Can someone explain the differences and pros/cons of S-video as opposed to the standard red/yellow/white cables?
I have always used the standard red/yellow/whites and can't really recall a time where I have used a S-video cable but I see people excited for consoles modded with S-video and I just don't understand what the hype is all about. (I think I use S-video cables for my Sega Saturn but all of my Nintendo consoles have always used the same cables for my entire life and I have nothing to compare the Saturn's video quality to)
Forgive my ignorance but I really don't know anything about TV hardware.
I'm hoping Hobie or CRTGamer will shed some insight on the subject.
It looks clearer/sharper etc. Just better pretty much.
Only cons are that you have to buy new cables usually and a few systems need to be modded for it. Well that and the pins in the cable itself are easy to break.
So yeah there's really no reason to just use the yellow/red/white cables (commonly called 'composite' or 'rca' cables fyi) if you can use s-video.
RF has all the data on 1 wire, the composite is 1 wire for video, up to 2 for sound, s-video splits the video signal into 4 pins and 2 for sound but component splits the video signal into 5 parts and audio is basically your choice, HDMI is like 12 or something.
the more a signal is isolated the better the end product is when the TV/monitor shows the picture.
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Para wrote:Can someone explain the differences and pros/cons of S-video as opposed to the standard red/yellow/white cables?
I have always used the standard red/yellow/whites and can't really recall a time where I have used a S-video cable but I see people excited for consoles modded with S-video and I just don't understand what the hype is all about. (I think I use S-video cables for my Sega Saturn but all of my Nintendo consoles have always used the same cables for my entire life and I have nothing to compare the Saturn's video quality to)
Forgive my ignorance but I really don't know anything about TV hardware.
I'm hoping Hobie or CRTGamer will shed some insight on the subject.
Check my CRT vs LCD guide for the best connection of each console. SVideo separates the Chroma and Luma channels of the video signal, still 480i but better then Composite. Your SNES, N64 and Gamecube all support the same SVideo cable. The Gamecube can also go with the expensive proprietary Nintendo Component cable.
Pros: Much sharper picture, basically it's HD for old games.
Cons: Nothing really, other than isolated instances like Starfox, which develops a checkerboard pattern on some textures. The deal is, they were putting two colors together and counting on RF or composite cable's blurry picture to mix the two together into one medium color. S-video is so sharp that it ruins the effect. But like I said, this is a rare problem only a few games suffer from.
prfsnl_gmr wrote:There is nothing feigned about it. What I wrote is a display of actual moral superiority.
BoringSupreez wrote:Pros: Much sharper picture, basically it's HD for old games.
Cons: Nothing really, other than isolated instances like Starfox, which develops a checkerboard pattern on some textures. The deal is, they were putting two colors together and counting on RF or composite cable's blurry picture to mix the two together into one medium color. S-video is so sharp that it ruins the effect. But like I said, this is a rare problem only a few games suffer from.
Do you know if there's a complete list of stuff like this?
BoringSupreez wrote:Pros: Much sharper picture, basically it's HD for old games.
Cons: Nothing really, other than isolated instances like Starfox, which develops a checkerboard pattern on some textures. The deal is, they were putting two colors together and counting on RF or composite cable's blurry picture to mix the two together into one medium color. S-video is so sharp that it ruins the effect. But like I said, this is a rare problem only a few games suffer from.
Do you know if there's a complete list of stuff like this?
I've never seen a list like that anywhere.
prfsnl_gmr wrote:There is nothing feigned about it. What I wrote is a display of actual moral superiority.
Apparently I need to get some more S-Video cables. I hooked up my SNES with Svideo and it looks amazing. I can't believe I have been using my SNES for almost 20 years consistently and I have never hooked it up with S-video before. It truly is a night and day difference.
Composhit - Video over a single wire, audio over separate wires.
S-video - Video separated into luminance and chroma (one wire each, the other pins are for ground). This helps eliminate crosstalk and other interference providing for a picture that isn't vomit-inducing like composhit. All consoles should be hooked up with AT LEAST s-video.
Component. - Video separated into 3 wires, luminance, red difference and blue difference. The TV figures out what is supposed to be the color green. Better than s-video.
RGB - Discrete color transmission. Usually over 5 wires as RBGHV.
HDMI - Perfect digital transfer, even over a cheap cable (stay away from Monster Cable, they are an overpriced rip off and they do not offer anything more than other HDMI cables). However if the source is shit, HDMI will not magically transform it into a perfect digital signal. It will remain perfectly shitty.
