GameCube Hardware - Connectivity FAQ Author: Adam Godbeer Alias: DragonQ E-mail: DragonQ0105@gmail.com Date Created: 25/08/2007 Current Version: 2.2b Copyright Adam Godbeer (2007) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GameCube Connectivity FAQ: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ********** CONTENTS ********** 1) Introduction 2) Version History 3) Note About GameCube's Life Cycle 4) The Cables a) R/F Modulator b) A/V Composite Cable c) S-Video Cable d) RGB SCART Cable e) Component Cable 5) Conclusion 6) Special Options a) Progressive Scan (NTSC) b) 60 Hz Mode (PAL) 7) Contributors 8) Legal Information ====================================================================== ***************** 1) Introduction ***************** Well, I saw the lack of guides explaining the ways in which you can connect your GameCube to your TV, and so decided to make my own. This Guide contains info on each of the 5 Leads you can use, including quality and availability. Use this guide if you are unsure about buying a better cable, for example, or perhaps just wondering which ones your TV can use or what the differences between the cables are. Any suggestions, corrections or opinions should be sent to the e-mail address above. Thanks. ====================================================================== ====================================================================== ********************************************************************* 2) Version History (Dates are in International Format - DD/MM/YYYY) ********************************************************************* - 1.0 (10/01/2005) - First Version. - 1.0a (12/01/2005) - A few minor spelling/typo mistakes corrected. - 1.0b (20/01/2005) - More spelling mistakes corrected, added the current version number and my contact e-mail address to the top of the FAQ. - 1.0c (11/02/2005) - More spelling/grammar mistakes fixed, added note explaining the date system, other mistakes fixed (e.g. words missing, words repeated, incorrect words etc.). - 1.1 (04/09/2005) - Corrected mistakes regarding the component cable, and other minor mistakes also. - 2.0 (21/09/2005) - Added new "Special Options" section, added new information regarding the R/F cable. - 2.0a (26/09/2005) - Fixed 2 stupid mistakes that should have been fixed in Version 2.0. - 2.1 (30/06/2007) - Revised layout, basically rewrote a lot of sections to make them easier to understand, improved consistency, finally went over all the misuses of capital letters, changed "Gamecube" to the correct "GameCube". - 2.2 (24/08/2007) - Some minor corrections, added a new section warning about availability due to the GameCube's lifecycle having ended, another new section to thank contributors/correctors and updated some of the availability sections. - 2.2a (25/08/2007) - Edited legal information to allow this FAQ to be shown on www.neoseeker.com. - 2.2b (16/09/2014) - Rewrote most sections to improve clarity and update technical information, fixed more spelling/grammatical errors. ====================================================================== ====================================================================== ************************************* 3) Note About GameCube's Life Cycle ************************************* The life cycle of the GameCube has now ended, and so it is going to be far harder to find new cables for GameCubes even online. The Wii uses a different AV connector, so Wii and GameCube cables are not interchangeable (although GameCube, N64 and SNES cables are). Your best bet to find cables is now probably eBay, Amazon Marketplace or something similar. The longer you wait for that component cable though, the more you'll pay! Also, if you have a Wii, you can play all GameCube games on that anyway, so just buy the very widely available (in all regions) component cable for that to enjoy GameCube and Wii games in the highest quality possible! ====================================================================== ====================================================================== **************** 4) The Cables **************** In this section, I will be using the following format to describe each cable: vvvvvvvvvvvvvv < Cable Name > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ DESCRIPTION: A brief description of the cable CONNECTING: An explanation of what the cable looks like, and how it connects to the TV QUALITY: A brief description of the quality the cable produces AVAILABILITY (PAL): Availability in the UK and Europe of this cable for PAL GameCubes AVAILABILITY (NTSC): Availability in North America of this cable for NTSC GameCubes RATING: Rating out of 10 vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv a) R/F Modulator ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ DESCRIPTION: This cable is also known as an "aerial cable" (or "antenna cable"). It is old and was the standard for connecting aerials to television