Connecting SNES and NES to modern HDTV

[hecktic]

Hi guys,

A friend gave me his old NES and SNES system so I thought I might try and hook it up to a newer tv. I did a little research online other than the obvious that these old systems use very old resolution and graphics settings that if a modern tv does not support then it will not be able to run on it. However with a switch box or using a cable/reciever or dvd player you can play around with the settings and get it to work on the HDTV.

Lucky for me, my new TV is a Samsung and it has all of those configuration tools built in the TV. I am using the Samsung UN55C8000 3D LED TV with current firmware. I basically turned off all the fancy settings (1080 mode, LED, 3D, noise filtering, etc.) and then I setup to mimic an old DLP with 480 res and low and behold the NES system works like a charm. The graphics could use some tuning and tweaking and I read online there are ways to get the picture quality better like using the video switch box among other things to upscale/downscale as needed to get better picture, but I have a problem with the SNES system.

Its a SNES MINI system and has better AV cable quality compared to the NES, but I don't understand why I cannot even get it to work. It wont even show that big grey screen when the power is working but the problem is with the video. I am at the point where it wont give me anything on the screen, plus the MINI version of the SNES aparantly does not give any RED light indicator on the console when you switch it on to let you know it is powered on. Thats just ridiculous. I decided to try some new AV cables so I ordered some today and I might even try S-Video but Im not sure what it could be.

I also tried the NES Power adapter because it is a universal adapter that has a connector to work on an SNES. This didnt help.

I found this on youtube that might explain the problem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MBzzYqc1I8

I don't want to resort to opening it up and doing all that as the video shows so I might even try a CRT monitor or even the video switch box idea. But I cant find anything online on how to find a proper video switch box setup for these old consoles. Can someone who knows this please post some tips and techniques.

Thanks.

[zanzabar]

i use my snes still and i have a panasonic 1080p 32"s1 and its a 2009 model, it works fine. the only problem that i could think of that would be video wise would be that u have a digital only tv tuber and u are using coax. i would recommend using the universal nintendo style rca for it.

i dont know of any ntsc stuff that dose not support 480i on a tv. and if u have rca jacks as thats the only supported format for it would be ntsc or pal depending on your region

[hecktic]

i use my snes still and i have a panasonic 1080p 32"s1 and its a 2009 model, it works fine. the only problem that i could think of that would be video wise would be that u have a digital only tv tuber and u are using coax. i would recommend using the universal nintendo style rca for it.

i dont know of any ntsc stuff that dose not support 480i on a tv. and if u have rca jacks as thats the only supported format for it would be ntsc or pal depending on your region

My tv is 2010 model but that shouldnt matter I think because it has all the needed ports and connectors.

The SNES MINI has the Multi Port thing which provides RCA connections to be plugged into the TV. In effect, I did the same thing with the NES system and it worked. I just had to tweak the TV settings to match an old TV to trick the NES and it worked great.

I tried the same technique with the SNES and it did not work. I might try the RF/Coax connector since my TV will allow that kind of input but since the SNES MINI does not have a jack for the RF/Coax, I might have to get a converter first and it might get expensive.

Ill take a bunch of pictures and post them here so you can understand what I am talking about.

P.s. is there a way to play NES or SNES on a PC?

[hecktic]

here is how this guy set it up:
http://www.youtube.com/user/johneymute#p/u/12/I1VQRF8SZ2I

Thats a better investment I think -buying the proper equipment to basically convert the signal to high def or mimic a high def signal as much as possible.

What do you think? how did you set yours up on your TV?

[zanzabar]

i dont get why u would need a vga box, do any rca devices work? i have the full size original one from the super mario world bundle so maybe the old one or my tv plays better.

on the vga box i would try to get it to work without it, there is already alot of input lag on the snes u dont need to make it worse. but what u could do is try a vcr, or maybe a new cable, it uses the same one as the game cube and n64 (not the wii they changed it)



before u spend serious money though u may just want this
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/06/nintendo-sega-controllers-and-carts-find-a-new-home-in-the-retr/

[hecktic]

i dont get why u would need a vga box, do any rca devices work? i have the full size original one from the super mario world bundle so maybe the old one or my tv plays better.

on the vga box i would try to get it to work without it, there is already alot of input lag on the snes u dont need to make it worse. but what u could do is try a vcr, or maybe a new cable, it uses the same one as the game cube and n64 (not the wii they changed it)



before u spend serious money though u may just want this
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/06/nintendo-sega-controllers-and-carts-find-a-new-home-in-the-retr/

Well again I really should not have to get anything extra other than the TV, the cable and the console. Again the TV has all the tools and video configuration options to convert the signal and make it look good at the same time with the least lag.

