Nintendo 64 S-Video vs Composite Comparison

When it comes to NES on a CRT, it's RF all the way. Late 80's/early 90's nostalgia aside, i prefer RF solely because of the softer image which makes characters and environments look more rounder/softer and cartoon-like. Once you bump it up to composite, the character sprites wind up looking a little more artificial and sharper. But once you get to SNES & Genesis, Composite is the winner. S-Video is too crisp/clear for my liking. :P

As far as PS1, N64 & Saturn go. I've never tried anything beyond composite. Curious to see how S-Video and Retrovision's Component cables look in comparison, IN person, on a Sony WEGA CRT. I'm not entirely sure if sharpening up the image will do those ugly basic 3D polygons any favours. To have all the benefits of Retrovision's component cables, like zero color bleeding, richer vibrant colours, deeper blacks and better contrast, but with the softness of Composite would be great.

But it's totally component(Or S-video) for Dreamcast, GameCube & Wii. Couldn't imagine going back to composite with those 3, especially GCN & Wii.

Thanks for doing this comparison, I have Japanese N64 but this one isn't RGB enabled. I'm using a composite to scart into my HDTV which is fine but want to try svideo for better picture. I prefer a direct hook to tv because alot of these USB powered converters are often a let down for N64, Doom 64 is the worse offender.

Yep there are indeed Nintendo brand s video cables specifically for the super nintendo. I know, I imported one for 100$ from Japan. And they work on n64 and probably gamecube too

cool!

trying to find a comparison on an rgb subpixel lcd because what looks good on a crt wildly varies with what type it is.
props on you for just getting close with a camera though instead of 2 different tvbs at a distance or with a capture card adding another layer of filtering out to do

i use s video on my CRT it's looks sharper to me much cleaner I can't revert back to the other

Would an RGB SCART version (like the one for the Super Nintendo one) be a good alternative? I bought the super Nintendo SCART cable cuz my PAL n64 doesn’t have S-video from what I’ve heard.

I've decided to go back to original hardware. I play on a CRT television and I have original Nintendo s video cables on my Super Nintendo and my Nintendo 64. I just need one more, for my GameCube.

The only selling point of RGB (over S video) in my opinion is deblur. I’d take the blurry pixels over the dithering though, I’ve alway like the smooth muddy look of n64 games. Plus it hides some imperfections which is a good thing in my opinion. S video is a massive leap in clarity, and RGB for the price and all that jazz is not that much worth it to me.

Using cheap knockoff cables will give you a worse video signal

can i connect my nintendo 64 to my laptop screen ?

Hi, is it also possible to use a scart block with a s video?

Very nice video! Gaming on a CRT is (in my opinion) defenitely the best way to game on these consoles, and its really nice if it has alot of inputs like S-video, component etc! As a fact I have one of if not the first CRT with separate luminance and chrominance (basically S-Video but in RCA form) and that is the Commodore 1702/1701 monitor from around 1983! Again very nice video with great detail!

N64 analog roundup

Composite Video Blank Sync (CVBS)

Vs.

Separate Video (color & luminance)

Composite Video versus S-Video

S-Video wins!

What is your N64 serial number?

What cable were you using bro?

Goldeneye and especially Resident Evil 2 (using the expansion pack) look sublime on my N64 through my new Insurrection Industries S-video cable (back in stock for now) connected from my Retrotink 5X to my LG gaming monitor.

Nintendo branded S Video cables are quite uncommon, and may cost $50 or more. I’ve seen the pricing make me come to that conclusion.

You never want an S-video cable that has composite with it.👍

Nintendo did make a first party S video cable but they are rare and expensive

There are official Nintendo S video cables. They were made for the SNES and the Snes, N64 and GameCube can use it because it's the same kind of port. I have one of them myself.

WHERE CAN I BUY THESE BRAND NEW?

Component is still king

I fell in love with S-video as the way to play on N64. Took me a while to find a higher end CRT that supports both component and s-video but it was worth the patience

I have an old magnavox crt tv with only a coaxial input and a Sony vcr. Is there anyway to connect Nintendo64 to VCR to Tv?

I still have the old purple Monster S-video cable that works on SNES and N64. Old Monster analog video cable, especially S-Video and component video, would outperform generic video cable of the same type. Mainly because they shielded their cables properly. Monster video 2 cable would have better shielding than generic zip cord.
Monster Video 3 cables would have better shielding, but also nitrogen gas injected into the dielectric, to maintain exact 75-ohm impedance (what is needed for an analog video cable) even when the cable was bent. So the picture would have sharper picture, better colour sat. and better black levels. With the old composite video, it was hard to see much difference from a zip cord composite video, except for maybe better black level and contrast.
Sadly, the purple monster s-video audio RCA connectors grip way too tightly, and the video and audio cord is a bit short for connecting to an upscaler like Retrotink 2X Classic or even Retrotink 5X.
Maybe the solution is to get a 1 meter Monster video 3 s-video cable (which has nitrogen gas dielectric) and s-video coupler, with Monster 400 audio interlinks (which will have good shielding) on ebay to extend the cable ends. But that is too complicated and expensive.

If your screen is high enough quality, S-Vid is good enough. Component or RGB adds very little improvement in clarity, it begins to be more about color space (brighter) in which sometimes RGB users have to tone it down to match S-Vid's brightness. Sometimes colors that you have never seen originally will appear on RGB, and some folks find it ugly or almost as if it shouldn't really be there.

Question: Does the Super EON 64 pull from the Composite signal or the S-Video signal?

D-video VS Components VS HDMI Converter? Thx for video!

Nice video, thank you very much

I have magical tetris. It's one of the few western released games that was on the n64 arcade system.

I've got my s video cables in the way. I've also ordered a s video to HDMI converter.

S video is almost as good as component cable, i use svideo with my upscaler audio receiver and looks very good

A warning about the cheaper S-Video cables you mentioned. If you get the ones that have a yellow composite cable as well, those are often not "true" S-Video. Those just send the composite signal to S-Video as well. So spend a bit more and get a "true" S-Video cable. I made this mistake when I first got into S-Video.

There were Nintendo S-Video cables, but there weren't very many produced so they go for a lot of money. It's a shame that most people in the US settled for composite until HD took over.

S video is better

is this an old TV? I dont think you find S-VIDEO on TV nowdays. for unmodded N64, then you need to convert the S-VIDEO to HDMI with a converter....those do not seem to be consistent with quality. great vid

I'm trying to buy an S-video cable for my N64 but is there really a difference between the ones you got and the gold plated ones?

This is an excellent comparison, I never knew the difference could be that noticable!

Im SOLD.

Btw nice video and you won another subscriber👍😎

As a video idea you could do the same with your hd tv and compare with your crt with the two cables😎👍

On an hd tv the difference seems even more than on a crt tv on retroarch i often have fun comparing the composite and s video shaders with a crt filter or none and the s video wins all the way✌

Do not use an Eon. ...if you are willing to pay that kind of money, a true HDMI mod, is worth your while, with better results.

Also, their are RGBs mods for the Nintendo 64.

You can also mod the N64 for analogue component output as well.
But it takes a bit of soldering and building some 3D sculpture on the board with resistors, etc...