Genesis and SNES Component cable kickstarter

[war2thegrave]

No other hardware is needed.
Reasonably priced.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hdretrovision/sega-genesis-and-super-nintendo-component-cables

If I still had my genesis, I would buy one.

 

[Foxi4]

Why go Component when both systems have readily available RGB outputs that can be easily upscaled to HD with your usual RGB box?

 

[war2thegrave]

They are more beneficial to the north americans who were not blessed with RGB SCART.

 

[tbb043]

So it's basically a cable with an inline RGB to Component converter?

It's an interesting idea, I'm just not sure it's something that's actually needed. You could just get an already existing converter box to do that instead, it'd be more flexible and usable on more systems. A cable like that is still going to have the same sort of problems a box might (added lag, TV needs to support 240p component, etc.) only thing I can think they can do is really work on getting them as low priced as possible. For $10, these would be worth looking into, at $20.... not as much, higher than that, and you might as well get the box.

 

[Foxi4]

They are more beneficial to the north americans who were not blessed with RGB SCART.

That's the thing - you don't need RGB SCART on your TV to use RGB - just grab an RGB box and connect it however you want, through Component or through HDMI, even through VGA if you feel like it. I don't see a reason why you'd want to downgrade the signal to an arguably inferior type instead of using the crisp RGB straight from the system.

 

[codezer0]

Why go Component when both systems have readily available RGB outputs that can be easily upscaled to HD with your usual RGB box?

because 'murica got screwed by never having RGB inputs.

And because most modern sets won't understand the 240p output that usually comes out through an RGB box.

then there's the imposed lag tax for the RGB box processing it.

 

[war2thegrave]

The conversion still needs to occur somewhere in the chain between the console and the TV.

In north america, the only way to get RGB from a console is to import a SCART cable.
There are a lot of poor quality off brand / grey market cables out there, so it's pretty
much a crap shoot to get one that actually works properly.

You would also need hardware that will convert the 240p RGB to one of the 3 high quality
video standards available; VGA, component, or HDMI and most newer TV's no longer include VGA ports.

Either way, you still need to import both the box and the cable to do the same thing that these
cables can do at half the cost.

 

[codezer0]

So it's basically a cable with an inline RGB to Component converter?

It's an interesting idea, I'm just not sure it's something that's actually needed. You could just get an already existing converter box to do that instead, it'd be more flexible and usable on more systems. A cable like that is still going to have the same sort of problems a box might (added lag, TV needs to support 240p component, etc.) only thing I can think they can do is really work on getting them as low priced as possible. For $10, these would be worth looking into, at $20.... not as much, higher than that, and you might as well get the box.

I haven't even found a so-called RGB to component box for less than $50 USD, even from outlets that bother carrying them at all. Even stuff like RadioShack, which you would expect to be the closest to a physical presence, don't bother carry 'em.

comparatively, even $20 USD for a native cable that can handle it would be fantastic.

 

[raulpica]

Eh, it makes sense only for North America, really.

If you're in Europe it's definitely better to get a dirt-cheap SCART cable and that's it.

 

[Foxi4]

because 'murica got screwed by never having RGB inputs.

And because most modern sets won't understand the 240p output that usually comes out through an RGB box.

then there's the imposed lag tax for the RGB box processing it.

Even if you grab an RGB box and an RGB-to-HD converter, you're still going to get better picture quality than with Component, that's just a fact. This kind of equipment is dirt cheap these days and if you're the kind of person that's interested in pimping your system, you'll probably go for the top, not the okay result.

 

[raulpica]

Even if you grab an RGB box and an RGB-to-HD converter, you're still going to get better picture quality than with Component, that's just a fact. This kind of equipment is dirt cheap these days and if you're the kind of person that's interested in pimping your system, you'll probably go for the top, not the okay result.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alloy-Ver...80P-Wii-Sky-VHS-HDTV-HD-DVD-NEW-/321243107081
On a notorious Amiga forum some people are swearing by the goodness of this one here.

I might get one in the future too... My 1084S takes too much space

The good thing about getting this box instead of that Kickstarter would be being able to use every console out there with superior video output (Dreamcast, PSX, PC Engine, etc.) instead of just SNES/Genesis.

 

[Foxi4]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alloy-Ver...80P-Wii-Sky-VHS-HDTV-HD-DVD-NEW-/321243107081
On a notorious Amiga forum some people are swearing by the goodness of this one here.

I might get one in the future too... My 1084S takes too much space

That is pretty sweet box and the price ain't too high! Right now I'm using the bog standard Composite connection for my Ami, but I might upgrade eventually.

 

[codezer0]

Even if you grab an RGB box and an RGB-to-HD converter, you're still going to get better picture quality than with Component, that's just a fact. This kind of equipment is dirt cheap these days and if you're the kind of person that's interested in pimping your system, you'll probably go for the top, not the okay result.

I don't have the $450 many are asking for for an XRGB-mini, however. And even that still does a better job if I could give it a better input... like these would be.

 

[Foxi4]

I don't have the $450 many are asking for for an XRGB-mini, however. And even that still does a better job if I could give it a better input... like these would be.

See post above. You can use pure RGB input and just upscale it to HD - lossless, problem solved.

 

[raulpica]

That is pretty sweet box and the price ain't too high! Right now I'm using the bog standard Composite connection for my Ami, but I might upgrade eventually.

Stay tuned - I'm going to buy a GBS-8200 and build myself an RGB-to-VGA cable for both the Amiga and the SNES.

It costs around $20 (Yes, TWENTY) and can do pretty much everything:

You need to be able to solder yourself a cable though

I'll report back when I get one and build a cable for my SNES. Maybe open a thread or something

 

[Joe88]

how about a kickstarter for cheap gamecube component cables?

 

[trumpet-205]

how about a kickstarter for cheap gamecube component cables?

Impossible in GameCube's case, at least for digital AV port.

See for GameCube the cable is expensive for a valid reason; it is an active cable as opposed to a passive cable. Active cable means it has chips inside to convert signal on the fly. This is also the reason why Intel Thunderbolt costs a lot of money.

Nintendo designed GCN in a weird way that digital AV port outputs YCbCr (digital signal). Problem is very few TV in the world can handle digital signal over component cable. So a proprietary chip is sitting inside the cable to convert it into YPbPr (analog signal).

I don't have the $450 many are asking for for an XRGB-mini, however. And even that still does a better job if I could give it a better input... like these would be.

You don't need to spend that much for a XRGB-Mini ($450 is overpriced, I only paid $320 for mine). In fact you don't need to spend above $100 if all you need is RGB to HDMI transcoding (no upscaling).

Something like this will do the trick for pure transcoding purpose.
http://www.amazon.com/CKITZE-BG-460-System-Digital-Converter/dp/B00988GMLG

 

[war2thegrave]

Even if you grab an RGB box and an RGB-to-HD converter, you're still going to get better picture quality than with Component, that's just a fact. This kind of equipment is dirt cheap these days and if you're the kind of person that's interested in pimping your system, you'll probably go for the top, not the okay result.

There is no discernible difference in quality between CGA RGB and 240p component.
As for the upscaling, it's debatable whether it will perform any better than a decent TV.