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3DO TV leads - best option?

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 11:48 pm
by knightintosh
Bought myself a nice new unit and everything just for my 3DOs so they're taking pride of place in my living room, but the RF lead I got with them is producing slight wavy lines on the screen. Not all that noticeable most of the time unless the picture is static (eg. memory management screen), but I'm a perfectionist when it comes to these so I tried out a few other RF leads I have.

(It's probably something only I would notice, but still!)

They're all producing the same result with both the FZ-1 and the FZ-10 so the problem might lie with my TV's RF socket.

Looking at the rear of the machines we've got the yellow/red/white sockets (which my TV has corresponding versions of obviously) and the S-Video socket. In your opinion, what is my best choice for getting the best picture possible?

Thanks in advance for any help people!

Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 11:58 pm
by Vance
S-Video is best picture, but you'd still need AV red and white for stereo sound. Practically speaking though, S-vid barely improves over AV yellow vid. I'd only pick up the S if it were a few bucks.

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 12:04 am
by knightintosh
Probably quite hard to get a S-Video for 3DO I'm assuming? But if it barely improves over the coloured leads I may just go for them. Pardon my ignorance, but would any such coloured lead do yeah?

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 12:07 am
by BryWI
3DwhO wrote: Pardon my ignorance, but would any such coloured lead do yeah?
yes

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 12:11 am
by knightintosh
Cheers guys, thanks, I'll be nipping to the local electronics store on my way to work tomorrow! Appreciate your help!

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 12:12 am
by Vance
Any AV cable will do, but S cables have three varients. Both can be found at any low-rent electronics shop, though I think S is less common in Europe.

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 12:19 am
by knightintosh
What are the varieties of S lead? Saying that though, I think you may be right about the S-Video being a rare thing over here, so I may end up just with the AV leads. Is it a good improvement over RF for picture/sound? I'm used to SCART these days.

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 1:24 am
by sneth
I think I've seen RGB modded 3do's. Maybe someone has information on that.

svideo is a minor upgrade as most modern TV"s have decent comb filters.

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 2:15 am
by 3DO Experience
There are multiple RGB mods for the 3DO. And two of them I believe are created by people who frequent here.

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 8:56 am
by knightintosh
3DO Experience wrote:There are multiple RGB mods for the 3DO. And two of them I believe are created by people who frequent here.
Now that I'd be very interested in! I bought a RBG lead for my Wii (and before that my GCN) and it makes a world of difference!

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 6:41 pm
by acem77
some of my mod links

RGB link, I have some pcbs left

http://www.cdinteractive.co.uk/3do/foru ... hlight=rgb

digital audio mod
http://3do.cdinteractive.co.uk/viewtopi ... ce5411a0df

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 9:47 pm
by vestcoat
RF is lower quality than component because there is some bleed between the audio and video. S-video is slightly better because not only is the video handled discretely, but the color and intensity are separated. In my experience, the difference between component and s-video is noticeable (barely) when I move up to the screen and flip back and forth between signals, but not really when I'm sitting back on the couch.

If your TV has s-video in, you might as well grab a cable. Here's one for a dollar (can't vouch for the seller): http://cgi.ebay.com/1-2M-4-PIN-S-VIDEO- ... 4cf6ece26f

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 10:21 pm
by prabmire
I've used two different s video leads on mine a cheap 99p ebay job and a belkin one, gotta say the belkin one looks fantastic, i use the 3do on my sony trinitron CRT but have connected it up in the living room on the viera plasma to game with my mates

Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 10:59 pm
by knightintosh
Wow thanks everyone for all your help! Don't think I want to mod these 3DOs, maybe if I buy some more in the future but I've never done anything like that before and don't wana screw it up.

But... I think the S-Video cables are the way to go. Thanks for the link but he doesn't supply outside the US unfortunately. So I had a look on eBay here in the UK and I searched for Belkin. This is what I found (let me know if this link doesn't work and I'll post a pic):

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Belkin-PureAV-Bla ... 2a059aa68f

This lead sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, and seems top quality at a brilliant price. What do you guys - the experts - think? :)

And if I get this, all I need then is the normal composite leads for the L and R audio right?

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:16 am
by 3DO Experience
It sounds good to me! It's always nice when they list the impedance. Yes you only need regular stereo cables for the audio.

