SNES RGB cable woes

16-09-2010 9:37pm #1

I got an RGB SCART cable for my SNES from eBay a while back. While it works, the picture quality isn't great. There's visible moiré patterns in the picture and on bright images I can hear a buzz in the audio. I've tried it on two TVs, one a 21" CRT, so I know it must be an issue with the cable. Due to the patterning the standard composite cable is actually better quality! :eek: I cracked it open to check if there were any caps in the SCART block, there's nothing there except the wires.

Any ideas whether this can be fixed or should I just get a new cable somewhere?

Retr0gamer · 16-09-2010 10:08pm

I was going to say to remove the capacitors but since they are gone then it should work fine. Are all the capacitors gone because only certain ones shold be removed according to this guide:

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/nintendo/pal-snes-rgb.htm

Could be an internal problem or a cable problem. Check a gamecube scart cable if you have one. It should give an RGB image for about 5 seconds before fading to black.

16-09-2010 10:17pm

There's absolutely no components in the block, all it has is the cabling. I also just noticed it has no ferrite shield. Maybe it's just a rubbish cable.

Myrddin · 17-09-2010 9:26am

Karsini wrote: »

There's absolutely no components in the block, all it has is the cabling. I also just noticed it has no ferrite shield. Maybe it's just a rubbish cable.

If it's a third party cable, I know the caps can be hidden anywhere in the cable, it doesn't have to be the block - could be even at the SNES end. Make sure your tv is set for RGB too, as with mine I can change the scart input to various other things.

25-01-2011 10:10pm

Just to update this. I decided to get a new cable in the end and went for an official GameCube cable. My intention was to remove the caps and fit 75 ohm resistors instead. I received it today but it seems the cable I got has already been modded.

It worked on my SNES without any messing and the picture is extremely bright, I have to drop my TV's brightness to zero just to counteract this. Despite this the picture is excellent, I just feel I need to fit the resistors to drop the brightness a little.

The thing is, I haven't been able to open the damn thing to check, it's held with a locking mechanism at the SCART block end which I've yet to work out how to open up.

maddymcmaddser · 03-02-2011 5:33pm

Hey there, I don't know why you'd want to mod your gamecube cable if it works fine? I've got my Snes, N64 and Gamecube all set up and I just switch my Gamecube scart cable between the 3 of them and they all work perfectly.

03-02-2011 5:46pm

maddymcmaddser wrote: »

Hey there, I don't know why you'd want to mod your gamecube cable if it works fine? I've got my Snes, N64 and Gamecube all set up and I just switch my Gamecube scart cable between the 3 of them and they all work perfectly.

Stock GameCube cables don't work on a PAL SNES without modification, the SNES expects 75 Ohm resistors on the red, green and blue lines while the GameCube (and Super Famicom) expect 100uF capacitors. Putting a PAL GC cable on a PAL SNES will result in a picture that fades out after a few seconds. Or at least that's what I'm reading online...

But it seems my cable has had the capacitors removed without having the resistors fitted so the picture is extremely bright.

Retr0gamer · 03-02-2011 8:37pm

It's a very easy mod to get a GC RGB cable working on a SNES:

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/nintendo/pal-snes-rgb.htm

03-02-2011 9:58pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It's a very easy mod to get a GC RGB cable working on a SNES:

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/nintendo/pal-snes-rgb.htm

I know how to do it, just can't open the bloody thing!

eric90000 · 13-02-2012 5:27pm

Hey man I'm in the same boat I just bought a RGB cable for my SNES on Ebay. It's a Pal snes and it works like, I get picture and sound through the scart on 2 tv's, however the picture is sort of patterned, like it doesnt blend well together at all, looks bad. The RF cable actually looks better. Any suggestions?

13-02-2012 5:37pm

In my case it was just a poor quality cable.

As I mentioned above I got an official GameCube RGB cable to replace it. What I didn't say is that I since managed to open the SCART block and it wasn't modified. So I replaced the capacitors with 75 Ohm resistors and it's now perfect.

eric90000 · 13-02-2012 6:02pm

does it have to be an official gamecube cable? im pretty useless at soldering and electrics, any idea where i cud get a cable that will definatley work straight away?

Did your picture look sort of pixelated when you got your first cable? with the original RF cable on super mario world, on the map screen, the water looks just normal blue, however with the new RGB cable I can actually see the different tiny light blue/dark blue pixels. pretty crap lookin

Mr E · 13-02-2012 7:24pm

Please don't bump year-old threads. I'll allow it this time since the OP was good enough to reply...

