PS1/2 RGB vs component cables

[GensokyoIceFairy]

By RGB i mean RGB SCART, mostly. I'm not sure how to achieve a RGB signal in the US TVs.

How do you have your PS2 connected? I personally went for a set of cheap component cables and while the picture is extremely sharp, my TV requires me to use GSM Synthesiser to play PSX games (it's LG TV). It works pretty nicely tho.

Others may opt for RGB SCART which fixes this issue and I've heard produces better colour output than YPbPr espectially on PAL systems/games.

I searched up the RGB SCART cable (sync-on-luma) and an good one costs about £20 so I can't get one. I'm also unsure of all the different types of SCART, and what they're advantages are. The cheap SCARTs are just wired for composite, I'm aware of that, though

Discuss here ^^

 

[SG854]

RGB and Component are the same picture wise.
I don't notice a difference on my PVM.

 

[GensokyoIceFairy]

RGB and Component are the same picture wise.
I don't notice a difference on my PVM.

I always thought component was slightly crisper and darker and RGB slightly fuzzier in picture sharpness but brighter in colour. That said I've never seen an RGB setup.

You on PAL or NTSC PS2?

Thanks for replying though ^^

 

[SG854]

I always thought component was slightly crisper and darker and RGB slightly fuzzier in picture sharpness but brighter in colour. That said I've never seen an RGB setup.

You on PAL or NTSC PS2?

Thanks for replying though ^^

I'm on a NTSC PSX but it should be the same for PS2. Picture quality should be the same. On a PVM Sharpness is not adjustable through RGB. You can adjust sharpness through component but that's artificial sharpness and it creates a halo effect. So its best to set to neutral (no blurring or sharpness applied) which should be the same sharpness wise as RGB. For the darker less colorful image you just calibrate your displays colors and it should look the same.

Official Playstation Component cables have the ability to output both RGB and Component. But you will need to modify it to output sync on composite. I have a pair of Gamestop Cables that has both composite and component plugs so no modification needed. With component no need to deal with sync since its on the green plug. On my PVM I just buy a RCA to BNC plugs and output RGB.

 

[Ryccardo]

Scart carries bidirectional stereo audio, bidirectional composite video (which can be just sync for RGB use, but that's not official specification), unidirectional RGB video, and two control signals (pin 8 "slow blanking"/device selection, and pin 16 "fast blanking"/transparency/RGB mode selection);

later, official and unofficial extensions, often with questionable commercial application, were added, such as:
- half voltage on pin 8 for 16:9
- device control (not to be confused with the video/satellite buttons on most TV remotes having them, which just output different signals for such devices of the same brand)
- S-video over RGB pins
- YPbPr over RGB pins

The rather curious list of features is because the connector was too ahead of its time (and place):
- A significant design goal was the ability to build tuner-less VCRs, external teletext cards, and pay tv decoders, using the composite output from the tuner/IF
- RGB is not really there because of a quest to obtain maximum picture quality, but to unify an Europe split by PAL and SECAM (576i and its timings were already in agreement) while simplifying the design of the above add-on devices (transparency of RGB subtitles over composite video? that's exactly why it's called fast blanking! as in fast enough to change between pixels)...
Look at the French NES: having it output only composite or s-video but converting it to RGB - you can be sure quality wasn't the reason!

For most practical purposes, the "types of scart" you may encounter are two: typically, when you have multiple ones, only the first is guaranteed to support RGB (the others are up to the seriousness of the manufacturer - and one, typically the last, might support S-video but it's unlikely)
(I would also guess there may be TVs missing on RGB input and/or audio/composite return, but you can't argue with corporate cost cutting at the expense of the consumer)




As for console cables, yes, I have seen composite cables (sometimes even without the appropriate adapter!) misadvertised as "SCART"...

