3DO TV leads - best option?

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knightintosh
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3DO TV leads - best option?

Post by knightintosh » Mon May 30, 2011 11:48 pm

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!

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Post by Vance » Mon May 30, 2011 11:58 pm

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.

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Post by knightintosh » Tue May 31, 2011 12:04 am

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?

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Post by BryWI » Tue May 31, 2011 12:07 am

3DwhO wrote: Pardon my ignorance, but would any such coloured lead do yeah?
yes

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Post by knightintosh » Tue May 31, 2011 12:11 am

Cheers guys, thanks, I'll be nipping to the local electronics store on my way to work tomorrow! Appreciate your help!

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Post by Vance » Tue May 31, 2011 12:12 am

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.

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Post by knightintosh » Tue May 31, 2011 12:19 am

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.

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Post by sneth » Tue May 31, 2011 1:24 am

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.

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Post by 3DO Experience » Tue May 31, 2011 2:15 am

There are multiple RGB mods for the 3DO. And two of them I believe are created by people who frequent here.
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Post by knightintosh » Tue May 31, 2011 8:56 am

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!

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Post by acem77 » Tue May 31, 2011 6:41 pm

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

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Post by vestcoat » Tue May 31, 2011 9:47 pm

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

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Post by prabmire » Tue May 31, 2011 10:21 pm

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

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Post by knightintosh » Tue May 31, 2011 10:59 pm

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?

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Post by 3DO Experience » Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:16 am

It sounds good to me! It's always nice when they list the impedance. Yes you only need regular stereo cables for the audio.
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Post by prabmire » Wed Jun 01, 2011 2:08 am

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

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Post by 3DOKid » Wed Jun 01, 2011 5:51 am

I use S-Video. It is a little sharper. Particularly if you are going to use a screen grabber. :)

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Post by knightintosh » Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:22 am

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!

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Post by knightintosh » Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:38 pm

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!

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Post by Trev » Sat Jun 04, 2011 2:22 am

10 days ... man, you can get some sweet gaming in during that stretch! Hope you have a blast! :D
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Post by knightintosh » Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:17 pm

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...!

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Post by Trev » Sun Jun 05, 2011 3:47 am

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.
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Post by knightintosh » Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:37 pm

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!

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Post by avanteproject » Sun Jun 05, 2011 11:10 pm

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
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Post by knightintosh » Mon Jun 06, 2011 1:24 am

I did indeed :D But thanks for the offer of help anyway!

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Post by CasetheCorvetteman » Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:52 am

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....

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Post by knightintosh » Mon Jun 20, 2011 8:21 am

Don't worry, I got the cables for an excellent price :) And the picture quality is superb!
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Post by CasetheCorvetteman » Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:22 am

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.

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Post by knightintosh » Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:18 am

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!
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Post by CasetheCorvetteman » Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:59 am

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.

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