13-02-2012 7:58pm

eric90000 wrote: »

does it have to be an official gamecube cable? im pretty useless at soldering and electrics, any idea where i cud get a cable that will definatley work straight away?

Did your picture look sort of pixelated when you got your first cable? with the original RF cable on super mario world, on the map screen, the water looks just normal blue, however with the new RGB cable I can actually see the different tiny light blue/dark blue pixels. pretty crap lookin

It was almost like a cross-hatch pattern, so yes it sounds like what you're experiencing. Basically the cable isn't shielded well enough. There's probably other good third party cables out there, I just played it safe with an official one.

o1s1n · 13-02-2012 10:49pm

eric90000 wrote: »

Did your picture look sort of pixelated when you got your first cable? with the original RF cable on super mario world, on the map screen, the water looks just normal blue, however with the new RGB cable I can actually see the different tiny light blue/dark blue pixels. pretty crap lookin

It's not that RGB makes it look pixelated, it's that you get every pixel showing with perfect clarity and colour. With rf they're all blurred and horrible with nasty interference.

Saying that, I did have one dodgy snes where it wasn't outputting RGB correctly and it did look overly pixelated. Maybe you're having that problem?

Here's some comparison photos of all the different signal types on a Megadrive.

Retr0gamer · 13-02-2012 10:49pm

eric90000 wrote: »

does it have to be an official gamecube cable? im pretty useless at soldering and electrics, any idea where i cud get a cable that will definatley work straight away?

I'm useless at this stuff as well but it was the first mod I did and it was one of the easiest you can do. Google mmmonkey and there's a tutorial there on how to do it.

Either that or just get an official cable.

eric90000 · 14-02-2012 2:14am

thanks for the replies. this is basically how my snes looks on my tv (tried both HD LCD and a smaller older TV):

file.php?id=3096

it looks like its been stitched or something.

the thing is as soon as I switch back to the standard RF cable the background colours etc look normal again, as in they dont look horribly pixelated. Judging from the pictures is it the cable thats at fault would you think? surely its not supposed to look that way.

Myrddin · 14-02-2012 11:05am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'm useless at this stuff as well but it was the first mod I did and it was one of the easiest you can do. Google mmmonkey and there's a tutorial there on how to do it.

Either that or just get an official cable.

Here's the link - http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/nintendo/pal-snes-rgb.htm

Though by looking at the OP's pic, this isn't what the problem is. In fact, I can't really tell properly but are you sure those arn't just the pixels on your tv?

Retr0gamer · 14-02-2012 11:48am

If you are playing on a Hi-Def screen it could be artifacts from the TVs upscaler. Have you tried switching the TV to game mode?

Myrddin · 14-02-2012 11:51am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

If you are playing on a Hi-Def screen it could be artifacts from the TVs upscaler. Have you tried switching the TV to game mode? dont. Use an old CRT screen for best results

Fixed

o1s1n · 14-02-2012 1:32pm

Enternow - do you remember you had a look at a snes for me a while ago which had weird video issues? I think it was only displaying in black and white or something. You modded it hoping that might fix the problem but unfortunately it didn't.

I tried it out with a PAL Snes RGB cable and ended up with a weird stitched effect that you can see in the OPs photos. Couldn't figure out what was going on with it as it was the only time I'd ever seen it happen.

OP - any chance you know someone else with a snes and you could try out your RGB cable with their console? I really hope this isn't some age thing related to on board chips which is eventually going to effect everyones console.

eric90000 · 14-02-2012 2:45pm

EnterNow wrote: »

Here's the link - http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/nintendo/pal-snes-rgb.htm

Though by looking at the OP's pic, this isn't what the problem is. In fact, I can't really tell properly but are you sure those arn't just the pixels on your tv?

I'm pretty sure its not the pixels, its more like a strange stitched pattern, really visible even from a distance. When I use the RF cable (its less defined etc but theres no pattern on the screen).

I actually have a PAL SNES ordered from ebay that plays both PAL and NTSC/JAP games, I'll try the cable with that and let you know.

eric90000 · 14-02-2012 5:18pm

I should note also theres an audible fuzzy noise when the volume is turned up at all, especially when the screen is bright (it seems to disappear when the screen is black). Would this indicate the cable is cheaply made?