As @SG854 said, PS2/PS3 cables for RGB and Component ought to electrically be the same (of course, YPbPr is not typically delivered over SCART connectors, and RGB isn't over RCA; but that's a solveable problem). Furthermore, official PS2/PS3 RGB cables (which are the same as PS1 ones) include 220 microfarad capacitors on the RGB lines (which are "required" for PS1 use, but useless on the newer consoles which have them built in)

If you have access to free broken PC CRT monitors, go collect the tails (nonremovable video cables) and you will quickly find 3-coax individually shielded ones; combined with the connectors from a cheap PS2 RGB/YPbPr cable and any 21-pin SCART cable, there comes your cheap, DIY, high-quality RGB kit

I do have an 8 € cheap unshielded RGB cable though, and apart from introducing audible noise on bright screens, it's already pretty good - any differences between RGB and "Component" you may encounter are most likely the consequence of different choice by the programmers of your TV's software!

 

[SG854]

Scart carries bidirectional stereo audio, bidirectional composite video (which can be just sync for RGB use, but that's not official specification), unidirectional RGB video, and two control signals (pin 8 "slow blanking"/device selection, and pin 16 "fast blanking"/transparency/RGB mode selection);

later, official and unofficial extensions, often with questionable commercial application, were added, such as:
- half voltage on pin 8 for 16:9
- device control (not to be confused with the video/satellite buttons on most TV remotes having them, which just output different signals for such devices of the same brand)
- S-video over RGB pins
- YPbPr over RGB pins

The rather curious list of features is because the connector was too ahead of its time (and place):
- A significant design goal was the ability to build tuner-less VCRs, external teletext cards, and pay tv decoders, using the composite output from the tuner/IF
- RGB is not really there because of a quest to obtain maximum picture quality, but to unify an Europe split by PAL and SECAM (576i and its timings were already in agreement) while simplifying the design of the above add-on devices (transparency of RGB subtitles over composite video? that's exactly why it's called fast blanking! as in fast enough to change between pixels)...
Look at the French NES: having it output only composite or s-video but converting it to RGB - you can be sure quality wasn't the reason!

For most practical purposes, the "types of scart" you may encounter are two: typically, when you have multiple ones, only the first is guaranteed to support RGB (the others are up to the seriousness of the manufacturer - and one, typically the last, might support S-video but it's unlikely)
(I would also guess there may be TVs missing on RGB input and/or audio/composite return, but you can't argue with corporate cost cutting at the expense of the consumer)




As for console cables, yes, I have seen composite cables (sometimes even without the appropriate adapter!) misadvertised as "SCART"...

As @SG854 said, PS2/PS3 cables for RGB and Component ought to electrically be the same (of course, YPbPr is not typically delivered over SCART connectors, and RGB isn't over RCA; but that's a solveable problem). Furthermore, official PS2/PS3 RGB cables (which are the same as PS1 ones) include 220 microfarad capacitors on the RGB lines (which are "required" for PS1 use, but useless on the newer consoles which have them built in)

If you have access to free broken PC CRT monitors, go collect the tails (nonremovable video cables) and you will quickly find 3-coax individually shielded ones; combined with the connectors from a cheap PS2 RGB/YPbPr cable and any 21-pin SCART cable, there comes your cheap, DIY, high-quality RGB kit

I do have an 8 € cheap unshielded RGB cable though, and apart from introducing audible noise on bright screens, it's already pretty good - any differences between RGB and "Component" you may encounter are most likely the consequence of different choice by the programmers of your TV's software!

On PS3 consoles when you click on SCART settings it gives you 2 options, 1) to output YPbPr, or 2) Output RGB. Official Sony RGB cables lets you output YPbPr through Scart. I tried it and works. I typical use YPbPr because DVD's don't display correctly in RGB. You get an all Green Image.

 

[Ryccardo]

On PS3 consoles when you click on SCART settings it gives you 2 options, 1) to output YPbPr, or 2) Output RGB. Official Sony RGB cables lets you output YPbPr through Scart. I tried it and works. I typical use YPbPr because DVD's don't display correctly in RGB. You get an all Green Image.

It's more that an RGB cable can't be detected as different than a YPbPr one (unlike on the Wii, where a "component" one has 2 shorted pins)

That overexposed green picture issue is well known (and actually is what happens when you try to output YPbPr to a device expecting RGB, matching the wire colors; the consoles are rigged to force YPbPr in movie-disc modes due to the ineffective struggle of their designer, who is also a movie and audio multinational, to obstruct piracy with little interest to consumers - there is a "fixed" unofficial DVD player for the PS2, but surprisingly not on PS3)