SMS and Gen1 A/V output question

[Kialan]

Gah!

 

I've searched all over the net for info, but alas I have failed.

 

Ok here's the deal. All my life I've had a really crappy small TV that only had one RF input. When we bought video game systems we'd always be sure to get the RF adapter instead of AV cables.

 

Now that I have a nice tv with front and back A/V inputs, I am trying to upgrade my consoles to A/V cables (excluding older RF-only ones, modding goes against my code of honor )

 

I have come really close to buying Genesis 1, 2, and Master System av cables from:

http://www.sega-parts.com/index1.htm

But their website is a bit buggy and there is no link to add the Master System AV cable to cart. So what I'm wondering is...is the Genesis 1 av cable the same as the SMS? Could I buy two and use one for the Master S.?

 

Also, I recently got a spare Saturn AV cable...it looks similar to the Genny 2's output. Is it the same? That would save me $20.

 

Thanks all

[Kialan]

Also, I recently got a spare Saturn AV cable...it looks similar to the Genny 2's output. Is it the same? That would save me $20.

 

Never mind. The connectors are different, it doesn't fit correctly

[Bratwurst]

Nobody's answered this yet? Odd, might as well speak up then.

 

Yes the Genesis I and SMS use the same video cable. It's a 5-pin DIN plug to RCA.

 

A good substitute would be this 3-foot cable if you leave the white and red plugs disconnected:

 

All Electronics - RCA cable

[Kialan]

Thank you thank you for confirming my suspicion! I'm ordering 2 genny 1 cables right now

[MegaManFan]

Whoa. It didn't even occur to me I could use any of my Genny's through AV. I thought RF was the only way to go. Sega-Parts prices are steep though, and there are no pictures to confirm if the cable I'd be getting would have the correct set of three RCA plugs on the other end. Can anybody post something more specific?

[Kialan]

Here is the reply I got to a question from awhile ago...

 

 

Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 09:54:22 -0700

To:

From: "Sega-Parts" Add to Address Book

Subject: Re: Audio Video cables

 

 

 

 

the mono cable are for the gen 1. the stereo cables are for the gen 2. the master system takes mono cables. yes they are official sega product

thanks

At 08:23 PM 4/24/2004 -0700, you wrote:

 

Hello,

 

I was recently browsing your site and I was wondering- why are there mono AND stereo audio video cables for the 32x/Genesis and are they both official sega products?

 

And also is the Master System audio video cable stereo or mono? And is this a sega official cable?

 

Thanks

 

 

Do you Yahoo!?

Yahoo! Photos:

 

 

Thank you,

Customer Service, Sega-Parts.com

Please visit our website;

www.sega-parts.com

 

---------------

If you click the cable links it says what prongs they have. The master system cable listing does not have a link, though.

 

You can tell I'm really excited about this...with all my replies to my own topic ^_^

[MegaManFan]

What about the Mark 3?

[Susuwatari]

Genny 3 uses the same cable as Genny 2.

[DriftChamp]

Nobody's answered this yet? Odd, might as well speak up then.

 

Yes the Genesis I and SMS use the same video cable. It's a 5-pin DIN plug to RCA.  

 

A good substitute would be this 3-foot cable if you leave the white and red plugs disconnected:

 

All Electronics - RCA cable

 

It's also the same video cable as the Neo Geo AES home system, if you've got one of those lying around somewhere

[Rockin' Kat]

I got my SMS/Gen1 A/V cables from a Dealer451 on e-bay for very cheap... he had lots of them on hand and probably still has more.

 

I found a bunch of them on e-bay with fairly low BINs when I was looking for them.

[DeV0]

You can also use the AV cable from a C64. It would only be mono though, so if you're a stero freak i'd recomend the c64 cable.

[Mr_8bit_16bit]

The 32X came with an adaptor so that you could use a Gen 2 AV cable. It's a 5-pin DINN male and then a PS2 female so that you can connect the DINN out on the Gen 1 Gen to the PS2 in on the 32X and then the PS2 out on the 32X goes to the TV.

 

Moral of the story is that with that adaptor you should be able to use that saturn adaptor, as it's PS2 style as well, in fact, I belive that the saturn had an s-video variant of the composite video cable which theoretically should work as well. This is speculation on my part as I have not tried it, but you should thoretically be able to have S-Video for the Genesis and the master system which would be nice indeed.

 

 

if I'm wrong though, please point it out to me, as this is the very plan I'm going for and I'd sure like to find out 2nd hand rather than 1st hand that it'd not work so that I don't waste the money..

