is separated into two lines (the red and blue connections), and the green connection is Luma. This basically gives you something that is close to RGB. The chromas being combined into one on S-Video is bad. Some TV's can process it better than others. But you can only do so much.
I have a theory that some people say component doesn't look much better than S-Video because they have a tv that does neither well. But the color palette has little to do with it. The SNES color palette is fairly rich. It is not an atari 2600.
Don't get me wrong here, component and RGB on these retro consoles is for videophiles, and collectors. Your average gamer will be like, "what? I don't get it."

Sadly I am a videophile. I tend to notice very tiny changes up to the point that my friends joke about me having cyborg eyes. It's the reason I bought a snes to play on a CRT TV because playing 2D games in non native res really bothers me.

If it helps your theory, seems like the CRT TV I own is a high end one, since it eliminates a huge chunk of color bleeding with composite cables. It is still there, but nowhere near how bad some TVs have it. Can't wait to test them. I have a ps2 plugged into the TV with component cables. I may try comparing FFVI with the snes version vs the PSX one and see the difference. Resolution output should be the same for both.

 

[HaL64]

Sadly I am a videophile. I tend to notice very tiny changes up to the point that my friends joke about me having cyborg eyes. It's the reason I bought a snes to play on a CRT TV because playing 2D games in non native res really bothers me.

If it helps your theory, seems like the CRT TV I own is a high end one, since it eliminates a huge chunk of color bleeding with composite cables. It is still there, but nowhere near how bad some TVs have it. Can't wait to test them. I have a ps2 plugged into the TV with component cables. I may try comparing FFVI with the snes version vs the PSX one and see the difference. Resolution output should be the same for both.

Just bought Strider 2 tonight (PSX), it comes with a port of Strider 1 and so tested it on my RGB monitor and compared it with the genesis version. It pretty much blows away the genesis version. So be careful with those types of comparisons.
The genesis sprites are just not as nice, they look dithered due to sprite color format most likely.

 

[brainpann]

Just bought Strider 2 tonight (PSX), it comes with a port of Strider 1 and so tested it on my RGB monitor and compared it with the genesis version. It pretty much blows away the genesis version. So be careful with those types of comparisons.
The genesis sprites are just not as nice, they look dithered due to sprite color format most likely.

Isnt the PS1 version of Strider based on the arcade version and the Genesis version a port? It does t seem like a fair comparison.

Edit
Nvmind-i guess that waz your point.

 

[KDash31987]

Strider isn't a fair comparison, since the PlayStation version is a port of the arcade version, so it's obviously gonna look better than the Genesis port.

Arcade:

Genesis:

You'll have to see if Final Fantasy VI had any graphical changes done before you consider doing a comparison with it.

I've been tempted to do a comparison for this thread using the Mega Man X Collection version of Mega Man X with component and the SNES version with S-Video, but I don't know if I'll ever do it. They should look identical, though. The only changes in that were in the dialogue script and the removal of the "Hadouken!" voice clip, as far as I can remember. There might be differences in resolution, though, so I'll have to check. I do know that they both display under the so called "240p," but there might be some small differences.

By the way, I was actually playing Strider on my PlayStation 2 via component recently. Damn did it look gorgeous.

 

[BocoDragon]

Sadly I am a videophile. I tend to notice very tiny changes up to the point that my friends joke about me having cyborg eyes. It's the reason I bought a snes to play on a CRT TV because playing 2D games in non native res really bothers me.

If it helps your theory, seems like the CRT TV I own is a high end one, since it eliminates a huge chunk of color bleeding with composite cables. It is still there, but nowhere near how bad some TVs have it. Can't wait to test them. I have a ps2 plugged into the TV with component cables. I may try comparing FFVI with the snes version vs the PSX one and see the difference. Resolution output should be the same for both.

I believe FFVI for PS1 is indeed displaying a different resolution than the SNES (and not in a good way.. Like it's taking the unusual resolution of the SNES, stretched to the resolution of PS1, and then output differently). It won't be a great comparison.

 

[HaL64]

Yeah it's not exactly a great comparison. I was just trying to point out the source assets are the same, but when you convert them to the platform you care about different amount of fidelity is lost.
If they took directly from the SNES sprites, I'd be surprised.

