

RGB SCART – With a RGB signal the video is carried over four channels red, green, blue and sync. You’d probably know about it if you’d bought one.Ĥ. It’s a specialist function designed to achieve the highest picture quality, was not supplied in box with any consoles, and was sold as a premium cable.

The other general rule is that if you’re not sure, your cable probably doesn’t support RGB. What makes SCART confusing is that the connector can carry one of several formats also including S-Video or Composite.īy simply looking at a SCART cable it can be quite difficult to work out what video format it carries, and the only real way to be certain is to open it up. However a good indicator is the number of pins it has if it’s missing pins it won’t have enough channels to carry RGB. It’s often talked about as RGB SCART is widely considered to deliver the best picture for many retro consoles. But if you’re from America you might have never heard of it, and if you have what you may have come across is RGB SCART. SCART was used as a standard in Europe, and if you live here you probably know what it is. It’s at this point your picture quality stops being completely terrible, but for the majority of consoles that support S-Video there are still better options available. S-Video – S-Video is an improvement over Composite as it splits the video into two channels resulting in a sharper image. This is an extremely common output method, but although it produces a clearer image than an RF Adapter the video is only encoded in one channel, which still results is a blurry and relatively low quality picture.ģ. Composite video – A composite cable splits the video stream (yellow) from the left and right audio (white and red). This cable was provided in box for a large amount of systems, so if you’re a retro gamer there’s a good chance you’ve got some kicking about. The connection is prone to interference and produces poor audio and video quality. The RF Adapter simulates a Radio Frequency broadcast which can be picked up by an SDTV. RF Adapter – The oldest (and worst) way of outputting your retro console. Again, you can technically display all bar the HDMI on an old CRT (this may require adapters), but even with all the correct kit there’s minimal room for improvement over RGB SCART.ġ. Using these cables you can take advantage of the additional resolution these TVs support, and enjoy an impressive picture on newer videogame consoles. HDTV Cables – Do you own a High Definition television? Good. In fact many retro consoles output below Standard Definition (480i NTSC/576i PAL) at around 240p, which looks nice on a smaller TV, but not so great on a larger one.

These cables do not carry higher resolutions and most old consoles don’t output them anyway. Whilst you can also use them with a HDTV, without an upscaler the results wont be pretty.
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SDTV Cables – These are the cables that you’ll want to connect your console to a standard definition ‘CRT’ TV with.

Below is a rough hierarchy outlining the good, bad, and ugly of video signals. Step one is making sure you have the correct cables. There are a number of different methods of outputting video and the picture quality you’ll see as a result can vary drastically. That’s why I’ve put together this guide, which starts with the basics but also covers all the complicated stuff you’ll need to help get the best picture from your retro games. But working out what kit your need, and what will work best for you, can be more that a little confusing. Without the right set up, and the right cables, retro games don’t look good – especially on new TVs. If you’ve ever tried to plug your old Super Nintendo or Mega Drive into a modern, High Definition television, then it’s likely that you were quite horrified with the results.