[MegaManFan]

I got my SMS/Gen1 A/V cables from a Dealer451 on e-bay for very cheap... he had lots of them on hand and probably still has more.

 

I found a bunch of them on e-bay with fairly low BINs when I was looking for them.

 

Yeah he had one, but it looks like it's mono, so that's no good. I want left and right stereo audio AND video.

[Bratwurst]

That's the thing though, the original Genesis (MK1) outputs mono sound only from the back. To get stereo you have to tap it from the headphone port in the front of the unit. It's that feature (along with the sliding volume control) that makes it my favorite iteration of the hardware.

[Kialan]

Weird thing is those cables the ebayer sells have red plugs (right speaker), instead of the normal white (left.)

 

I wonder if Sega themselves ever sold the red plug av cables.

[JB]

The 32X came with an adaptor so that you could use a Gen 2 AV cable. It's a 5-pin DINN male and then a PS2 female so that you can connect the DINN out on the Gen 1 Gen to the PS2 in on the 32X and then the PS2 out on the 32X goes to the TV.  

 

Moral of the story is that with that adaptor you should be able to use that saturn adaptor, as it's PS2 style as well, in fact, I belive that the saturn had an s-video variant of the composite video cable which theoretically should work as well. This is speculation on my part as I have not tried it, but you should thoretically be able to have S-Video for the Genesis and the master system which would be nice indeed.

 

 

if I'm wrong though, please point it out to me, as this is the very plan I'm going for and I'd sure like to find out 2nd hand rather than 1st hand that it'd not work so that I don't waste the money..

It's already been pointed out that the Saturn uses a diffrent plug than the Gen2, neither of which is more than vaguely similar to a PS/2 connector.

 

And the Genesis lacks SVideo capabilities. The signals just aren't there.

[MegaManFan]

That's the thing though, the original Genesis (MK1) outputs mono sound only from the back. To get stereo you have to tap it from the headphone port in the front of the unit. It's that feature (along with the sliding volume control) that makes it my favorite iteration of the hardware.

 

So let me see if I get this, just to make sure:

 

I run a headphone jack line with two male ends out of the front volume port, plug the second end into a female split RCA, and plug the two RCA's into the back along with the video?

 

I already do something like this with my computer in the basement to hook it up to some speakers on an Aiwa boombox, except that I have no way of knowing that it's TRUE stereo (I hear it from both speakers but I just assumed the levels were the same on either side).

[Mr_8bit_16bit]

It's already been pointed out that the Saturn uses a diffrent plug than the Gen2, neither of which is more than vaguely similar to a PS/2 connector.  

 

oh, I thought they were comparing it to the Gen 1 AV cable... my bad. But it may fit in the back of a 32X. I have a Saturn and a 32X, I'll see if it hooks up. And they resemble S-video imputs which are PS2 sized, that's not to say they'd necessarily be interchangeable, but I was just talking about the looks, the style of the connection.

 

And the Genesis lacks SVideo capabilities. The signals just aren't there.

 

I'm not so sure. I've heard stories of people taking a gamecube s-video A/V cable and hooking it up to an N64 and both versions of the SNES (not at once, of course) and had it work with S-video on all the benefits thereof on all three systems... now I've been unable to verify this as I only have the composite cable for my cube and of course, also for my N64 and SNES, but it sounds like it would work.. all S-video is is composite, except that the Chroma and Luma are separated, if the cable can do that, then it'd work, and if it'd work for the SNES, then surely it'd work for the Genesis and probably even the mastersystem as well.

 

But I'll admit that it is possible that I am wrong, I am speculating, I am not speaking from experience, I have not tried to do it, I just know what S-Video and Composite video are, and it seems that sort of thing would be possible, if I'm wrong, hey, there's always modding.

 

 

I already do something like this with my computer in the basement to hook it up to some speakers on an Aiwa boombox, except that I have no way of knowing that it's TRUE stereo (I hear it from both speakers but I just assumed the levels were the same on either side).

 

make sure you're using a stereo mini connector, the end that goes into the headphone jack (or back of your computer) can be stereo or mono, and the only way you can tell the difference is to count the black bars along the shaft of it. If it's got two, it's stereo and you're in business, if it's one then you've got mono! Another way to get stereo is if you have a Sega CD then it's got RCA stereo outs that you can run directly into your TV without any conversion, then just run the video out to your TV and you're set.