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:08 am
by prabmire
That belkin lead oyu linked is the one i bought and from the same seller! very good lead, and its the real deal and genuine :)

Prab

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 5:51 am
by 3DOKid
I use S-Video. It is a little sharper. Particularly if you are going to use a screen grabber. :)

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:22 am
by knightintosh
3DO Experience wrote:It sounds good to me! It's always nice when they list the impedance. Yes you only need regular stereo cables for the audio.
I'm guessing that "true 75-Ohm impedance" is a good thing then lol! Please be patient with me, new to all this lol!
3DOKid wrote:I use S-Video. It is a little sharper. Particularly if you are going to use a screen grabber. :)
Hmm... never thought of that... wouldn't mind finding out more about screen grabbing for the 3DO!
prabmire wrote:That belkin lead oyu linked is the one i bought and from the same seller! very good lead, and its the real deal and genuine :)
Prab
Brilliant! :D I'm off work for 10 days from Friday and have been working so much I haven't been able to get fully stuck into my "new" 3DOs, can't wait now! Thanks everyone!

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:38 pm
by knightintosh
I got my S-video and stereo audio leads today belive it or not! Only 2 days after I ordered it! The picture is superb and the sound unbelievable out of my TV (it's a 7.5 year old JVC 28" with a brill woofer!) and I'm all ready for a 10-day 3DO holiday from work. :D

Just wanted to say thanks for everyone's help, was at a complete loss at the start of this!

Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 2:22 am
by Trev
10 days ... man, you can get some sweet gaming in during that stretch! Hope you have a blast! :D

Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:17 pm
by knightintosh
Thanks Trev, I will do! Have spent yesterday and today catching up with family and some friends (and that amazing Doctor Who tonight!!) and have done quite a bit of reading of the 3DO Magazine Gold edition, I've got really sucked into it! But now I'm all ready to settle down, and to be honest I think Pebble Beach is going to be the first. Might be a strange choice but I had it as a teen and loved it and the nostalgia is calling...!

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 3:47 am
by Trev
Nostalgia is quite powerful. I've bought a number of games that are admittedly not that great, but I still love them because of memories from my youth.

If you like Pebble Beach, be sure to check out Wailea & Wicked 18 ... they share the same engine.

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:37 pm
by knightintosh
Yeah I read in the 3DO Magazine Gold edition that these were meant to be the start of a long series of games. It's still a beautifully relaxing experience even after all these years! That on its own is a great achievement!

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 11:10 pm
by avanteproject
If you can, it's worth getting an S-video cable. I've tested both that and composite on various TVs and the quality ranges from quite noticeable to very noticeable. Results vary but you'll at least get a cleaner image.

edit: nevermind, you got one! :D

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 1:24 am
by knightintosh
I did indeed :D But thanks for the offer of help anyway!

Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:52 am
by CasetheCorvetteman
An s-video cable is an s-video cable. There is nothing special about one. If its a decent one, itll be the same as the next decent one you see.

Its copper wire, and there is nothing special about it, so dont go blowing a shitload on any "brand name" cable thinking youll get a better picture, cause youll get the same picture soldering the 3 connections to 3 metal coat hangers and using them to carry the signal.

Depends alot on the size and quality of your display as to how much difference itll make, if the set is adjusted properly and its a good quality unit, the difference will be quite a bit clearer and sharper with s-video.

If youre not noticing a decent improvement over composite video when you step up to S, you may need to look into doing a full setup of the magnetics on your picture tube to get the beam focus back to where it should be and also looking at testing and replacing a few capacitors in the set. Especially if your TV is aparently a "Good" TV....

Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 8:21 am
by knightintosh
Don't worry, I got the cables for an excellent price :) And the picture quality is superb!

Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:22 am
by CasetheCorvetteman
Good stuff ;)

Id hate to see someone come along and say they bought a really awesome gold plated plugs cable that is so fat you couldnt jump over it and pay $100 plus for it!! It would hardly be better than one you pay $9 for.

Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:18 am
by knightintosh
Well it was gold lol, but only cost me £2.99 and was able to pick up the audio leads from the same seller for £1.78. Think I certainly grabbed myself a bargain!

Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:59 am
by CasetheCorvetteman
Yep, that is indeed a good buy, and as long as you dont get any ghosting in the image, then its pretty much out of the cable's hands.