Initial impressions of the HD Retrovision SNES component cables
I came home from work today to find a welcome surprise: The SNES/Genesis component cables from HD Retrovision arrived in the mail. In 2014, the company launched a Kickstarter to raise funds to design and build component cables for the SNES & Genesis. I've had a chance to give the cables a once-over, and I'd like to give my impressions as I have no doubt HD Retrovision will eventually start producing more cables for general sale in the future.
What I tested the cables on:
LG LED 42" HDTV - VGA input
iScan DVDO Pro Video Processor - composite/s-video/component inputs --> VGA Output
SNES Console with generic S-Video cable
My review of the Genesis component cable is here: http://segaage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=45&threadid=163273
Appearance & Build Quality
The component cable has a high-quality look & feel. The wiring is housed inside a thick, yet flexible, jacket up to the last six inches where the inputs break apart. There is strain relief at the end of each connector and the input plugs are thick and sturdy. The plugs might be a little too thick: it was a tight fit plugging the cable into my component switch, someone with a TV with very tightly packed inputs might have an issue. The Nintendo AV input connector plugged in firmly into my SNES and looks like it could easily handle repeated plugging/unplugging.
In the middle of the cable is a small plastic box that houses the circuitry that converts the SNES RGB signals into component signals. It includes a switch to lower the brightness of the video.
So how does it perform?
Coming from S-Video on the SNES I wasn't expecting as large a jump from say RF. The component cables made a moderate, but noticable, improvement to the video output. Pixels that were pretty sharp on S-Video were further tightened up. The biggest change I noticed was color accuracy on my HDTV. Colors shifted slightly but noticably closer to what I would expect to see on my CRT. Running second is the brightness of the video output. I've found the brightness of composite/s-video output from my SNES/Genesis to be lacking when run to my HDTV. These cables eliminated that problem. When I used the switch on the cable to turn down the brightness, it brought the brightness back down to what I experienced before, handy if I use the cables on a CRT. I also found the audio cables to be excellent, low volume audio hiss when I paused SMW had greatly dimished compared to my no-brand S-Video cable.
Unfortunately I lack a video capture device and my camera phone didn't do a great job capturing the color differences on the before/after shot. So I give you a single shot of SMW running through the component cables on my TV:
EDIT: If you want to see a real before/after photo, check out my review of the Genesis cables!
Final Thoughts
If/when these cables become available to the public, I think they will finally be an alternative to the clunky SCART to Component transcoding people in North America are forced to deal with to get component quality video out of the SNES. Anyone looking for a streamlined way of getting near-RGB quality video into a CRT or into a Framemeister needs to watch for these cables.
What I tested the cables on:
LG LED 42" HDTV - VGA input
iScan DVDO Pro Video Processor - composite/s-video/component inputs --> VGA Output
SNES Console with generic S-Video cable
My review of the Genesis component cable is here: http://segaage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=45&threadid=163273
Appearance & Build Quality
The component cable has a high-quality look & feel. The wiring is housed inside a thick, yet flexible, jacket up to the last six inches where the inputs break apart. There is strain relief at the end of each connector and the input plugs are thick and sturdy. The plugs might be a little too thick: it was a tight fit plugging the cable into my component switch, someone with a TV with very tightly packed inputs might have an issue. The Nintendo AV input connector plugged in firmly into my SNES and looks like it could easily handle repeated plugging/unplugging.
In the middle of the cable is a small plastic box that houses the circuitry that converts the SNES RGB signals into component signals. It includes a switch to lower the brightness of the video.
So how does it perform?
Coming from S-Video on the SNES I wasn't expecting as large a jump from say RF. The component cables made a moderate, but noticable, improvement to the video output. Pixels that were pretty sharp on S-Video were further tightened up. The biggest change I noticed was color accuracy on my HDTV. Colors shifted slightly but noticably closer to what I would expect to see on my CRT. Running second is the brightness of the video output. I've found the brightness of composite/s-video output from my SNES/Genesis to be lacking when run to my HDTV. These cables eliminated that problem. When I used the switch on the cable to turn down the brightness, it brought the brightness back down to what I experienced before, handy if I use the cables on a CRT. I also found the audio cables to be excellent, low volume audio hiss when I paused SMW had greatly dimished compared to my no-brand S-Video cable.
Unfortunately I lack a video capture device and my camera phone didn't do a great job capturing the color differences on the before/after shot. So I give you a single shot of SMW running through the component cables on my TV:
EDIT: If you want to see a real before/after photo, check out my review of the Genesis cables!
Final Thoughts
If/when these cables become available to the public, I think they will finally be an alternative to the clunky SCART to Component transcoding people in North America are forced to deal with to get component quality video out of the SNES. Anyone looking for a streamlined way of getting near-RGB quality video into a CRT or into a Framemeister needs to watch for these cables.
Comments
So how much were the cables from the kickstarter? Trying to brace myself for what these'll go for when they hit the public ...
Each cable was $35 through the Kickstarter, but I have no idea how much profit HD Retrovision eventually made from these cables. I wouldn't be surprised if the cables wind up getting priced $50-60 for general sale.
Was surprised to find my snes and Sega cables in my mail box yesterday. Tested both and I am happy with the results. The Sega one did not output sound on my model 1 with a 32x and sega cd attached but worked with my cdx and model 2. Also works great with my Master System. SNES cable works well too. Both made a noticeable difference in the quality of the picture. Both have a brightness switch to brighten the screen. They were worth the wait.
Did you use the 1/8" audi input on the cable from the Stereo out on the Genesis? I haven't had a chance to test mine yet, but I know that the input is there. It might have something to do with your audio issues.