Really, the argument that S-video and component would have negligible differences in quality should be taken to the AVS forums where your ass can be more articulately handed to you.

Strider isn't a fair comparison, since the PlayStation version is a port of the arcade version, so it's obviously gonna look better than the Genesis port.

Arcade:

Genesis:

You'll have to see if Final Fantasy VI had any graphical changes done before you consider doing a comparison with it.

I've been tempted to do a comparison for this thread using the Mega Man X Collection version of Mega Man X with and component and the SNES version with S-Video, but I don't know if I'll ever do it. They should look identical, though. The only changes in that were in the dialogue script and the removal of the "Hadouken!" voice clip, as far as I can remember. There might be differences in resolution, though, so I'll have to check.

By the way, I was actually playing Strider on my PlayStation 2 via component recently. Damn did it look gorgeous.

 

[PumpkinSpice]

If you want to know how component looks on SNES, just look at comparisons between composite/svideo and RGB. I don't have an RGB setup to compare it to, but technically the difference in quality between RGB and component is negligible. With component, you get a perfect reproduction of what was sent from the source (minus interference), just as you do with RGB.

The one place you might see a problem with component picture on SNES is the circuit used in the SNES itself. The way I did my component mod was to lift the signal off the pins of the encoder chip; I then stuck a couple fat capacitors on the Pb and Pr lines to help the color look less de-saturated, as the Pb and Pr pins on the S-ENC chip are not meant for output directly to a TV. Ideally you would have an amplifier on those lines, but my method was close enough that I'm pleased.

 

[TnK]

I always thought that PSX also had an output of 300x240. You sure it is non native res?

EDIT: I just saw the RGB cable, and I believe my TV accepts that input. Guess it's time to get that instead, lol.

 

[IrishNinja]

<3 strider

also congrats Hero, that's a really pro/clean looking mod you got done there!

 

[TnK]

Well, my TV has no SCART RGB input, but it does output resolutions up to 1080i. Don't know if that is useful or not. Seems like the CRT TVs at the time dropped the SCART RGB input. Same era as the Sony Wega TVs.

 

[KDash31987]

Well...it's useful if you plan to connect HD consoles to it. Hah. Not useful for SNES, though.

I wish I had an HD CRT for my HD consoles. I don't care much for LCD or Plasma TVs.

 

[TnK]

Well...it's useful if you plan to connect HD consoles to it. Hah. Not useful for SNES, though.

I wish I had an HD CRT for my HD consoles. I don't care much for LCD or Plasma TVs.

I have a philips, and apparently after talking to my friend, the pixel count is not 1920x1080. Instead, leme give you the wiki quoute he sent me:

Images may be output at 256 or 512 pixels horizontal resolution and 224, 239, 448, or 478 pixels vertically. Vertical resolutions of 224 or 239 are usually output in progressive scan, while 448 and 478 resolutions are interlaced

If you really want an HD CRT, hunt for a philips, or a sony wegat tv. Though I am not sure if it is helpful.


EDIT:

http://www.emere.es/epages/218543.sf/es_ES/?ObjectPath=/Shops/218543/Products/0000000000251

Does this run on US SNES? Site is in spanish, so I can't really make out what they say, even with google translate on.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Why do my pictures suck so bad when I'm trying to take a pic of my TV? They look pixelated as fuck:

That is not at all how it looks in person. What magic do I need to do to get them to not suck?

 

[HaL64]

The one place you might see a problem with component picture on SNES is the circuit used in the SNES itself. The way I did my component mod was to lift the signal off the pins of the encoder chip; I then stuck a couple fat capacitors on the Pb and Pr lines to help the color look less de-saturated, as the Pb and Pr pins on the S-ENC chip are not meant for output directly to a TV. Ideally you would have an amplifier on those lines, but my method was close enough that I'm pleased.

Yeah the s-enc doesn't do a perfect job at creating a component signal. At least not from what I've read.

 

[KDash31987]

Does this run on US SNES? Site is in spanish, so I can't really make out what they say, even with google translate on.

