S-Video Cords

[Arseen]

Would be interested in hearing that solution - i'm looking to have 12-15 hooked up in my office/games room.

What connections does your TV have?

Unfortunately the Intellivision and Coleco are going to have to remain as Coax - unless anyone knows differently?

You could connect them to VCR that then turns the signal into Composite, but probably you can as easily just connect them to TV. Signal quality is ame anyway probably.

[zakurowrath]

Would be interested in hearing that solution - i'm looking to have 12-15 hooked up in my office/games room.

Unfortunately the Intellivision and Coleco are going to have to remain as Coax - unless anyone knows differently?

Well if you wanna mod them then you could achieve better video. But if you don't then you could do what Arseen suggested and hook them up to a VCR.

[mariocaseman]

Doesn't matter. Coax is coax. It's all analogue signal, use whatever RCA cables you like.


Mariocase, do you think you can live with only having 12 systems hooked up at once?  If so, I have a solution that would mean 2 switch boxes only.

No, but my 13th system is the PS3 which I hook up using an HDMI cable into my EDGE

[mariocaseman]

Can I still get that suggestion, Wiggy? 

[wiggy]

I'm making a little graphic to illustrate what I'm suggesting. Hang tight...

[wiggy]

Would be interested in hearing that solution - i'm looking to have 12-15 hooked up in my office/games room.

Unfortunately the Intellivision and Coleco are going to have to remain as Coax - unless anyone knows differently?

Two of these, then connect the output from both to a series of RCA "Y" splitters.  Both switches essentially funnel into each other then into the TV.  

6-way switch box on eBay

RCA Y adapters on BestBuy.com



edit: Although I didn't add it, S-video can be done the same way with an S-Vid Y splitter.

[ShoothimNow]

So my problem is that I have S-Video cables, but I do not have S-Video input to my Television....  Answer that one!



No matter how great the quality will be from the cables, the ending output of ONLY COMPOSITE limits the quality of the end result.

Solution Idea 1: Does not work: Buy a component A/V Switcher.
When the TV is set on Component, only component signals may be passed from devices into the television.  I have tried this with
Input 1 - SNES (S-Video)
Input 2 - N64 (Composite)
Input 3 - Wii/PS2 (Component)
Input 4 - Genesis (Composite)

Results:
Input 1 - Black Screen
Input 2 - Black Screen
Input 3 - Wii Main Menu
Input 4 - Black Screen

So I thought that the games might be dirty... in all 3 systems, so I changed the video on TV from Component to composite, and all of the original systems were working like a charm.  It seems that even if you have Component cables leading INTO the Television from the A/V switchers OUTPUT, it still requires a component signal.

Solution Idea 2: Buy a S-Video to VGA output. 
Awaiting for this to come in the mail (2.5 weeks estimated)

[zakurowrath]

So my problem is that I have S-Video cables, but I do not have S-Video input to my Television....  Answer that one!



No matter how great the quality will be from the cables, the ending output of ONLY COMPOSITE limits the quality of the end result.

Solution Idea 1: Does not work: Buy a component A/V Switcher.
When the TV is set on Component, only component signals may be passed from devices into the television.  I have tried this with
Input 1 - SNES (S-Video)
Input 2 - N64 (Composite)
Input 3 - Wii/PS2 (Component)
Input 4 - Genesis (Composite)

Results:
Input 1 - Black Screen
Input 2 - Black Screen
Input 3 - Wii Main Menu
Input 4 - Black Screen

So I thought that the games might be dirty... in all 3 systems, so I changed the video on TV from Component to composite, and all of the original systems were working like a charm.  It seems that even if you have Component cables leading INTO the Television from the A/V switchers OUTPUT, it still requires a component signal.

Solution Idea 2: Buy a S-Video to VGA output. 
Awaiting for this to come in the mail (2.5 weeks estimated)

S-Video to VGA won't work. S-Video is Luma and Chroma where's VGA is RGBHV (Red, Green, Blue, Horizontal, Vertical)

There is a thing called a S-Video to Composite converter. It yelds the same results as composite pretty much maybe a small bit more sharp (not much) since it is coming directly from S-Video.