The problem is the SNES MINI does not support RF connection and instead only MULTI-OUT which leads to RCA. And unlike the NES, the same connection does not seem to work. So I want to try RF this time.

Maybe I can try it with a cheap converter?
http://www.cordolio.com/images/ACC_Autorfswitch.jpg

As far as the RETRO systems, I hear they do not support high def tv at all... otherwise i would have settled for one of those. Also I hear they have problems with certain games.

Can you show me how you setup your consoles with some pictures please?

[Jowy Atreides]

P.s. is there a way to play NES or SNES on a PC?

Yes, emulators.

They have many advantages over the real hardware including higher resolution rendering combined with filters.

http://www.somebits.com/~nelson/weblog-files/centerimages/hq3x.png

That's 3x resolution, you can go to 4 now with zsnes (the snes emulator)
Original snes config is on the left


Today, with a semi good gaming pc, you can even emulate wii games perfectly with PROPER high definition internal engine rendering.

NO MORE WII JAGGIES!!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9c/Dolphin_SSB_Brawl_720p.png/800px-Dolphin_SSB_Brawl_720p.png

I keep my wii only for show, play EVERYTHING on the pc emulator to the hdtv

Wii on left, emulator on right. What would you prefer?

http://img7.abload.de/img/guesswhicho6lk.jpg

[Chevelle]

Wii on left, emulator on right. What would you prefer?

http://img7.abload.de/img/guesswhicho6lk.jpg

Hmm, do I have to decide? LOL! If I had a beefy enough system, I would do the same.

[RPGWiZaRD]

Zsnes is awesome I rather use it than real snes.

[Starscream]

@Jowy Atreides

IS that Dolphin Emu? I didnt know they actualy had a working emulator yet.

[zanzabar]

Zsnes is awesome I rather use it than real snes.

its not the same though, there is nothing like in tetras attack when u can lag out the whole console on the last level, and ive never found an emu that did things with the superFX like starfox.

but if your tv has rca and it works with other things i would blame that as rca is rca there is only 1 ntsc format for it


@Jowy Atreides

IS that Dolphin Emu? I didnt know they actualy had a working emulator yet.

that should be it works with like 3 games and only with intel cpus and NV gpus but only some NV gpus. but if u can get it to work properly then u can do wii and gcube in 1080p for s few games

[Starscream]

its not the same though, there is nothing like in tetras attack when u can lag out the whole console on the last level, and ive never found an emu that did things with the superFX like starfox.

but if your tv has rca and it works with other things i would blame that as rca is rca there is only 1 ntsc format for it



that should be it works with like 3 games and only with intel cpus and NV gpus but only some NV gpus. but if u can get it to work properly then u can do wii and gcube in 1080p for s few games

Wierd doesnt the Wii use an ATI GPU?
So wouldnt it be more logical if it would only work with ATI GPUs?

[hecktic]

and if i wanted to hook up the console to the PC?

[zanzabar]

Wierd doesnt the Wii use an ATI GPU?
So wouldnt it be more logical if it would only work with ATI GPUs?

it dose use an ati gpu (or a powerVR ati hybrid) but when the person coding as an NV card and is using NV openGL api instead of the openGL api and then for dx u have diffrent bugs that come from each so for ether rendering meathod when u port it over u need to have both or it wont work right. same with the assembly, they could use universally usable code or intel code, the universal code is slower on intel but works perfectly on amd and the intel only code can be glitchy and slow on amd but most people dont learn it as intel infiltrates school programs.



and if i wanted to hook up the console to the PC?

to hook it up the pc, if u want it on the pc then u would need a tv card or card with rca input or to hook it to the monitor u would need a vga box or one of the monitors with an ntsc tuner and go in through coax.

if i couldent get my snes to work i would just go with an emulator on my ps2 or ps3 (linux only so u need old firmware) and i do use my psp for emulators.