[jsoper]

Ummm, don't mean to offend anyone, but there's a lot of laziness and incorrect information making up this thread. This site has all the AV port info you need:

http://www.gamesx.com/index2.htm

and this site has mod instructions for genesis/master system s-video:

http://labwww.csv.cmich.edu/luke/videogames/

Three more things to add:

1. The Genesis 3 only has mono sound

2. The Genesis 3 has a super easy s-video mod, just need to tap out the

signals

3. The SNES 2 does not have s-video at the AV output.

[Kialan]

Thanks for the link, interesting site.

 

Sega parts canceled my order, because apparently they don't carry the mono cables anymore they need to update that site.

 

So now I'm doing the ebay thing. Buying two 10 footer SMS/Gen1 a/v cables..and unfortunately I bought a sealed Gen2 stereo cable for $10, and then found a BIN for the same thing for $3. Argh. The second one doesn't have AV in the title, is why. I found it searching for Sega Genesis. Oh well you win some you lose some.

[Rockin' Kat]

Thanks for the link, interesting site.

 

Sega parts canceled my order, because apparently they don't carry the mono cables anymore   they need to update that site.

 

So now I'm doing the ebay thing. Buying two 10 footer SMS/Gen1 a/v cables..and unfortunately I bought a sealed Gen2 stereo cable for $10, and then found a BIN for the same thing for $3. Argh. The second one doesn't have AV in the title, is why. I found it searching for Sega Genesis. Oh well you win some you lose some.

 

That's why I allways sort my ebay searches by price and try different searches.

 

I've found good prices before because I searched for misspellings.

[worldman2003]

i think i have 2 extra av cables for the genny

if anyone needs some let me know

wm2003

[Kialan]

WOW I just got AV cables off ebay and the picture quality is SOO much better with Genesis and Master System. Unbelieveable. It's even more noticable with the master system...but dang! Everything is sharper, clearer, and more vivid colors. Woohoo!

[JB]

It's already been pointed out that the Saturn uses a diffrent plug than the Gen2, neither of which is more than vaguely similar to a PS/2 connector.  

 

oh, I thought they were comparing it to the Gen 1 AV cable... my bad. But it may fit in the back of a 32X. I have a Saturn and a 32X, I'll see if it hooks up. And they resemble S-video imputs which are PS2 sized, that's not to say they'd necessarily be interchangeable, but I was just talking about the looks, the style of the connection.

The Saturn and Genesis 2/32x use diffrent plugs.

 

 

And the Genesis lacks SVideo capabilities. The signals just aren't there.

 

I'm not so sure. I've heard stories of people taking a gamecube s-video A/V cable and hooking it up to an N64 and both versions of the SNES (not at once, of course) and had it work with S-video on all the benefits thereof on all three systems... now I've been unable to verify this as I only have the composite cable for my cube and of course, also for my N64 and SNES, but it sounds like it would work.. all S-video is is composite, except that the Chroma and Luma are separated, if the cable can do that, then it'd work, and if it'd work for the SNES, then surely it'd work for the Genesis and probably even the mastersystem as well.

Important diffrence: The SNES video chipset generates chroma and luma signals(entirely for output, as it works with RGB internally) to the AV connector. The Genesis chipset doesn't.

 

 

But I'll admit that it is possible that I am wrong, I am speculating, I am not speaking from experience, I have not tried to do it, I just know what S-Video and Composite video are, and it seems that sort of thing would be possible, if I'm wrong, hey, there's always modding.

A S-video mod would be a waste of effort, as your TV is likely better at seperating the chroma and luma signals than a little circuit soldered-together in your garage.

 

As far as the connector goes...

http://www.gamesx.com/avpinouts/genesisav.htm

No chroma, no luma.

[FABombjoy]

Important diffrence: The SNES video chipset generates chroma and luma signals(entirely for output, as it works with RGB internally) to the AV connector. The Genesis chipset doesn't.

 

A S-video mod would be a waste of effort, as your TV is likely better at seperating the chroma and luma signals than a little circuit soldered-together in your garage.

 

While it's true that Y/C isn't doesn't appear on the AV connector, the signals are present on the RGB encoder. A simple buffer circuit is all that is needed to utilize them. No composite seperation required.

 

The adding s-video to the Genesis makes a huge difference. The composite output of most Genesis units is very blurry. If you've ever seen a Neo Geo that's been modded for s-video, the difference is even greater on a Genesis.

 

Not all Genesis units can be modified, only the 1st generation units that use the CXA1145, and possibly some later Gen2 units that use a 1645 (I've never seen one myself). Never tried a Genesis 3, either.