Myrddin · 14-02-2012 6:20pm

eric90000 wrote: »

I should note also theres an audible fuzzy noise when the volume is turned up at all, especially when the screen is bright (it seems to disappear when the screen is black). Would this indicate the cable is cheaply made?

Sounds like a grounding issue so. Where did you get the scart?

@ o1s1n, yep I remember. The 60Hz mod made no difference, I think it lost a colour channel or two didn't it?

eric90000 · 14-02-2012 6:30pm

EnterNow wrote: »

Sounds like a grounding issue so. Where did you get the scart?

bought it off ebay less that a week ago, heres the exact cable I got:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/110821942700?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

opened it up too, looks pretty flimsy, there was the usual wires and 1 capacitor.

Myrddin · 14-02-2012 7:06pm

eric90000 wrote: »

bought it off ebay less that a week ago, heres the exact cable I got:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/110821942700?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

opened it up too, looks pretty flimsy, there was the usual wires and 1 capacitor.

When I was at the cable buying phase, I used consolegoods a fair bit & never had an issue. I'd suggest buying a proper PAL RGB Scart from them before you do anything else.

eric90000 · 14-02-2012 10:12pm

EnterNow wrote: »

When I was at the cable buying phase, I used consolegoods a fair bit & never had an issue. I'd suggest buying a proper PAL RGB Scart from them before you do anything else.

funny enough thats the ebay seller I bought from, Ive heard good things about them also. maybe i just got a dud? he said send it back and he'll have a look at it but its probably not worth my while with postage etc, makes more to sense to just get a new one.

eric90000 · 14-02-2012 11:40pm

I've come to the conclusion its actually not the cable at all, but my TV's. the first one I tried was a 47" LG HDTV (which said it had RGB Scart on the back, but probably was digital RGB, not analogue?) and it looked horribly stitched like the pictures. I'm guessing it was the upscaler doing a crappy job, or maybe the TV just doesn't support RGB even though it says it does.

Then I tried it on an old Sony 32" CRT, but it still looked the same. However it seems I was using it in the wrong Scart socket. There was 3 of them on the back of the Sony, turns out the one that says "VCR" works like a charm, the horrible pattern suddenly disappears. With a little picture tweaking I got it looking great, really crisp and smooth.

So I'm guessing new HDTVs just dont like SNES's!

Thanks for all the help, appreciate it!

Myrddin · 15-02-2012 11:46am

eric90000 wrote: »

I've come to the conclusion its actually not the cable at all, but my TV's. the first one I tried was a 47" LG HDTV (which said it had RGB Scart on the back, but probably was digital RGB, not analogue?) and it looked horribly stitched like the pictures. I'm guessing it was the upscaler doing a crappy job, or maybe the TV just doesn't support RGB even though it says it does.

Then I tried it on an old Sony 32" CRT, but it still looked the same. However it seems I was using it in the wrong Scart socket. There was 3 of them on the back of the Sony, turns out the one that says "VCR" works like a charm, the horrible pattern suddenly disappears. With a little picture tweaking I got it looking great, really crisp and smooth.

So I'm guessing new HDTVs just dont like SNES's!

Thanks for all the help, appreciate it!

Are you still getting the noise through the crt? Happy days if not, & nope, hdtv's don't like retro consoles. Its ok though, retro consoles don't like them either

eric90000 · 15-02-2012 1:54pm

EnterNow wrote: »

Are you still getting the noise through the crt? Happy days if not, & nope, hdtv's don't like retro consoles. Its ok though, retro consoles don't like them either

yeah theres still a bit of noise alright.....its actually just dawned on me, this cable says it also outputs AV Composite in case your TV isn't RGB compatible....to be honest I think thats that I'm seeing. I compared it with a SNES Composite red/white/yellow jack cable and the difference is negligible, so it must be Composite I'm seeing though the RGB cable. It must be the only Scart socket that doesn't support RGB, so it outputs in Composite. when I plug it back into another Scart it immediately looks clearer and more defined but the annoying moire stitch pattern comes back.

at this stage though I'm not bothered trying to find an old gamecube cable (which are like 60 pounds on ebay!?!). Composite looks decent enough.

o1s1n · 15-02-2012 2:04pm

That sounds about right, most TVs only support RGB through one scart socket, the others are composite only.

Any decent RGB scart cable will support composite too. That's why you get a lot of people plugging RGB cables into scart sockets and saying there's 'no difference' - it's purely because what they are seeing is composite.

eric90000 · 15-02-2012 2:15pm

o1s1n wrote: »

That sounds about right, most TVs only support RGB through one scart socket, the others are composite only.

