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

[hamburglar]

Hate to bump an old thread, but I've been thinking about this recently and I'm trying to figure out why this is. Perhaps the SFC and SNES use composite video for sync instead of a proper sync signal?

I doubt it has anything to do with that, on the model 2 I have my monitor is taking sync off of the composite video line, looks great.

In fact a while back I bypassed the RGB/Video encoder on a model 1 PCB I had laying around, and installed an RGB amplifier, the picture looked a bit better but was still soft. Looks like the PPU is outputting the video that way... didn't look at it with a scope.

[theclaw]

I doubt it has anything to do with that, on the model 2 I have my monitor is taking sync off of the composite video line, looks great.

In fact a while back I bypassed the RGB/Video encoder on a model 1 PCB I had laying around, and installed an RGB amplifier, the picture looked a bit better but was still soft. Looks like the PPU is outputting the video that way... didn't look at it with a scope.

It might be. I'd suggested earler in this topic RGB quality issues could be part of the hardware for Genesis.

I hadn't even considered SNES... But don't see a particular reason to rule out the idea, now that it's on the table.

[Zing]

I just got around to looking at the comparison images in the OP. The composite shots seem far worse than what I see on my Sony CRT using composite from a Super NES. Yes, I can see very slight rainbowing on thin white lines, but no where near as bad as in the comparison shots. The Earthbound scene in particular is much worse than what I see here.

I suspect the comb filter in the video capture card is rather poor. I am not discounting the benefit of s-video, but the comparison shots in the OP are much worse than what a regular person will see with a Sony Wega CRT.

I still use composite for my Super NES. I'd use s-video, but my TV only has a single s-video input, and it is in use by my PSone. I'd get a switch box, but they all seem to have flaws due to cheap build quality (crosstalk, etc). I want a switch box that is literally a switch box, as in an A/B switch with physical connections changing inside the box. Not just a passive electronic box that changes the signal path in the circuitry. I see some mentions in this thread of a "slider" switch and that sounds in line with what I want.

Any suggestions for a true A/B switch box with s-video support?

[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.

[tomaitheous]

I think it's overrated.

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