Now i know what you all are thinking. "this has been covered dozens of times, the composite video is wired into the S-Video's Luma connection, nothing new" etc. well i bring something new and exciting (not that exciting) to the table. first off, yes, i have a $6 S-Video/Composite cable for snes/gamecube/n64, the brand is KMD. Yes, my video has washed out colors and the diagonal lines seen here http://i.imgur.com/WUwVe.jpg (though the graphics themselves are amazingly sharp, and i can almost get past the lines...almost) No, i have no pictures of my own to share. only testimony. sorry. Also, i always play on a good size CRT TV, and i wasn't sure this was an actual problem until i tried it on an LCD where the lines became much more obvious. I'd also like to mention the checkerboard effect looks a lot like a visual effect i get on NES with standard composite video, but i've only noticed that on my CRT while playing super mario bros for some reason... but i digress. now here's where things get weird. i read all this information about cheap snes s-video cables and how they tend to have composite video wired to the s-video's luma pin, which is why the graphical issues happen. so i cut open my cord, expecting to find only the audio connections, power, ground, composite and chroma wired. but to my surprise, luma was wired too. so i broke out my multimeter and tested the connections. and afaik, all of the connections were correct. i even checked for a connection between all of the S-Video pins and the composite plug, and the only connection between them was the ground. i double and triple checked too. now i plan on getting an s-video only plug for my snes anyway, but i'm wondering if anyone has any idea what could be the REAL cause of the video problem, since i can't see how it could possibly be the composite in my case. all i can think of is the lack of one of those noise filter thingies on the cord. could that be the issue?
It's probably improper shielding. I have this cable: http://www.amazon.com/Universal-AV-...80166&sr=8-1&keywords=universal+s-video+cable Price has risen on them btw. I got mine for $4 with FSS.
Like 99% of third party SNES/n64 cables are improperly shielded and have these issues. One ones I've seen that don't is a monster branded one and one I made myself by swapping the s video cord with a better quality one.
alright thanks for the feedback, i think it's weird that lack of shielding can cause perfect diagonal lines all across the screen but it does seem to be the case
I was lucky enough to grab a couple of the monster SNES N64 GC S-video cables before the price went from like $6 new to $40+ used on ebay.
i've heard the monster ones are great, but did they stop making them? i don't know why they'd be so expensive if that's not the case. i have since gotten a different s-video cable that can be used with the nintendo multi-out port, xbox and ps2. on the ps2 it looks amazing but on snes it still has those diagonal lines, though much less noticable. i find it funny that this brand actually brags on the box that it's better quality than other s-video cables. the brand is intec.
Yeah they stopped making them back then the GameCube was discontinued. Back in 2010 there were a bunch of them listed regularly for under $10 new. Now if you need one people are asking over triple just for a used one. Pretty sure it is the best cable you can get though for the SNES-GC for S-Video
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intec-G5295...551?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c89c6c677 Good alternative to those expensive monster cables. Unlike those other cables, it actually provides composite and S-video.
I got something similar to that, it works pretty well, at least on my GC and PS2 (really only use component for the OG Xbox)
I have a 3rd party S-video only ( no composite ) nintendo cable here and I do not see any interferences on the picture despite the cabling being unshielded, 99% of third party console cables are not, as specified earlier in the thread.
Cheap ≠ Good Quality. My official Sony PS2 component cable stopped working and i can only find the cheap chinese ones. Not even the Sony PS3 component cable is available anymore.
that's precisely what i got recently and they work better than my last cables but do still have some faint diagonal lines on some solid colors. more noticable on LCD tvs, and it's tolerable on a CRT tv which is what i always use.
Also make sure that your power cabling does not run along the AV cabling as this can induce interferences in the picture.
