Long time lurker, first time poster. Though, I doubt that needs to be said. I got an RGB-capable SCART cable for my childhood SNES, and recently imported SFC, and they look fantastic with the SCART > HDMI converter. Curious though, my N64 and childhood PS1 do not have SCART cables. I know the N64 will need to be modded, which I will have a friend do soon; but the PS1 is a bit of a mystery. I bought my SNES RGB cables from eBay seller, retro_console_accessories. The cable is of high build quality, and works amazingly well. I heard they did PlayStation cables too, but haven't seen them listed. Does anyone know of some great 1st or 3rd-party RGB cables for my PlayStation? If it matters, the model of the console is an SPCH-5501.
That seller you linked is the one I bought my cables from. Those cables are great! She sells PS1 SCART cables for sale but is out of stock right now. Her PS1 cables use Sync-on-Luma, which I hear is better than the official PS1 RGB SCART Cable. All PS1s support RGBS and the official PSOne LCD screen uses RGBS too. If you don't want to wait for her stock to come back (usually a couple weeks), you can make your own cable using a plug Helder sells in the marketplace.
There is an official PS1 SCART cable, though I think it's rather expensive. You can also use a PS2 component cable for RGB (with a AV box thing) if you have a display that has RCA or BNC connectors for RGB. The official component cable is pretty good. You can also use a SCART or component cable for RGB on a PS2.
The PS1 requires 220uf capacitors on the RGB lines so if you go the component cable route, you will need to put those capacitors on the RGB lines. I have the same converter he linked and it requires 1-3V on Pin 16 for RGB mode so if you used the Component cables, you will need to send power to Pin 16 via an external power supply. It is much easier just to use a pre-made PS1 RGB SCART cable than the PS2 component cables. The PS1 VGA mod is another option but you would need a VGA monitor that accepts 15KHz or a 15KHz RGB to 31KHz VGA converter.
That I'm aware of, every consumer PS1, PS2, and PS3 worldwide uses identical RGB cables. Other than the incapable PSX DVR. Don't know about a mod for that. Nor dev units, prototypes, etc.
I do have a PS2 (Slim), and intend to get a component cable for it, but I also intend to use the PSIO on my PS1, and want to have the best PQ possible. Making my own cable is kind of out of the question. I may just be patient and wait; maybe send a PM to see if/when they will be in stock again. On my original SNES (1Chip), it looks incredible, crystal clear. My imported Famicom? That dammed white line looks like an overlay, and the picture looks like shoddy S-Video. Hm. I have VGA on the Dreamcast, and heard about it for the PS2 (Though I'm going with component obviously), didn't know the PS1 supported it. Sounds a bit convoluted though. Thanks for your replies so far.
Your quite welcome. The VGA mod is quite simple. All you need to do is get Red, Green, and Blue from the AV Out connector (put 220uf capacitors on each of the RGB lines) and tap H-Sync and V-Sync from the video chip. Some games and the PS1 BIOS are 480i so those may display on a standard monitor but the rest are 240p at 15KHz and require a certain old Amiga monitor, a PVM, or an upscaler. Before a mod I'm about to mention, the VGA mod used to give you the best picture quality possible. If you really want to wait, there is an upcoming universal HDMI mod board for any console with access to their digital audio/video signals. It should work fine on NTSC PS1 consoles but PAL systems may have trouble with it. It should be released later this year. That mod will give you the best picture quality possible, better than PS2 via Component and better than the VGA mod.
I use the component cable because my PVM has BNC inputs, so all I need are RCA to BNC adapters on each of the RGBS leads. It doesn't appear to need capacitors, because the picture is really good using what I just described. So, this is useful if you have a PVM specifically. If you have a device with a SCART input (jowijo does, apparently) then a SCART cable would make more sense. If you want to build a cable, it would probably be better just to build one from scratch, using the connectors and some cables.
You can buy it from Retrogaming Cables https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/games-consoles/sony-playstation It will works on PS1,PS2 and PS3
I was just looking there oddly enough. Though it appears to only support PAL/JPN RGB signals, and not NTSC-U. I don't think the box I have can convert PAL to NTSC. I say this only because all of my consoles are NTSC for obvious reasons. Would this cable work on my converter box? It uses RGB using SCART input, and outputs HDMI.
I have the exact same converter as you. It can convert PAL and SECAM to NTSC. RGBS is neither PAL nor NTSC, it's either 50Hz RGB or 60Hz RGB. Cables will not change the video output on a PS1. That cable will work fine on NTSC systems. RGBS signals are the same on both PAL consoles and NTSC consoles. The only difference is the resolution and refresh rate. Japanese systems use NTSC btw. NTSC-U is just the region code.
RGBS is not NTSC. It does not use NTSC video information. JP-21 is also wired differently so he will need the SCART version unless he wants to rewire it.
I was aware Japanese SCART was different, hence why I asked. Good to know it works, I'll be buying one ASAP. Do you use a switcher with the RGB converter? If so, which one? Between the SNES/SFC, soon the PS1, and eventually the N64; It'd be nice to switch them like an RCA switch box does.
Glad I could help! The JP-21 cables will work on SCART as they are the same cable electronically. The only difference is how they are wired. Simply rewire the cable (if it is a crimp connection, you don't need to use a soldering iron) or make a JP-21 to SCART adapter out of a generic SCART coupler. Nice thing about the converter we have is that it supports Composite video and S-Video over SCART. It also works with DVI-D over the HDMI input connector. That's 4 converters for the price of one. Just make sure that the RGB SCART cables you buy and/or make get 1-3V on Pin 16. Without it, the converter will swap to Composite video mode. Also, if you supply Pin 8 of the SCART connector with +12V, it will force a 4:3 aspect ratio. Sadly, I don't use a SCART switchbox because most of them are not very good. I've heard of a good one being made by someone over in the marketplace but I haven't tried it yet. I only use SCART on my SNES and Genesis CD 32X mess so far so swapping cables by hand isn't too much of a hassle for me. I plan on making a PS1 RGB box that uses a PS2 component cable and a mod to the console. It will give me RGB with either C-Sync for RGBS (used in SCART) or H-Sync and V-Sync for RGBHV (VGA). I'm still not sure what connector I'm going to use for the Sync signals though. Either way, it will involve soldering and possibly a AA battery hooked up to pin 16 on a SCART cable. I'll post a thread about it when I get it done for those interested in this mod. One more thing, that universal HDMI mod I mentioned early will work on both the PS1 (PAL PS1s may have trouble with it) and the N64 should you want to skip analog video altogether. The prototype mod boards have been confirmed working on the N64, GameCube, and Dreamcast so far.
I'm in the same boat. At the rate the PSIO guys are moving, will probably be 2016, but yes I'd prefer to use RGB SCART on my PSOne once PSIO modded. In the meantime I just use a PS2 slim over component on my HDTV. On my old CRT, I play PS1/PS2 light gun games over S-Video.
Yeah I just got an okay deal on official PS2 component cables ($10 like new), so I'll just do that for now. My Slim plays all the PS1 games I have, and plan to buy. Have retro game cable bookmarked though, so I can buy their SCART cable later.