sets many years ago...and still is today! All aerials use this type of cable to connect to your TV or digibox. When analogue data is encoded and sent along this cable, the luminance and chrominance components of the video data, as well as the audio, is compressed into a single wire. This is one of the reasons that the quality of analogue TV is so poor compared to what's achievable with digital TV... CONNECTING: This cable ends in a male circular plug (1 cm in diameter) which is hollow except for the middle spike. This plugs into the similarly shaped female socket, typically on the back of your TV. QUALITY: Quality is very poor. All video and audio signals are sent along a single wire, which creates relatively large amounts of interference and crosstalk, reducing quality and causing streaking lines across the screen (commonly seen on indoor TV Aerials also). Sound is mono only. AVAILABILITY (PAL): Not as commonly available as the composite cable, but can be found in most large electrical stores. AVAILABILITY (NTSC): Not as commonly available as the composite cable, but can be found in most large electrical stores. RATING: * Very poor. Only use this cable if your TV has none of the other inputs. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv b) Composite Cable ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ DESCRIPTION: This cable is extremely common and was used for many SD devices, such as VCRs, DVD players, games consoles, and cable/satellite receivers to transmit composite (or CVBS) video signals. It was largely replaced with SCART cables in Europe and later by HDMI cables in all regions. This cable is combined with two other similar cables that carry stereo audio. Together these are sometimes known as "AV" or "phono" cables. CONNECTING: This cable consists of 3 phono cables, which are single-pin male plugs which are similar to the R/F cable's plug, but with the spike in the middle sticking further out. This spike is 0.3 cm in diameter. The yellow phono cable is for composite video data. The white/black cable is for mono/left audio, and the red cable is for right audio (not used for mono). These plug into 3 female phono ports on the TV (or 2 for a mono TV), which look similar to headphone/microphone sockets. QUALITY: Quality isn't bad. Video and audio signals are separated, which means the video signal experiences much less interference (although the cables are tied together, they are shielded pretty well). However, these cables are notorious for producing what's called "dot crawl", where the edges between different colours are not fine lines, but blurred lines with moving patterns. This is usually most noticeable for red objects. Colour bleed is also visible. The audio quality is decent stereo - what you'd expect. AVAILABILITY (PAL): Extremely common - comes with the GameCube and is available in nearly every shop that sells GameCube accessories. AVAILABILITY (NTSC): Extremely common - comes with the GameCube and is available in nearly every shop that sells GameCube accessories. RATING: ** This is the "standard" cable for casual users, or those without any other inputs. You can live with this quality without losing sleep, but ideally you don't want to use it unless you must. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv c) S-Video Cable ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ DESCRIPTION: This cable is sometimes called S-VHS as it was originally used for connecting S-VHS VCRs to TVs (which were improvements over normal VHSs, but were replaced by DVDs). These are common in North America, and are sometimes used for DVD players and cable boxes as well. They are rarely used in Europe because almost all SD equipment uses SCART sockets for simplicity. SCART can carry S-Video signals but this is rarely used; instead the superior RGB, which SCART can also carry, is favoured. Both S-Video and SCART connectors were of course replaced with HDMI when HD became prominent. This cable doesn't combine the luminance and chrominance components of the video signal, unlike the R/F and composite cables, which results in a sharper picture with less colour bleed and dot crawl. Audio is transmitted separately, usually via the same phono cables used in composite connections. CONNECTING: This cable usually consists of 2 "phono" cables, which transmit stereo audio (see composite cable section for more info), and a circular 4-Pin S-Video Plug (male). This S-Video plug looks similar to the plugs used by older (non-USB) keyboard or mice, called PS/2 plugs. Once again, there is a female socket on the TV to plug it into, as well as the two phono sockets for audio. QUALITY: Quality is good. Video and audio signals are separated, which means the video signal experiences much less interference, and the video is further split to provide a sharper, clearer picture. There are few noticeable artefacts on the screen, and the cable provides good contrast and nicer, bolder colours. AVAILABILITY (PAL): None. S-Video output is disabled on PAL GameCubes since S-Video is rarely used in Europe (in favour of the technically superior RGB output). AVAILABILITY (NTSC): Common. Most gamers will want this since the improvement in quality over composite is great, and serves for much better gaming. RATING: *** This is the "better" cable for normal users, and if you have an S-Video input on your TV, you'll get much better quality video if you use this cable. If not, you'll have to settle for the composite lead. This quality is good and most users will be very surprised with their GameCube's picture when switching to this cable. