Yet another N64 video output (RGB?) question, please help

I know that there are already several of these topics on this board, but they usually involve terminology or processes that are unfamiliar to me (I'm new to soldering and hardware modding, and I'm not well up on video specifications yet), plus I'm not sure which particular topic would apply to me, so I hope no one minds if I start a new topic specifically for my query.

I'm a PAL user, and I have six different consoles (N64, XBox 1, PS2, Gamecube, XBox 360, and PS3), and the first four are connected to my TV (a 32" Samsung LCD) by SCART cables and a SCART switcher box (The 360 and PS3 are connected via HDMI). Anyway, all of the consoles look great on the TV, except for the N64, which looks worse than it did on my CRT TV. Not much worse, and I can certainly live with it as the picture degradation isn't great, but I know that some people have modded their N64s to give a better picture, so I was wondering if I could do this. If so, is it easy to do, and does it apply to PAL consoles (I seem to have read that PAL N64's can't be modded to improve their video output)?

Or is there any other way to improve the N64's output on my TV? The N64 produces three wires, which plug into a little SCART connector, and the SCART connector has as it's inputs three female sockects; red, white, and yellow, and the three male connectors from the N64 plug into these, and of course the SCART output connector plugs into the SCART switcher box (along with the other consoles), which connects to the TV via the TV's SCART switcher box.

Is there anything I could do to improve the N64's picture quality? Preferably as simple as possible (since I'm new to soldering), even if it's just changing some wires (that would be great).

Thanks for any answers.

 

Two things you can do. Mod it with RGB, or get the S-Video cable.

The reason it looks so much worse than your other consoles is that it's using composite video. Composite video is just awful.

RGB is obviously the best. S-Video is still miles better than composite, but your TV might not support that.

 

Modding a PAL N64 for RGB is a bit tricky as it involves some fancy circuit-making. I'm pretty confident with a soldering iron but haven't tackled mine yet. I'll start by adding it to my Japanese N64 (NTSC consoles are easy to mod - just amp the RGB lines form what I understand) and then go for PAL when I can be arsed putting that circuit together

 

Early french n64's are PAL and support the easy rgb method.

 

Ditto to what Bad_Ad said, find yourself and early French N64 (NUS-001(FRA)). Then, it's just a matter of:

1) Solder three wires (1x for red, 1x for blu and 1x for green) with a 75ohm resistor in the middle of each wire from the R, G and B legs of the S-RGA chip to the appropriate pin on output.
2) Solder a wire from "CSYNCOUT" to the V pin out output.
3) Cut the trace leading from the system to to the V pin

Here's a little diagram, so simple even I understand it!


You could probably simply installation by only having one wire and soldering the resistor directly to the leg/pin if you wanted.

 

Thanks for the answers, everyone. For the sake of simplicity, I'll definitely check if my TV accepts S-Video (I won't be home until Monday), I can't remember the model number of course, or I'd google it. I'll probably try to track down a French N64, though I might get someone else to do the soldering for me (a couple of mates I know could probably do it) as I am really inexperienced with it (the only thing I've really soldered is a reset switch to the N64; http://www.assemblergames.com/forum...nt-to-add-an-external-reset-switch-to-the-N64).

How do I know if an N64 is French, i.e. if an ebay auction comes up then how can I confirm it's a French N64 from the ebay photographs, please? I take it a French N64 will play all of my games in English if I select English from the language setting. And will a French N64 need a special power supply, or does it take the same console side connector (and power supply) that plugs into English N64s?

 

Same power supply and you were told above the french model number

 

But where is the model number, so I can see it on a photograph, please?

 

Its on the base of the unit. Anything with the FRA model number should be rgb moddable