It says that it lets you use games from any region, and that it supports automatic region selection to avoid any error messages about the cartridge not being compatible.

It also says that the cartridges use PAL cases, repurposed from old cartridges, so they may contain signs of wear.


I can't tell you for sure that it'll work on your system...but, it might...but you'll probably have remove the tabs in the cartridge slot if you haven't already, since the carts used aren't U.S. ones.

 

[-KRS-]

Why do my pictures suck so bad when I'm trying to take a pic of my TV? They look pixelated as fuck:



That is not at all how it looks in person. What magic do I need to do to get them to not suck?

It's kind of hard to get rid of that effect, and I'm not an expert on photographing CRTs, but try setting the shutter speed to 1/30 and taking the photo head on. Obviously the image on the CRT should preferrably be static because otherwise it'll come out blurry at that shutter speed. If you put it at 1/60 though there might be horizontal banding visible unless you manage to catch one whole frame perfectly. I think it already looks really nice though.

EDIT:

http://www.emere.es/epages/218543.sf/es_ES/?ObjectPath=/Shops/218543/Products/0000000000251

Does this run on US SNES? Site is in spanish, so I can't really make out what they say, even with google translate on.

I don't see why it shouldn't if it's the same PCB as the other SD2SNESs being sold, which it seems to be looking at the description (i don't know spanish though, but it seems like it's just the english description translated).

And the cart might be repurposed into a universal one. The other universal carts that other SD2SNES resellers use look exactly like a PAL cart but on the back there are two notches that makes it possible to insert it into a US SNES without taking out the tabs. There's no picture of the back though so it's hard to tell. I can say that the cart from retrogate is clearly a newly produced cartridge because the plastic feels different from regular carts and it is also very clean/not yellowed compared to regular carts. So if it says these are repurposed PAL carts there is a chance they might not have the notches in the back.

 

[Teknoman]

So has anyone jumped on the Brainlord train, because if not...you should.

Worth it for the soundtrack and the actually challenging dungeon puzzles alone.

 

[Krelian]

Edit: Oh wait aren't you the guy who I helped register for that site btw?
Did you find any german-language games for a good price yet?

Yeah, that was me Unfortunately I haven't had much luck there yet. When I tried bidding for some games they would always go higher than I anticipated so I ended up losing the auction. For a while there were no new interesting auctions and then I just forgot to check. At the moment there don't seem to be many games that interest me but I'll keep checking and one day I'm sure I'll buy one too

 

[Wereroku]

So has anyone jumped on the Brainlord train, because if not...you should.

Worth it for the soundtrack and the actually challenging dungeon puzzles alone.

Very fun game but rather frustrating in a couple of places.

 

[Velinos]

So has anyone jumped on the Brainlord train, because if not...you should.

Worth it for the soundtrack and the actually challenging dungeon puzzles alone.

I played it back in the day and recently picked it up cheap. If you liked Brainlord, another action-RPG I would recommend is Brandish. It also has a killer soundtrack. That, Contra 3, and Rocko's Modern Life are the three SNES games I am still on the lookout for.

 

[A Link to the Past]

I'm trying to get every game I want before I feel like I have a finished collection. The next game I plan on getting is EVO - I just wish it wasn't $175 dang dollars

 

[HaL64]

Superblatt and Inner-G, sent you PMs.

 

[Teknoman]

Very fun game but rather frustrating in a couple of places.

Yeah that one pitch black series of rooms was just...not necessary. Not sure who thought that was a good idea.

I played it back in the day and recently picked it up cheap. If you liked Brainlord, another action-RPG I would recommend is Brandish. It also has a killer soundtrack. That, Contra 3, and Rocko's Modern Life are the three SNES games I am still on the lookout for.

Brandish sounds familiar... Falcom game?

 

[sixteen-bit]

Brandish sounds familiar... Falcom game?

Yeah, Falcom joint. It was originally a PC-9801 game that has been re-released and remade on several systems, most recently on PSP in 2009.

 

[HaL64]

closed
oh no
They had some real quality work.
I bet the value of all their custom repros are going to skyrocket.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I bet the value of all their custom repros are going to skyrocket.