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv d) RGB SCART Cable ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ DESCRIPTION: ***************** IMPORTANT NOTE: ***************** This cable is not to be confused with the SCART adaptor that PAL GameCubes ship with! These adaptors simply allow you to use your SCART socket to transmit composite video, resulting in NO increase in quality over using the standard composite cables! SCART was the most common connection type in Europe until HD became popular and HDMI took over. In fact, HDMI could be termed the smaller, digital, HD successor to SCART. This cable can actually transmit many different types of video signals: composite, S-Video and RGB. Using S-Video over SCART is fairly rare, and almost all devices support RGB over SCART anyway (which is better). Unfortunately many devices are not set up by default to use RGB; it often has to be chosen within the device's setup menu. Otherwise you'll just receive a composite image over the SCART cable. When in RGB mode, SCART allows the red, green and blue components of the video signal to be transmitted without any compression. This results in a picture quality that is simply brilliant compared to that provided by composite cables. This cable transmits stereo audio too, so there's no need for extra cables. SCART's only real downside is that it doesn't support progressive scan (480p/576p) video. CONNECTING: ***************** IMPORTANT NOTE: ***************** Be Warned! Some TVs have more than one SCART socket, not all of which accept RGB signals! If you plug an RGB SCART cable into a SCART socket that doesn't support RGB then you will get a composite picture (easily identified by dot crawl). Check your TV's manual to find out which SCART sockets are RGB-enabled, and use one of those with your RGB SCART cable. This cable is just one big wire with a rectangular male plug on the end which plugs into the same shape female socket on the back of your TV. A word of warning: this plug consists of 21 separate wires. If you look at the male plug, there will be 21 pins. If the plug only has 7 of these pins, then it is only capable of transmitting a composite signal, and is not an RGB SCART cable. Although many people suggest only buying the official Nintendo one, I have bought 3 different cables from different companies and all of them were true RGB - you just have to be careful when looking. Also, some RGB SCART cables have an audio run-off block (consisting of two female red/white phono sockets) or simply extra audio cables attached. This will allow you to use an external source for audio (e.g. external speakers), just like with S-Video and composite. QUALITY: Quality is excellent. The split-colour signal means the picture is yet another improvement on picture quality compared to S-Video. Another advantage is that all of this colour information as well as the stereo audio is sent through one large insulated cable. There is no noticeable interference (if there is, you might have a dodgy cable) and the picture quality is the best you can get if you don't have a Digital Out port on your GameCube. Colours are vivid, images are bright, everyone's happy! AVAILABILITY (PAL): Official cable was easy to come by but not any more. Be careful with third party ones and check they are true RGB cables before buying. AVAILABILITY (NTSC): None. RGB output is disabled on NTSC GameCubes, and most TVs in NTSC regions do not use SCART anyway. RATING: **** This is a fantastic cable, and the best cable for those with PAL GameCubes and no Digital Out socket (assuming your TV has at least one RGB SCART socket). You will get a very clear, sharp picture - as the developers wanted their games to be seen. The video quality is great and should satisfy even the pickiest of gamers. