Nintendo S-Video Issue

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(I'm not sure where to post this. Please move or let me know where to put this post, if it's in the wrong place.)

So I just got the s-video nintendo cable I ordered, and after hooking them up to my LCD TV, I noticed a couple things: First of all, the S-video looks bad. While the pixels and details are much clearer than AV, there are terrible diagonal line going through the picture:

AV:

S-Video:

AV

S-Video

AV

S-Video

AV

S-Video

Now, that's pretty noticeable, even on camera. Unfortunately, what I couldn't get a good shot of was the way the color intensity changed depending on what cables I have plugged in.

Right now, my setup is like this:

[sNES] -> [switchbox] -> [TV]

The switchbox has plugs for AV, S-Video and Component for each input and output. Check this out:

[snes] --(AV)--> [av input] gets me a light picture, with slightly washed out colors. Not that noticeable.

[snes] --(AV+S-Video)--> [av input] gets me a darker, more intense picture. The reverse is also true:

[snes] --(S-video)--> [s input] = light picture

[snes --(s-video + AV)--> [s input] = dark picture.

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So, after some research, I took the cable apart and found this:

From what I've learned, apparently, the "Luma" signal from the S-Video cable is incorrectly going into the Y-AV pin, aka Pin 9, while it should be going to pin 7. I've highlighted the cables:

So yeah, it looks like the Luma (Green cable, I guess) is going to Pin 9. Supposedly, it's supposed to go to pin 7, and if I could fix that, then the video problem would be fixed too. That's where I'm stuck, though. Which is Pin 9, and how would I re-wire it? Any tips, guides, or link would greatly help!

Thanks!

[DarkeSword]

Um, you're not plugging in your composite video along with your S-video, right? Because if you're using S-video, leave the yellow cable unplugged.

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Um, you're not plugging in your composite video along with your S-video, right? Because if you're using S-video, leave the yellow cable unplugged.

I've tried it both ways; with the yellow plugged in, and without it. When it is plugged in, the picture gets darker and colors more intense. When the yellow cable is unplugged, the picture becomes lighter and colors are more washed out. The reverse also happens. I think it's because the Luminance cord is soldered onto the composite video pin (pin 9), so essentially the s-video and composite are feeding off each other, I guess.

I don't really understand this sort of thing, like why are there so many unused pin holes? But I guess I need to learn someday

[Brycepops]

What brand of cable did you buy O_o

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What brand of cable did you buy O_o

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130260984266&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1993wt_708

It was a pretty good price; 4 for around $20. Even if I can't get the s-video to work, at least I've got some extra AV cables.

They don't actually have any branding on them. I did see some (I think) madcatz ones at the Source the other day; it was a Nintendo, Playstation and Xbox combo cable with S-Video for $20. I suppose I could buy that and see how it looks... But even so, my current set up demands 4 of those cables, and I'm not about to spend $80 on that, when a $20 soldering kit (That I could use later) might be able to solve the problem, lol.

[Faustt]

Here's a pinout for the SNES A/V Cable.

http://pinouts.ru/Game/SnesVideo_pinout.shtml

ghetto style:

11 9 7 5 3 1

12 10 8 6 4 2

S-Video Pin out.

http://pinouts.ws/s-video-pinout.html

So it looks like you should have 2 grounds and a Y and a C coming from the Svideo part of the cable. Pin 9 is second from the left on the top of the port. The SNES pinout says that's the composite cable (yellow RCA). Pin 8 (bottom, and right one) is the C part of the S video. You're right, looks like pin 7 (Y) just isn't wired. I can't really tell from the picture, is the copper wire (usually ground) going into the same port as the yellow wire in pin 5? If it is, you might have to pull that and separate the two wires. Put the copper wire back into pin 5 (ground), and move the yellow to pin 7 (one space to the left, still on the top). If there's only the copper wire going to pin 5, then looks like you're just plain missing the Y from the Svideo part of the cable.

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AWESOME! Thanks for that pinout! Let's see...

I've got three cables coming from the s-video part: A red that leads to pin 8, a white that leads to pin 9, and a yellow that leads to pin 5.

The composite Y leads to pin 9 as well.

Composite R leads to pin 12.

Composite W leads to pin 11.

The copper wire (the ground?) comes from all three composite cables, and leads to pin 5 as well.

I'm guessing that the S-Video white is the luma, but I'm not sure.

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So are all the cables there? Is the only thing I need to do is somehow move the S-Video white cable into pin 7? And how would I do that?

[Ajax]

I bought a couple of S-Video Cables a while back, and one of them had the same problem, and it was because it had been manufactured poorly, and had the pins connected wrong, While the other one that worked had them connected correctly. It kind of sucks, because you just don't know what you are going to get.

Note: All of these cables were Pelican brand, but the one that was bad had different packaging.

Also, I was never able to fix the other cable because I didn't want to mess with trying to get those pins out, and in the right place.

Well good luck with getting your cable working.