The gold Ducktales carts they made for Capcom USA will explode.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

closed
oh no
They had some real quality work.
I bet the value of all their custom repros are going to skyrocket.

That's fucking crazy. Out of nowhere.

 

[jdkluv]

Brandish sounds familiar... Falcom game?

Yeah, Falcom joint. It was originally a PC-9801 game that has been re-released and remade on several systems, most recently on PSP in 2009.

Just dropping here to say that Brandish ROCKS. It seriously takes like 15 minutes to get 100% used to the rotating camera, and then the game is fucking awesome.

One of my all time favorite games. Seriously damn near perfect.

SNES Brandish 1 port is okay, except Koei made it even harder to figure out by not having an on-screen minimap but a map on a pause menu, forcing you to constantly switch back and forth... Seems like they learned from that mistake, given that SFC Brandish 2 has an on-screen map :$

P.S. PC Engine Brandish sucks.

 

[Shadow Hog]

I recall seeing the start of a SomethingAwful LP on Brandish. Apparently the game doesn't dynamically rotate the map, like it appears to, but actually has every rotation of the level built in to the map, and it dynamically teleports everything to the correct position whenever you turn.

 

[Anth0ny]

closed
oh no
They had some real quality work.
I bet the value of all their custom repros are going to skyrocket.

no fucking way =(

I was ready to buy some stuff from there >_<

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Started up Tales of Phantasia finally. Seems cool so far. Too many random battle and I don't really get what I'm doing fully with the battle system since there is zero explanation to it.

I was amazed by everything casting reflections in the water:

Surely I've seen it in other SNES games, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. I was impressed. Even birds flying over head have reflections in the water. Fancy.

 

[theSlacker]

closed
oh no
They had some real quality work.
I bet the value of all their custom repros are going to skyrocket.

God fucking dammit, I had just bookmarked that site a week or so ago.

 

[IrishNinja]

^were they the ones that did the whole thing with manuals, cases etc? wonder what exactly happened there, ive heard competition on the repro community can get nasty as far as reporting each other to paypal/etc, i really hope it wasn't that.

 

[Anth0ny]

Anyone else sell English repro carts of Final Fantasy V? ugh

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

^were they the ones that did the whole thing with manuals, cases etc? wonder what exactly happened there, ive heard competition on the repro community can get nasty as far as reporting each other to paypal/etc, i really hope it wasn't that.

Yeah, they did the CIB repros.

There has been a lot of competition going on with new repro makers moving in over the last year selling things at half or even less what these sites were charging previously. I'd imagine that has been a major hit to their cart only sales.

Anyone else sell English repro carts of Final Fantasy V? ugh

Tons of people if you want cart only. This guy will do it for $30 or 3 for $75 and his stuff is absolutely fantastic.

From that thread:

 

[IrishNinja]

lost of people, as i recall...i bought mine off nintendoage, for a good deal ($25!). loose mind you, but i'm good with that.

 

[Seven Force]

Started up Tales of Phantasia finally. Seems cool so far. Too many random battle and I don't really get what I'm doing fully with the battle system since there is zero explanation to it.

I was amazed by everything casting reflections in the water:

Surely I've seen it in other SNES games, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. I was impressed. Even birds flying over head have reflections in the water. Fancy.

Tales of Phantasia in general is just one hell of a technical marvel. I've no idea how they were able to pull off some of the stuff it does on SNES.

 

[Anth0ny]

Tons of people if you want cart only. This guy will do it for $30 or 3 for $75 and his stuff is absolutely fantastic.

From that thread:

yo damn

I need to lurk Nintendoage more. Thanks for the link!

 

[ZealousD]

Tales of Phantasia in general is just one hell of a technical marvel. I've no idea how they were able to pull off some of the stuff it does on SNES.

Doesn't it use a custom board or something? Repros for ToP always cost more than other games.

 

[goldenpp72]

Sucks about timewalk, I just ordered my first (and most important) repro from them (mega man & bass) but I did have some interest in maybe 5 or 6 others over time, just didn't want to sink 500+ in one shot.

Regrets..

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Doesn't it use a custom board or something? Repros for ToP always cost more than other games.

I believe it just takes a lot of space because it has actual voice samples.