I can't wait - I backed the KS for the Genesis cable because my whole life has been a sham and I've never played my childhood genny (which is still in use today) with something other than the RF cable! I'm pretty psyched to get these to say the least! Still waiting on them to show up
Wow if you have never used anything but RF on your genesis you are going to be blown away. The genesis produces a beautiful s-video and RGB image. The component from these cables should be really nice and while I missed the KS I am going to get one as soon as they are out to the public.
Was surprised to find my snes and Sega cables in my mail box yesterday. Tested both and I am happy with the results. The Sega one did not output sound on my model 1 with a 32x and sega cd attached but worked with my cdx and model 2. Also works great with my Master System. SNES cable works well too. Both made a noticeable difference in the quality of the picture. Both have a brightness switch to brighten the screen. They were worth the wait.
Did you use the 1/8" audi input on the cable from the Stereo out on the Genesis? I haven't had a chance to test mine yet, but I know that the input is there. It might have something to do with your audio issues.
In their faqs they state that a model 1 and 32x with original 32x patch cable will not pass sound. I wonder if there is an alternative patch cable that would work?
Was surprised to find my snes and Sega cables in my mail box yesterday. Tested both and I am happy with the results. The Sega one did not output sound on my model 1 with a 32x and sega cd attached but worked with my cdx and model 2. Also works great with my Master System. SNES cable works well too. Both made a noticeable difference in the quality of the picture. Both have a brightness switch to brighten the screen. They were worth the wait.
Did you use the 1/8" audi input on the cable from the Stereo out on the Genesis? I haven't had a chance to test mine yet, but I know that the input is there. It might have something to do with your audio issues.
In their faqs they state that a model 1 and 32x with original 32x patch cable will not pass sound. I wonder if there is an alternative patch cable that would work?
You should be able to get sound directly from the model 1 headphone jack when the 32x is connected. Just use a cable that has a 3.5mm jack to rca jacks. The 32x sends the sound back to the genesis for output. Or you could probably just attach an audio cable from genesis 1 headphone to the retrovison input. Either method should get you 32x sound.
Was surprised to find my snes and Sega cables in my mail box yesterday. Tested both and I am happy with the results. The Sega one did not output sound on my model 1 with a 32x and sega cd attached but worked with my cdx and model 2. Also works great with my Master System. SNES cable works well too. Both made a noticeable difference in the quality of the picture. Both have a brightness switch to brighten the screen. They were worth the wait.
Did you use the 1/8" audi input on the cable from the Stereo out on the Genesis? I haven't had a chance to test mine yet, but I know that the input is there. It might have something to do with your audio issues.
In their faqs they state that a model 1 and 32x with original 32x patch cable will not pass sound. I wonder if there is an alternative patch cable that would work?
You should be able to get sound directly from the model 1 headphone jack when the 32x is connected. Just use a cable that has a 3.5mm jack to rca jacks. The 32x sends the sound back to the genesis for output. Or you could probably just attach an audio cable from genesis 1 headphone to the retrovison input. Either method should get you 32x sound.
This is what I was thinking as well, but I haven't had time to test mine out yet. With that said, I'm planning on using mine with a model 2 Genesis with a model 2 CD and 32x. I'm going to use my other cable for my Master System.
I am using a 15 year old Sony Trinitron KV-32HS20.
Each cable was $35 through the Kickstarter, but I have no idea how much profit HD Retrovision eventually made from these cables. I wouldn't be surprised if the cables wind up getting priced $50-60 for general sale.
From what i heard on the cable testing stream, they are in the red and any money they make will come from the non KS cables they had made. I hope they make a good amount of money from those when they go on sale.
I love these cables, i have a bunch of games i want to test but at 35$ a cable getting 3 was worth it.
I am using a 15 year old Sony Trinitron KV-32HS20.
Dang 3 pair I am jelly I will for sure buy some cables from them when they go on sale to the public.
Can I use these for RGB instead of component? I don't want a SCART cable, so this seems a good choice for my Sony PVM.
No. Component cables don't carry RGB, 3 pins isn't enough for independent red/green/blue/sync.
http://www.hdretrovision.com/blog/2014/8/21/behind-the-pixels-scart-rgb
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=56857&sid=1a1ad448e9098b0e36c64bcbf440c86d&start=90
Do these cables do anything for the vertical bar?
Do you mean Genesis jail bars? I can't say for certain. I broke out my Model 1 VA6 to make sure the breakout cable and 3.5" input worked and I didn't notice any jailbars on the screen. However I do know from reading up on the issue at Sega-16 that the jail bars are the result of a design flaw on the Genesis motherboard, so cables alone won't fix the problem. That's something HD Retrovision would need to answer; did their tweaking of the Genesis transcoder address the jail bar issue?
Do these cables do anything for the vertical bar?
Do you mean Genesis jail bars? I can't say for certain. I broke out my Model 1 VA6 to make sure the breakout cable and 3.5" input worked and I didn't notice any jailbars on the screen. However I do know from reading up on the issue at Sega-16 that the jail bars are the result of a design flaw on the Genesis motherboard, so cables alone won't fix the problem. That's something HD Retrovision would need to answer; did their tweaking of the Genesis transcoder address the jail bar issue?
You bring up a good point about the Genesis jail bars, but I was refering more to this:
http://www.joeredifer.com/crap/snesline.jpg
It's caused by fluctuations on the 5v power rail. I was just wondering if their cables might have taking them into account.
There is a thread on NESDEV about it too.
http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9890&sid=cc126a4f78c647467b633859d9785370&start=105