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv e) Component Cable ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ NOTE: To use this cable, you need a Digital Out port on the back of your GameCube (located next to the normal Analogue Out port you use for all other types of cables). Why they call it a "Digital Out" port is beyond me, since the only type of cable that plugs into it is still analogue, but whatever. Only older GameCubes have this port since Nintendo decided not enough people were using it and so stopped including them on their newer models to save money. This also means the cable can be very expensive. DESCRIPTION: This cable works in a similar way to S-Video cables. The black and white signal is sent down one wire, and the colour signal is sent down the other two wires. For example, the green wire could be used for the luminance signal, and then the colour difference signals for red and blue can be sent down the blue and red cables (chrominance). This allows the red, blue and green data to be calculated simply to recover an RGB signal. Unlike SCART, component cables have a high enough bandwidth to carry not only progressive scan (480p/576p) signals but also HD signals (720p/1080i). NTSC GameCube consoles can output a 480p signal (if supported by the game you're playing). To use this feature, you'll need to be using the component cable. Component cables bridged the gap between S-Video/SCART and HDMI in the A/V world. Component ports are still pretty common, although some newer HDTVs only have HDMI ports. CONNECTING: It looks similar to a composite video cable, but there are 3 of them, all used for video. The 3 plugs on the component lead should be plugged into the corresponding coloured ports on the TV (red, green and blue). There is no audio sent via the Digital Out port, so you'll need to plug your composite cable into your Analogue Out port and connect the red and white audio cables to your TV's component audio inputs (usually the ones nearest to the component video ports). QUALITY: Quality is excellent. The split-colour signal means the picture is yet another improvement on picture quality compared to S-Video. Perhaps slightly better than RGB SCART because the wires are separate resulting in even less cross-talk and interference between the signals. However, in reality, it is very difficult to see any difference between component and RGB SCART. Although there are 5 cables involved (including audio), it's still the best option even if you hate wires everywhere. Again, the picture quality is the sharpest picture possible on your GameCube. Colours are vivid, images are bright, everything is super-sharp and super-clear. Yay! AVAILABILITY (PAL): Cable is very hard to come by. Try eBay, but prepare to pay a high price. Apparently more common in Australia, although probably not anymore. AVAILABILITY (NTSC): Hard to come by, now that the GameCube's life cycle has ended. Try the internet - Nintendo used to sell official cables online but you're more likely to find one of these on eBay. Prepare to pay a high price, however. RATING: ***** This is the best cable available if your GameCube has a Digital Out port. Provides best picture quality possible from your GameCube, and all hardcore gamers should use this if they can. Stunning picture. ====================================================================== ====================================================================== *************** 5) Conclusion *************** - Buy a Component lead if you own a GameCube with a Digital Out port and a TV with component inputs. No excuse not to. - Buy an RGB SCART or S-Video cable (depending on which type of GameCube you have) if you haven't got component inputs on your TV or a Digital Out port. - If you have no SCART or S-Video inputs on your TV, you'll have to settle for composite. - If you don't even have composite inputs, but have a Non-RGB SCART input, you can use an adapter (comes with the GameCube normally) to get composite picture quality through the SCART socket. It will not be RGB, but anything is better than using an R/F Modulator! - If you have no other options, you'll have to stick with an R/F modulator I'm afraid. It has been reported that the standard R/F signal produced by the GameCube can be boosted using an external signal booster, but you'll never get a great picture. For those who have no other option, a signal booster might be worth considering. << Special thanks to Carl Cain for pointing this out >> ====================================================================== ====================================================================== ******************** 6) Special Options ******************** vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv a) Progressive Scan (NTSC GameCubes only) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ REQUIRED CABLE: Component cable. DESCRIPTION: Usually, SDTV images are interlaced. This means that instead of displaying a whole frame (image) on the screen at a time, it only displays half of the image (switching between just the odd lines, and just the even lines). This way of transmitting and displaying the image was used because in the early days of TV, the available bandwidth was small, and using interlaced pictures, a possible 60 fields per second could be sent at a resolution of 480 (real) lines using standard analogue transmitters (PAL uses 50 