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SEGA CDX Poor Video Quality

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mariocaseman:

I tried to play Sonic 2 on my Sega CDX and the video quality is awful!!!  Yes, I am playing it on an HDTV, but my other systems look fine (SMS, NES, SNES, N64, Saturn).  I am, however, using a 3rd party A/V cable that I bought on Ebay.  I think it came from China or something.  Anyway, the part of the A/V cable that plugs into the console is gold in color.  Is it possible this A/V cable is junk and that it is producing the bad picture quality..?

AppleQueso:

It's possible the cable is junk, yes.

It's also possible that the CDX just has a really terrible Video Display Processor. I know various Genesis models had pretty terrible VDPs, but I don't know much about the CDX aside from the fact that s-video modding it is a huge pain the ass because of how compact it is.

Either way, just try and find an official cable before you do anything else.

launchpad:

All the Gen 2s and 3s I've hooked up to my Panasonic plasma via composite never looked that good.  Gen 2s with a 32x via composite didn't seem to be any better either.  Gen 1s weren't bad, but the quality seemed to vary per system.  I've never tried to hookup a CDX or X'Eye via composite - I'll have to try that sometime.  Also, an official AV cable does look slightly better than the chinese knock offs.  The difference is barely noticeable IMO.

If you've got some spare cash lying around, a great option is to pick up a SCART RGB cable and an RGB to Component or RGB to HDMI adapter.

RGB cable - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Megadrive-II-2-AV-RGB-scart-cable-TV-lead-NEW-/110697666334?pt=UK_VideoGames_VideoGameAccessories_VideoGameAccessories_JN&hash=item19c618571e

Scart to Component - http://www.ebay.com/itm/SEGA-SCART-RGB-YPbPr-YUV-Component-Video-Converter-/220698773448?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3362ac07c8

Scart to HDMI - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Scales-SCART-signal-RGB-Composite-Video-Video-Audio-AV-HDMI-720p-1080P-/260873040904?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cbd3eb408

I haven't tried the Scart to HDMI, but the Scart to Component adapter with the RGB cable looks wonderful on my Panasonic plasma from 09.  I've heard of some people's tvs having issues with these, so be careful.  Getting RGB to sync right can be a pain, but I believe the scalar chips in these converters handle all that for you.

It's a tad expensive, but it's a solderless way to get a great picture from your CDX.

Good luck! 

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