Is there really that big of a difference between S-Video and RGB on SNES?

[theclaw]

s-video is just overrated. There isn't a particular flaw of note.

I don't blame people for not wanting to invest in better. RGB can be frustrating and expensive to handle. Despite its rarely achieved BAR NONE quality that when done right stands up proud next to component.

[sheath]

On my CRT sets S-Video makes a huge difference in colors and image clarity. On some sets with really advanced comb filters the difference between Composite and S-Video can be muted, but the actual image quality between the two is actually as big as Composite to Component or RGB. I actually consider S-Video equal to RGB, and Component equal to HDMI, so long as the resolutions are the same in the comparison.

To the OP, for years I have preferred playing SNES over Composite rather than S-Video because of all of the low resolution aliasing that S-Video exposes. Now that I have an RGB to HDMI adapter for my Genesis and Master System though, I am starting to enjoy the higher quality colors and find myself more able to overlook aliasing and dithering that is exposed by the better quality video.

Sticking strictly to native hardware support, I tend to prefer having the following cables for these systems:

NES: Composite
Master System: Composite/RGB
Genesis-Sega CD-32X: Composite/RGB (32X has very good Composite)
TG16/DUO: Composite (requires a mod for RGB, but DUO/R has great Composite
SNES: Composite/S-Video
3DO: S-Video
Jaguar: S-Video
Saturn: S-Video
N64: S-Video
PS1/PS2: Component
Dreamcast: VGA to Component
Xbox: Component
Gamecube: Component
etc.

[theclaw]

On my CRT sets S-Video makes a huge difference in colors and image clarity. On some sets with really advanced comb filters the difference between Composite and S-Video can be muted, but the actual image quality between the two is actually as big as Composite to Component or RGB. I actually consider S-Video equal to RGB, and Component equal to HDMI, so long as the resolutions are the same in the comparison.

To the OP, for years I have preferred playing SNES over Composite rather than S-Video because of all of the low resolution aliasing that S-Video exposes. Now that I have an RGB to HDMI adapter for my Genesis and Master System though, I am starting to enjoy the higher quality colors and find myself more able to overlook aliasing and dithering that is exposed by the better quality video.

Sticking strictly to native hardware support, I tend to prefer having the following cables for these systems:

NES: Composite
Master System: Composite/RGB
Genesis-Sega CD-32X: Composite/RGB (32X has very good Composite)
TG16/DUO: Composite (requires a mod for RGB, but DUO/R has great Composite
SNES: Composite/S-Video
3DO: S-Video
Jaguar: S-Video
Saturn: S-Video
N64: S-Video
PS1/PS2: Component
Dreamcast: VGA to Component
Xbox: Component
Gamecube: Component
etc.

That's just a sampling of the best consoles have to offer. Wait until you see TG16/DUO in RGB. An amazing sight! From what I understand, it factually has superior image clarity than SNES and Genesis. Not a question of setup or opinion differences.

[Zing]

I finally decided to snag an s-video cable for my Super NES. I checked all the used game stores around me, assuming they would have something intended for the Gamecube, but no luck. I ordered an official Nintendo one from Ebay. There are approximately one billion of the crappy composite/s-video combination cables listed, so it wasn't easy to find.

[BlastProcessing402]

s-video is just overrated. There isn't a particular flaw of note.

I don't blame people for not wanting to invest in better. RGB can be frustrating and expensive to handle. Despite its rarely achieved BAR NONE quality that when done right stands up proud next to component.

S-video isn't overrated at all if you have a good TV that supports it. The leap from composite to s-video on any system I've used it with have been well worth the cost of the cables. Even made the text that was unreadable over composite in a few PS3 games readable before I got my HDTV.

And I'm sure RGB is better than s-video, but sets supporting RGB just haven't been common in the US, so for most of us that's why s-video was the way to go before systems started using component and HDMI.

[Greg2600]

I think it's overrated. I'm also not interested in comparing still pictures. Video games are moving images, that's what has to be compared. Watching this one I still can't notice a big difference.

[Zing]

Wow, the dot crawl in that video with composite is far worse than what I see on my TV. It must be the capture cards these people are using. There are visible diagonal lines! S-video is vastly sharper than composite, but composite with a digital comb filter looks much better than what these examples are showing.

There was a time that I preferred the composite look, but I switched to s-video for my PSone and I quickly became used to it. Dithering and fake-transparency have a more pronounced checkerboard pattern, but after seeing the checkerboard, I couldn't un-see it even with composite. The increase in color clarity and sharpness are worth the effort. I just had to turn down the sharpness setting of my TV. Sharpness is just there to artificially boost edge clarity with composite sources, anyway.

[Polygon]

I can see the difference between the S-video composite. I'm actually in the process of finding S-video cables for my N64, SNES, Jaguar, Dreamcast, Saturn, and PlayStation 1. I still need to get component cables for my PlayStation 2 and X-Box.

I'm trying to decide if $75 is worth it for a Genesis with S-video, stereo, and a region free switch.

[Zing]

I have official Sony PS2 component cables in their retail package that I would sell for $10 plus shipping if you, or anyone, is interested. I don't anticipate owning another PS2 in my lifetime.

I can't seem to find a decent a/b s-video switch box. I can find plenty of s-video only switches, but none with s-video and audio. If I have to have a separate switch for video and audio, I may as well just physically swap cables every time.

*edit* Actually, I managed to find one. http://studio1productions.com/switch-boxes.htm

[Polygon]

I have official Sony PS2 component cables in their retail package that I would sell for $10 plus shipping if you, or anyone, is interested. I don't anticipate owning another PS2 in my lifetime.

I can't seem to find a decent a/b s-video switch box. I can find plenty of s-video only switches, but none with s-video and audio. If I have to have a separate switch for video and audio, I may as well just physically swap cables every time.

*edit* Actually, I managed to find one. http://studio1productions.com/switch-boxes.htm

This is what I've been using as a video switcher for my systems on composite. It does composite as well as S-video. I haven't tried out the S-video to see how well it works. I was going to pick up another one of these since I've had to double up my systems on the one I have.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pelican-Vide...item4600e5e38c

As for those component cables, you have a PM.

[tomaitheous]

I think it's overrated.

In what context? Svideo is overrated in general, or in this specific case on the SNES?