What type of TV do you have? Before attempting the method below, connect your PS2 via component to your TV and play a few PS1 games, if it shows up your TV can accept low res component signals, if not, then the method below wont work.

You could also do RGB to YUV (Component Video). That requires SCART cables and a converter box, and the N64 has to be modified to output RGB. But the quality is far greater than S-Video being that it's the best video option out of classic consoles.

If your TV doesn't accept low res component, there's the RGB to VGA option or the RGB to HDMI option.

It is investment either way to achieve the best video you can out of these console and it won't be cheap but for the quality it yields on a modern TV or even a classic CRT, it's well worth the money.

[wiggy]

So my problem is that I have S-Video cables, but I do not have S-Video input to my Television....  Answer that one!

Um, use composite instead since that's all you're gonna get trying to dumb S-vid down to composite anyway, or am I missing something?

I.e. just hook everything up with composite.

[ShoothimNow]

Really? Did wiggy just say "dumb s-vid down to composite"?  I want to "add" s-video, not dumb it down lol.

I have a Samsung un40b6000vf


Why would my $1.59 cable not work?  It should in essence carry video, and then all I have to do is use my stereo to plug the audio into another channel and split the ports so I can hear it (sounds confusing, but very simple)

PS2 and PS1 games look gorgeous with the component cable



I want to "upgrade" to S-Video on systems that don't support component.


I'll let you all know if my $1.59 fix works or not.  You already have learned that the $25 Component A/V switcher did not work.  It seems that you are trying to insist that the cable will NEVER work.  Which is confusing on why there is a cable in the first... place...

[Dr.Agon]

s-video is 2 signals going through 2 seperate wires to 2 seperate pins in the plug/socket.
composite is 1 signal going through 1 wire to 1 pin in the plug/socket.
so compressing 2 signals into 1 signal is "dumbing down" isnt it?

[wiggy]

s-video is 2 signals going through 2 seperate wires to 2 seperate pins in the plug/socket.
composite is 1 signal going through 1 wire to 1 pin in the plug/socket.
so compressing 2 signals into 1 signal is "dumbing down" isnt it?

Just so nobody is confused, 2 wires do run through a composite cable, it's just that there's only one signal wire and a ground.  Just don't want anyone going "wait, there's totally 2 wires in a composite cable!"

[Dr.Agon]

s-video is 2 signals going through 2 seperate wires to 2 seperate pins in the plug/socket.
composite is 1 signal going through 1 wire to 1 pin in the plug/socket.
so compressing 2 signals into 1 signal is "dumbing down" isnt it?

Just so nobody is confused, 2 wires do run through a composite cable, it's just that there's only one signal wire and a ground.  Just don't want anyone going "wait, there's totally 2 wires in a composite cable!"

good catch!
i did put signal though...

[zakurowrath]

The reason why that little cheap ass cable exists is because there's special graphics cards that allow composite and s-video to be transmitted through the VGA port, it's not a normal VGA connection on television sets or computers.

VGA is Red, Green, Blue, Horizontal Sync & Vertical sync, grounds, and data signals going down 15 different wires.

Component is the luminance signal (Y) and the colour difference signals (R-Y and B-Y) being carried down 3 different wires.

S-Video is The luminance (Y; brightness in an image) and chrominance (C; colour) information carried on two separate wires with two separate grounds. 4 Wires total.

Composite is the luminance and chrominance signals being combined and sent down one wire and one ground, 2 wires.

Again, two entirely different signals you can't just plug a wire in and expect your TV to know what you want it to display, you have to have converters with microprocessors and video encoders or decoders to achieve this.

Since your TV has no S-Video input, just use composite. Converting S-Video to composite will yield the same results. Remember these systems were designed for low resolution CRT's in mind, so when you go to a modern high def set, every single imperfection of the lower grade signals (S-Video, Composite, RF) will show up, so it's best to start with the best possible signal you can get which is RGB to get the best possible signal on a modern TV.

[wiggy]

Really? Did wiggy just say "dumb s-vid down to composite"?  I want to "add" s-video, not dumb it down lol.

How?  Are you trying to push S-vid signal through component or VGA?