Any decent RGB scart cable will support composite too. That's why you get a lot of people plugging RGB cables into scart sockets and saying there's 'no difference' - it's purely because what they are seeing is composite.

would you think then the problem isn't the cable? could it be my SNES perhaps....don't think its the TV as it happens on 2 of them. is it possible that the cable outputs Composite alright but RGB looks bad?

Myrddin · 15-02-2012 2:18pm

eric90000 wrote: »

yeah theres still a bit of noise alright.....its actually just dawned on me, this cable says it also outputs AV Composite in case your TV isn't RGB compatible....to be honest I think thats that I'm seeing. I compared it with a SNES Composite red/white/yellow jack cable and the difference is negligible, so it must be Composite I'm seeing though the RGB cable. It must be the only Scart socket that doesn't support RGB, so it outputs in Composite. when I plug it back into another Scart it immediately looks clearer and more defined but the annoying moire stitch pattern comes back.

at this stage though I'm not bothered trying to find an old gamecube cable (which are like 60 pounds on ebay!?!). Composite looks decent enough.

When you said you used the VCR scart, I kinda thought alright that you were just getting composite. Most tv will label their scarts as 1) RGB, & then 2) Is just a bog standard VCR one.

I'd lay odds that the cable is defective & there's a problem with the rgb in it. That would explain the noise your getting & the way the picture gets better when using the VCR scart.

Stick with it, RGB walks all over composite. Send him the cable back & get a replacement

o1s1n · 15-02-2012 2:34pm

eric90000 wrote: »

would you think then the problem isn't the cable? could it be my SNES perhaps....don't think its the TV as it happens on 2 of them. is it possible that the cable outputs Composite alright but RGB looks bad?

Well like that broken Snes I mentioned before, it had the same stitched effect you're seeing and that was the console itself and not the cable.

I've never had a cable from Consolegoodsuk arrive defective, and I bought a ton of them.

The only way to be 100% sure is to wait for that new Snes you have coming and try the cable with that.

eric90000 · 15-02-2012 4:39pm

so have your SNES RGB cables from consolegoodsuk worked perfectly? I'm also looking to get an RGB cable for my sega megadrive II, any experience with this?

yeah I'll try it out on the new SNES before I do anything, I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out!

o1s1n · 15-02-2012 5:15pm

I reckon I've pretty much bought every RGB scart cable with consolegoodsuk have! The only one I didn't get from them was for the Atari Jaguar, but it's only because they were sold out of them.

All of them have worked. That's probably in the region of 10-15 cables. Maybe more, I've lost count at this point.

If you're getting a Megadrive II cable, just make sure you don't accidentally buy a Megadrive I cable. It's one case where they're different sizes and specific to each version of the console.

15-02-2012 7:46pm

eric90000 wrote: »

so have your SNES RGB cables from consolegoodsuk worked perfectly? I'm also looking to get an RGB cable for my sega megadrive II, any experience with this?

yeah I'll try it out on the new SNES before I do anything, I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out!

I looked back on my eBay purchase history. Turns out I got my dud cable from them too.

eric90000 · 15-02-2012 7:57pm

Karsini wrote: »

I looked back on my eBay purchase history. Turns out I got my dud cable from them too.

not looking good for the cable so. I'll give it a bash on the new SNES, probably will be the same though. where did you get your official gamecube RGB as a matter of interest?

15-02-2012 8:43pm

eric90000 wrote: »

where did you get your official gamecube RGB as a matter of interest?

I got it from an Amazon Marketplace reseller (sweetii_cubes). Set me back £31 at the time but I considered it to be worth it after the last one.

o1s1n · 15-02-2012 9:11pm

If it does turn out to be the cable rather than your Snes, there's still no need to go and spend £31 on one. €37 for an RGB cable is ridiculously expensive.

An RGB Snes cable should not cost you more than €15 delivered, max. Anything more is a waste of money. They all do exactly the same thing.

Your priority should be to get a working one, not an expensive one

eric90000 · 01-03-2012 1:02pm

just recieved a sega megadrive II RGB cable today that i bought off the net. I have to say it looks pretty good! very defined and vibrant.

still havent received the new multi-region snes I got on ebay....there was a big mixup but its in the post at the moment. I have a feeling the RGB snes cable will still look pretty bad on the new one. anyone have any advice on where to get one that works?

soopx · 17-03-2012 1:57pm

Hey guys. I'm having the exact same problem here. I bought this cable:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220939681083?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

and initially it didn't work, but I found out you can just remove some of the caps in the SCART socket and re-solder the wires, and it works.

