SNES Vertical Line Discussion

[shateredsoul]

I have it too! I bought a official composite cable after thinking it was the 3rd party cable, it's always there... never noticed it as a kid though. Also, none of the other systems I have produce it, and I have nes, master system, genesis, saturn, ps2,

weird

[D.D.D.]

Contacted Nintendo, so we'll see.

Nintendo of America is not going to give a damn about any product that "old". And likely anyone with that knowledge is no longer answering emails or phone calls.

[Jamisonia]

Contacted Nintendo, so we'll see.

Nintendo of America is not going to give a damn about any product that "old". And likely anyone with that knowledge is no longer answering emails or phone calls.

I don't understand all this criticism. Did I lose anything by attempting?

[CFFJR]

I'm not expecting much more than a semi-apologetic dismissal, but I'm still very curious to hear what Nintendo has to say about it.

Having said that, I'm glad I don't experience this problem.

[Zing]

Earthbound is a particularly interesting test cart. At startup, when the game is displaying the Ape logos and such, the lines show themselves as light bands. During the actual game, the lines are dark bands.

I tinkered with my brightness and contrast, and I noticed that setting the brightness down below a normal level ("normal" meaning the level calibrated using the Avia DVD) hides the light lines that I can see in the Final Fantasy III intro, DKC mine levels, and Earthbound startup. However, no amount of tinkering eliminates the dark lines visible in every other game. Even with colour, brightness, and contrast set to minimum, the lines are seen.

[Redifer]

We should make a list of the games that are absolutely the worst offenders.

Clearly this must be an issue with the PPU if it affects even RGB output. People have been telling me that the better your connection, the easier it is to see. So it should look worse in s-video than composite. Is this what you guys are experiencing?

I also wonder if the AC adapter itself might have anything to do with it (again, just a theory that I'm pulling out of my ass).

[Ziggy]

We should make a list of the games that are absolutely the worst offenders.

I wanted to get some sort of list or bulletin going on what we know so far, so it's not spread out over many pages in the thread and thus not easy to read. But a list of games is hard to say. For example, a few people have said they can see it easy in Super Metroid. I am not able to see it at ALL in Super Metroid. Another example is Zing saying he doesn't see it (easily) in SMW while another said they see it clear as crystal in SMW.

Clearly this must be an issue with the PPU if it affects even RGB output. People have been telling me that the better your connection, the easier it is to see. So it should look worse in s-video than composite. Is this what you guys are experiencing?

Could be. I was also talking to Jas about it possibly being the video encoder. We could try to transplant the video encoder with another, I don't see why we couldn't. It should be possible to take the Nintendo video encoder out and replace it with a CXA1645.

I also wonder if the AC adapter itself might have anything to do with it (again, just a theory that I'm pulling out of my ass).

We've talked about this as well. Most of us are using first party power supply, which I would like to think shouldn't have any problems. However, trying different power supplies isn't easy on an NTSC-U SNES because of the proprietary plug. One would have to either mod the console to use a standard plug (could be modified to use both) or sacrifice the plug on a power supply to make an adapter.

[Redifer]

It can't be the video encoder if I am seeing it in RGB unless the SNES passes its RGB through the video encoder (not sure why it would).

Here's what I just now tried and my results:

-Turning the brightness on my TV (which actually controls the black levels) all the way up makes the bar much easier to see. Solid black screens show it the most.

-All 3 of my model 1 SNES (1 launch unit, 1 a little later than launch and one far later with a revised motherboard/no cartridge lock, etc) exhibited the issue to nearly the same exact degree. Not noticeable at normal settings, but can be seen on a solid black screen with brightness cranked high.

-Switched to a different power supply (also first party Nintendo). No change in results, and least not a noticeable change, anyway. If there had been any difference, I would have said it was the power supply's doing. Unfortunately I only have 2 power supply adapters to test.

[Ziggy]

It can't be the video encoder if I am seeing it in RGB unless the SNES passes its RGB through the video encoder (not sure why it would).

Of course the RGB goes through the video encoder! The video encoder takes the RGB signal and converts it to S-Video and composite, as well as outputs the RGB signal.

-Turning the brightness on my TV (which actually controls the black levels) all the way up makes the bar much easier to see. Solid black screens show it the most.

This is what I'm saying, the results are all over the place! You have to turn the brightness all the way UP to see it easier. I had to turn it all the way DOWN in order to see it. And I couldn't see it on solid black screen at all.

[Redifer]

What happens when you turn the brightness all the way up on a solid black screen. Nothing?