fields per second with 576 lines of resolution). PC monitors (except very early ones) display non-interlaced images (commonly called "progressive scan") because a standard VGA or DVI cable is capable of sending much more data per second than the old R/F cables that TVs use. This results in a generally sharper picture, free of interlacing artefacts and with reduced flicker. Newer digital SDTVs and most HDTVs accept progressive scan signals. Progressive scan is used by some DVD players/recorders, and some consoles, such as the GameCube. The initial progressive scan formats (480p/576p) were superseded by HD formats (720p/1080i/1080p). Although the Wii supports 480p in all regions, PAL GameCubes do not. HOW TO USE: If your TV supports 480p input via its component ports, connect your NTSC GameCube to your TV using component cables. Hold down 'B' while starting the GameCube. If the game supports progressive scan, it will ask if you want to use it. Choose 'Yes'. EFFECT: Increases picture quality by using progressively scanned (480p) instead of interlaced (480i) images. Picture is sharper, and has less flicker. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv b) 60Hz Mode (PAL GameCubes only) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ REQUIRED CABLE: Composite, RGB SCART or Component cable. DESCRIPTION: In the US, analogue terrestrial SDTV was sent using the TV format "NTSC". This format has some problems with colour consistency. It uses a vertical resolution of 525 lines (only 480 lines are visible), and a field rate of 60 Hz. In Europe, and some other places, a different system is used, which builds and improves upon NTSC. It is called PAL. Colours look more consistent due to the PAL's improved technology, but while producing the PAL format, its developers decided to change other aspects of NTSC's system. Since AC electricity being sent from power stations to homes in Europe use a frequency of 50 Hz, it was easier in the early days of TV to have the signal being displayed on the TV also having a frequency of 50 Hz. This meant that there was some spare bandwidth not being used, so it was decided to use the extra bandwidth to increase the resolution of the picture to 625 lines (with 576 visible lines). If you have a PAL GameCube, it is possible to output PAL but using NTSC's resolution and field rate. This mode, commonly called PAL60, is essentially the same as NTSC but with PAL's improved colour system. Remember, however, that only composite cables use NTSC or PAL to encode video data. So, why would you want to use PAL60? In the early days of video gaming, games made for 60 Hz were usually poorly converted to 50 Hz for Europe. They were left with large borders, an incorrect aspect ratio, and normally had slower gameplay than their 60 Hz counterparts. Most PAL GameCube games are optimised for 50 Hz though so they run at the correct speed and aspect ratio (and indeed with higher resolution than their NTSC counterparts). So, the days of using 60Hz mode to play games at their intended speed and aspect ratio are basically gone. In fact, some newer consoles only output at 60 Hz to avoid any conversion. However, there can be benefits to having an increased frame rate (at the cost of resolution), particularly in fast-paced games like racing games. Slightly smoother motion should be seen in games like this (and the reduction in resolution won't be noticeable except on larger TVs). So, if you own a PAL GameCube, and you have a game that supports 60Hz, you have two options: play the game in normal mode (if you prefer the increased resolution) or play in 60 Hz Mode (if you prefer the higher frame rate which can be useful for fast paced games). Games that are poorly optimised for PAL would play better in 60 Hz mode. HOW TO USE: Hold down 'B' while starting the GameCube. If the game supports 60 Hz, it will ask if you want to use it. Choose 'Yes'. EFFECT: Reduces vertical resolution, but increases frame rate. ====================================================================== ====================================================================== ********************** 7) Contributors ********************** I would like to thank the following people for sending corrections and additional information to me by e-mail: - Raymond - David Tran Thanks guys! ====================================================================== ====================================================================== ********************** 8) Legal Information ********************** This Guide may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any web sites other than the ones listed below or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. You may, however, link to the websites and point to my FAQ. Allowed Websites: www.GameFAQs.com www.neoseeker.com All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Thank you! ======================================================================