[hecktic]

to hook it up the pc, if u want it on the pc then u would need a tv card or card with rca input or to hook it to the monitor u would need a vga box or one of the monitors with an ntsc tuner and go in through coax.

if i couldent get my snes to work i would just go with an emulator on my ps2 or ps3 (linux only so u need old firmware) and i do use my psp for emulators.

ah I see. but what about the resolution settings on the pc?

[zanzabar]

ah I see. but what about the resolution settings on the pc?

direct to monitor it will auto switch to 480i and u should have a frame mode to set 4:3 over coax, with a vga box it depends. with a tuner card it would show as a window with your tuners program or windows media center so u can just set full screen and it will keep its aspect

[hecktic]

will this do the job:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815276009&cm_sp=TrackOrder-_-Accessories-_-Pst01Descrip

[zanzabar]

no thats rca out not in

[hecktic]

well i just tried the Nintendo 64 MultiOut to RF adapter:

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/7270/bcfjogmkkgrhqiokjyewqmf.jpg

and connected it with
http://www.thenerb.com/ebay/atari/access/rf/RFSwitchSet_SwCxRCADir.jpg

except I did not use the
* TV/Game Switch
* GOLD 3-Foot Coaxial TV cable

and just connected the
* Direct-Connect Adapter
* GOLD Python™ 6-Foot game system RCA cable
directly to the TV and it worked like a charm for the SNES MINI system. All my games worked flawlessly in widescreen mode -16:9. I was amazed that I did not even have to touch any video settings on the TV. Some games even looked crisp clean and enhanced picture quality in widescreen mode as if it was an emulation running and not the actual game. This was noticed in games like Street Fighter 2.

So I decided to take the RCA cable and connect it to the NES system now and at first it didnt work. I blew some fresh air into the catridge and then tried it again a couple times and then I noticed some blurry picture on the screen with full sound, but I think this is normal with a dusty console and/or catridge. And this was also in widescreen so I reverted the settings back to plain 4:3 with no video enhancements by the TV. Same results, so I stopped here and decided I will do a full cleaning of the NES later and revisit this part and try it again.

[hecktic]

By the way, about the Wii and xbox emulators, I thought you needed an insane system to be able to get the proper results??? (but ofcourse I was told this information years ago... so maybe things have changed)

[hecktic]

oh yeah I forgot to say, the TV I have -Samsung UN55C8000 3D LED HDTV, it even allowed me to turn on the 2D -> 3D converter while playing the SNES games ROFL... and I tried it and with the 3D Glasses its not so bad lol.

[unrlmth]

that should be it works with like 3 games and only with intel cpus and NV gpus but only some NV gpus. but if u can get it to work properly then u can do wii and gcube in 1080p for s few games

I tried it out a few weeks ago and I didn't have any incompatibility issues with my q9550/ATI 4870 setup. Speed was fine as well. All of the games I tried worked fine as well.

[zanzabar]

I tried it out a few weeks ago and I didn't have any incompatibility issues with my q9550/ATI 4870 setup. Speed was fine as well. All of the games I tried worked fine as well.

i guess i should try it again.

[hecktic]

is there a way to record the gameplay onto a DVD or something without using a camera? ... i want to post it on youtube.

[zanzabar]

u can use a dvd recorder, or a vcr or a video capture box or drm free dvr

[hecktic]

u can use a dvd recorder, or a vcr or a video capture box or drm free dvr

i have a receiver box for my Time Warner cable but Im not sure if it is DVR enabled. If I find the model and make number, can you help me find out if I can use it for this? (I know its a samsung)

[hecktic]

another update: looks like the NES system was garbage and wouldnt budge... I tried a brand new NES from a friend and it worked like a charm on the same TV without any changes to the TV settings.

But of course I learned the hard way, if you do not clean dirty NES cartridges then you can create a dirty set of contacts inside the NES system that will need thorough cleaning before it will work again lol.