RF quality question

[Gooseberrysoda]

That's what the AV selector is for:

Here's one at GameStop (Just put in your zip code to find the nearest location with one in stock:
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Product ... t_id=36338

Here's one at Radio Shack:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2049645

I've personally had the GameStop one for two years now and it makes switching systems a breeze at the push of a button.

Looks cool enough, but I think I'll stick with my RF. Should I see a problem in the quality of my new bigger TV (yay), I'll buy something to help. Thanks for the recommendations.

[RCBH928]

any one think RF would give more retro feel?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

That's what the AV selector is for:

Here's one at GameStop (Just put in your zip code to find the nearest location with one in stock:
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Product ... t_id=36338

Here's one at Radio Shack:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2049645

I've personally had the GameStop one for two years now and it makes switching systems a breeze at the push of a button.

Looks cool enough, but I think I'll stick with my RF. Should I see a problem in the quality of my new bigger TV (yay), I'll buy something to help. Thanks for the recommendations.

If your newer bigger TV is HD most RF adaptors tend not to work, or can create horrible lag as well.

[superlarz]

That's what the AV selector is for:

Here's one at GameStop (Just put in your zip code to find the nearest location with one in stock:
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Product ... t_id=36338

Here's one at Radio Shack:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2049645

I've personally had the GameStop one for two years now and it makes switching systems a breeze at the push of a button.

Looks cool enough, but I think I'll stick with my RF. Should I see a problem in the quality of my new bigger TV (yay), I'll buy something to help. Thanks for the recommendations.

I have been using the ones from gamestop as well. They are very good at what they do and are simple to use.

[DCsegaDH]

I was using the RF unit for Genesis for years until I found out Amazon sells great A/V cables,I never really thought about buying them before,but it make a big difference in Picture and sound especially.Switch boxes are a must have if you have lots of systems like me.

[Anapan]

I'm really enjoying the NTSC filter in ZSNES and Nestopia tuned to some grainy-bleeding-colors and scanlines settings. That's how I remember the games looking as a kid and it really adds to the whole retro experience.
With an RFU adapter I don't think you get stereo sound tho, which I remember being a big thing when I first played my friend's Genesis (yes, we read through the manual and carefully followed the speaker setup section to the letter).

Edit: Oh snap! I forgot the Genesis has a headphone jack! Just patch it into an amp or boombox and you're set!

[dentman42]

Let's say I have a N64 hooked up to a TV through RF. The cable has a little box, with one wire going to the TV, one going to the console, and a little RF nob sticking up. So I screw on my Atari Jaguar. It goes through to the TV just fine. Then I do the same to that RF with a Genesis. My question is this: Will the quality gradually diminish as I add more systems or should I go spend some cash on a splitter?

Simple answer is yes. Depends on the quality of the RF switches involved, but sooner or later quality WILL diminish and it may happen suddenly.

When I worked at Target, they tried chaining VCRs in this manner to be able to try any VCR using just 1 TV. After the 2nd or 3rd VCR in the chain, quality was terrible. Adding RF amps along the line did not help. Eventually, I just took one long cable, attached to the TV, and hooked to whatever VCR somebody wanted to see.

Best solution is AV cables by far.

One person mentioned that on newer TVs, quality is poor with RF and may cause lag. I've never seen the lag issue (though I've seen it with capture cards), but I have noticed poor signal with lots of RFI on computers and games, even though a normal TV signal or even VCR RF out looks ok. Anybody know WHY this occurs? I can connect the computer/game to the RF in on a VCR and use the VCRs tuner and AV OR RF out from the VCR and it's as clear as RF can be.

I also discovered that my bigscreen doesn't even like AV or S-Video from some computers/consoles - vertical sync is off resulting in either a slow roll or a steady frame but vertically shifted so the "frame" lines are on the screen. I know off hand this happens with Genesis and Apple II systems (II+, //e, //c and //gs all did it). Can't remember where it happened with svideo, maybe a Commodore. Workaround is to feed the AV or svideo into my receiver and take its upconverted component out to the TV (composite and svideo outs from receiver arent connected to TV and it's too much work to get behind the entertainment center to make connections), but this results in the loss of some artifacted colors.

[Anapan]

I've seen the lag in newer TVs (esp. LCDs) using both RF and RCA cables. On some it can be disabled. It's to reduce signal noise. On the ones you can disable it on, it's called Adaptive Noise Reduction (ANR) or Signal Noise Reduction (SNR), or something similar. Basically it blends 2 or more frames together and any places where the frames do not have noticeable movement get a cleaner picture. On Toshiba LCDs especially this is a very noticeable lag that makes many games nearly unplayable.

Also, never run any video signal through a VCR if possible. Normal TV video signals are roughly the equivalent of a 640x480 picture (with good cables up to 720x480), but VCRs always compress the picture into a 640x240 picture as that is what gets recorded onto a VHS tape. Normally any signals that are routed through a VCR will end up showing on the TV at 1/2 signal quality with no interlacing.

Connectors and switch boxes will not have the same effect as either of those problems, tho with some really cheap (usually thinner than most) cables you will notice more noise.