Well just got a saturn off ebay and i realized that when there is a black screen, there are vertical scan lines which makes the picture a lot less clear. In addition, when there is color on the screen, you can still make out these vertical lines.. now
1) Is this normal?
2) is my system messed up?
3) My AV cable only has 3 prongs (which goes inside a saturn) and i just purchased (waiting for it to come in the mail) a goal AV cable with a lot more than 3 prongs going into the saturn system, now is the 3 prong saturn AV cable normal?
THANKS!
Sega Saturn Clarity
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lordofduct
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You are just using a composite A/V cable... a generic Red/White/Yellow RCA cable. Three cables, three prongs. Makes sense?
As for the vertical lines... that is common amongst analog composite cables. It's analog, analog signals are sent using waves like radio frequencies over a wire. If any interference from the outside gets to it, it manipulates the wave length (magnetic pulls and the sort). There is also cross talk between all the different signals bound into the video signal (the yellow cable), that one wire has all the waves for all the color information wrapped into one wire. That is why s-vid and component and the sort exist, it splits the video up more into its different signals so that cross talk doesn't occur.
Shielding will help in reducing interference from outside sources. That's why cables come across so many price ranges, some have better shielding and more conductive wires in them for a cleaner trip for the video signal.
Ways to reduce interference are:
quality shielding
shortest possible length in wires you can use (in the case of consoles you really don't have a choice)
quality metal parts and connector heads (like gold tipped heads add more conductivity at the connection area... this is where a LOT of interference can occur)
reduce the amount of other electronics near the cable...
the last one there is all about where you place the wire, if you have it stringing around through wires from tons of other stuff, fishing behind the cable box, over the VCR (which has big magnets in it), down around a amplifier for your stereo (even bigger magnets), and up the side of your TV... you've just passed through analog signal hell... fighting off all the interference isn't easy... all those other machines are tugging and pulling on the wave lengths, and the algorithms encoded into the signal to fix those interferences just can't keep up with it.
want proof of this, pull out an old atari or NES (these have really crappy shielding that is why I suggest it), and use the RF connectors for them (the screw in cable), turn on your console and let it play... then walk over to a radio in the room that is around 10 feet away, turn it on and watch what happens to your video games picture... it bounces and fuzzes up a little. (this is actually the first thing I noticed when I was like 6 or so and wanted to know why... by the time I was 8 I fixed my first television).
As for the vertical lines... that is common amongst analog composite cables. It's analog, analog signals are sent using waves like radio frequencies over a wire. If any interference from the outside gets to it, it manipulates the wave length (magnetic pulls and the sort). There is also cross talk between all the different signals bound into the video signal (the yellow cable), that one wire has all the waves for all the color information wrapped into one wire. That is why s-vid and component and the sort exist, it splits the video up more into its different signals so that cross talk doesn't occur.
Shielding will help in reducing interference from outside sources. That's why cables come across so many price ranges, some have better shielding and more conductive wires in them for a cleaner trip for the video signal.
Ways to reduce interference are:
quality shielding
shortest possible length in wires you can use (in the case of consoles you really don't have a choice)
quality metal parts and connector heads (like gold tipped heads add more conductivity at the connection area... this is where a LOT of interference can occur)
reduce the amount of other electronics near the cable...
the last one there is all about where you place the wire, if you have it stringing around through wires from tons of other stuff, fishing behind the cable box, over the VCR (which has big magnets in it), down around a amplifier for your stereo (even bigger magnets), and up the side of your TV... you've just passed through analog signal hell... fighting off all the interference isn't easy... all those other machines are tugging and pulling on the wave lengths, and the algorithms encoded into the signal to fix those interferences just can't keep up with it.
want proof of this, pull out an old atari or NES (these have really crappy shielding that is why I suggest it), and use the RF connectors for them (the screw in cable), turn on your console and let it play... then walk over to a radio in the room that is around 10 feet away, turn it on and watch what happens to your video games picture... it bounces and fuzzes up a little. (this is actually the first thing I noticed when I was like 6 or so and wanted to know why... by the time I was 8 I fixed my first television).
see the strangest thing about all of this is that i do possess a NES that is within 2 feet of the saturn, which does not experience any interference. However, i did purchase a "better" or it seems like its a higher quality (it has a golden saturn connector)... so lets hope that works.. however
Since my NES does not experience any inteferance, do you think its possible that this could be caused by the saturn itself IE I need a new saturn.
Since my NES does not experience any inteferance, do you think its possible that this could be caused by the saturn itself IE I need a new saturn.
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lordofduct
- Next-Gen
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- Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 12:57 pm
- Location: West Palm Beach
the analog trail within the saturn only goes from the analog Video converter (its towards the back of the mobo) with a short line to the pin jack. The area in there is very short and well shielded.
If there was an issue in there you would be able to notice it. Take the console apart and check the pin jack. If it's loose or falling off then yeah that could be your issue.
I highly doubt it though. I'm gonna bet it is your cables. They are probably cheap whonky POS's like most cables are. The ones you've purchased sound like a much better quality.
Could I see a picture of the lines? I might be able to understand your issue even more if I could see it in action.
If there was an issue in there you would be able to notice it. Take the console apart and check the pin jack. If it's loose or falling off then yeah that could be your issue.
I highly doubt it though. I'm gonna bet it is your cables. They are probably cheap whonky POS's like most cables are. The ones you've purchased sound like a much better quality.
Could I see a picture of the lines? I might be able to understand your issue even more if I could see it in action.
.... (pins 12, 13, and 14 are now one mega pin)