SNES Vertical Line Discussion

[Jamisonia]

Here's a list of the games that have shown it so far:

Donkey Kong Country 1: Darker Levels Especially
Donkey Kong Country 2: Darker Levels, but to a lesser degree than 1
Earthbound: Nighttime Scenes
Super Metroid: Throughout a lot of the game
Final Fantasy III: Intro
Super Mario World: Faint but present
LoZ LttP: Faint but present when moving


Possible Problems : and work performed so far:
Capacitors : Check Caps in SNES Mini only, replace one, no difference
Resistors : Nothing
Interference External (cell phones, etc) : Wrapped in 3 layers of tin foil, no difference
Interference Internal : Nothing
Video Encoder : Nothing
PPU : Nothing
Bad Power Supply : Nothing
Dirty Power : Tried music and home theater power conditioner, no difference

[Ziggy]

I think it's worth noting that I was I got the faintest sign of a vertical line in Earthbound while it was night in the game (and only when I turned the brightness on my TV to zero). But IIRC, Zing said he got the line while it was daytime in Earthbound. I could not get the vertical line at all during daytime (no matter what level my brightness was at).

Also, for the people that get this vertical line very noticeably... what games do you NOT get it in (if any)? Or is it EVERY game?

[Ziggy]

I just tested FF3. During the into, on my TV's normal settings, I can see a VERY faint vertical line (as faint as I described Earthbound's - only noticeable if you strain to see it). If I turn the brightness all the way up, you can see it a hair more easily. If I turn the brightness down, it disappears. I'll have to try out my other consoles some time, when I ge the chance.

[Jamisonia]

I also tried FFIII. This is the worst I've seen so far. That intro was ugly. I actually believe I saw the faint outline of a second line as well.

[Ziggy]

Just to be clear, when I say I saw a faint line, I mean absolutely faint like almost nonexistent. I had to dim the lights in the room to make sure it wasn't a slight glare on the screen.

And again, I've only been using this one console so far. I haven't tried my others yet.

[Zing]

I also tried FFIII. This is the worst I've seen so far. That intro was ugly. I actually believe I saw the faint outline of a second line as well.

Yes, FF3 has to be the worst I have seen for lines on a dark screen. If I turn up my brightness, I see many lines. I just assumed it had something to do with the tiling they used to make that scene, as the lines don't show during actual gameplay*.

*I haven't played the game yet, but there are existing saves in dark locations that I tried for a few minutes.

[Zing]

Just to be clear, when I say I saw a faint line, I mean absolutely faint like almost nonexistent. I had to dim the lights in the room to make sure it wasn't a slight glare on the screen.

I assume you are still using the LCD TV?

I know some people get the line(s) on their digital displays, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is uncommon. The combination of signal processing and low physical contrast ratio could easily hide the effect.

[vlame]

do you guys think it can be cart specific?

[Zing]

The line appears in the exact same position and pattern in every game, so I don't believe it is related to the games themselves. The lines are just more visible in certain types of scenes and possibly when certain colours are present.

[Redifer]

The combination of signal processing and low physical contrast ratio could easily hide the effect.

Exactly. The difference may not be great enough for the image processor to take notice. This is likely why I do not see it in any of my captured SNES footage. The dynamic range of the digitizing unit just isn't great enough to pick up on it. It might pick up on a more severely affected unit, though.