TBH, it's been a bit weird, because I tried it on my Sony TV, and both channels look really "stitched together", so I thought maybe this TV has no RGB SCART. Then I tried both sockets on my LG, one stitched, one not, and the one which isn't is CLEARLY composite.

So my Sony has 2 RGB channels, and they both look like ass.

I'm gonna talk to a guy who may be able to help, I'll let you know the outcome if I hear anything

17-03-2012 2:19pm

Sounds exactly the same as what I was having. It seems to me that some of the third party cables aren't shielded properly.

It's not true that all cables do the same thing, at least on SCART anyway. While cable quality makes zero difference on HDMI or DVI, it does matter on analogue signals. I don't know how many SCART cables I've seen where another channel is ghosting through the picture due to crosstalk on the SCART cable.

eric90000 · 17-03-2012 2:41pm

I got that new SNES in the end, tried the RGB cable on it and the same problem is still there, that pattern accross the screen. very annoying.

Also the Sega Megadrive II RGB cable I got produces perfect picture, but pretty bad humming when there is bright white on the screen, not noticeable with the background music but its a pity!

soopx · 17-03-2012 3:13pm

Karsini wrote: »

Sounds exactly the same as what I was having. It seems to me that some of the third party cables aren't shielded properly.

It's not true that all cables do the same thing, at least on SCART anyway. While cable quality makes zero difference on HDMI or DVI, it does matter on analogue signals. I don't know how many SCART cables I've seen where another channel is ghosting through the picture due to crosstalk on the SCART cable.

I hear ya, but I don't think it's that. The colours are actually really defined, butit's the blockiness that's the problem. I'm surprised this isn't well documented, it must have happened before now.

Well I found the pinouts: http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm#snes And soldered 4 75 ohm resistors on, but it hasn't made any difference.

17-03-2012 3:15pm

soopx wrote: »

I hear ya, but I don't think it's that. The colours are actually really defined, butit's the blockiness that's the problem. I'm surprised this isn't well documented, it must have happened before now.

Well I found the pinouts: http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm#snes And soldered 4 75 ohm resistors on, but it hasn't made any difference.

Adding the resistors is only to dim the picture if it is too bright, it doesn't stop the moiré patterns.

soopx · 17-03-2012 3:25pm

Karsini wrote: »

Adding the resistors is only to dim the picture if it is too bright, it doesn't stop the moiré patterns.

Well it's weird, because the resistors actually go from the RGB and composite out, to ground. So it shouldn't (and doesn't) have ANY effect on the picture as far as I can tell.

I have no idea why they're there.

Actually, saying that, the composite is jumpered to pin 20, and I have no idea what that's for

17-03-2012 3:32pm

soopx wrote: »

Well it's weird, because the resistors actually go from the RGB and composite out, to ground. So it shouldn't (and doesn't) have ANY effect on the picture as far as I can tell.

I have no idea why they're there.

Actually, saying that, the composite is jumpered to pin 20, and I have no idea what that's for

In my case, I put them where the capacitors were on the original cable. Without the resistors the picture was so bright I had to drop my TV's brightness down to zero but it's fine now.

soopx · 19-03-2012 1:16pm

Just gonna post these up for reference (here is as good as anywhere)

Composite:

RGB:

I guess you can see the effect most clearly on the balloon in the background, what appears as a solid colour on composite, appears... pixelated, I suppose, on the RGB.

Similar effect on the green grass on Kirby. It's noticable enough that it's not really better than composite. And I have NO idea what can cause this kind of effect.

This is the same issue other people are seeing right?

*edit* I found this too: http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3859.0

He seems to suggest that this effect is a lack of contrast due to the composite signal not being grounded - but mine is grounded

Maybe I need to use a resistor with more resistance than 75 ohms?

Hank Scorpio · 20-03-2012 3:29am

I got my snes rgb cable from consolegoods and it was fine if that makes any difference

Myrddin · 20-03-2012 12:23pm

A SNES RGB cable can't be great quality for £3. Also, the picture enhancing technologies of hd/lcd/plasma screens could affect the final image in some cases.

SNES RGB cable woes

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