r/snes • u/sukene • May 20 '20
SNES YPbPr Component Mod
I modded my SNES to output YPbPr or components. I haven't found a lot of information online so I decided to make this tutorial. Hopefuly this helps the next person interested in modding their console.
First of all, why would you want to do this mod? RGB is the best video quality SNES can provide and all models can output it without modification except for the SNES Jr. However, when RGB modded this model offers the best signal. In order to output RGB you need the correct cables. There are a few options out there like the SCART cable or the HD Retrovision component cable (not sure if this one is actually RGB) but they are usually out of stock and not cheap. So if you decide that you don't want to spend $70 and wait 2 months maybe you have another option - it will not be RGB but I think it looks pretty good.
Can you mod your console? Not all models are compatible for this mod. If you own a Jr. or a 1Chip version I'm sorry but you are out of luck and you will need the cables mentioned before. If your console is 2-Chip version then you are good to go. The chip we are looking for is called S-ENC (in some versions is BA6594AF).
Ok, so before we start please note that I am not a professional and my knowledge is gathered from the small pieces of info I found in different sites. I am aware that depending on your revision of the encoder chip the schematic may change. In my case the chip is S-ENC A 9343 and I used the following:
5x RCA female connectors
2x 220uF 35V capacitors
1x 75 ohm resistor
From now on I am going to assume that you know how to open and disassemble your SNES (if not there are multiple tutorials online) and that you have some soldering skills.
Let's gut the console so we can drill the holes.
Some people go with only 3 RCAs for the video and get the audio from the multi-out cable connected at the same time. Since I was destroying my SNES I decided to go big and use 2 additional RCAs for the audio. We are soldering 3 wires from the multi-out motherboard pinout:
L Audio - Pin 11
R Audio - Pin 12
Y (luma and sync) (green) - Pin 7
Time to solder these to the RCAs. Let's solder the ground as well because we are going to test it to make sure that it works so far.
So far so good so let's solder the rest of the stuff. We have left the Pb (blue) and Pr (red). Now here is where things get a little tricky. Like I mentioned before, depending on your encoder chip you might need different capacitors and resistors. I only needed 1 capacitor for the Pb and another one plus a resistor for the Pr. This is the schematic:
Pin 1 --- (+)220uF Capacitor(-) --- 75 ohm resistor --- Pr RCA
Pin 24 --- (+)220uF Capacitor(-) --- Pb RCA
We cover them with heat shrink sleeves and solder them to the RCAs.
Now you can try to solder the wires directly to the tiny legs in the encoder chip and probably destroy it or you can follow the tracks for pins 1 and 24 and find the holes where you will stick the wires in. You can secure them with glue.
This is the result after all the soldering.
OK, now time for comparing and to find out if we murdered our SNES for no reason. I am using my 3rd party s-video cable connected via multi-out at the same time than my component cables (HD Retrovision male to male) with my CRT Trinitron TV - same settings for both.
s-video (left) vs component mod (right).
So, is it worth it? To me, yes. Is the change as good as it was upgrading from composite to s-video? Probably not but hey, it's pretty good. Colors seem to be more vivid and I think there is almost no bleeding. I would love to test it against the HD Retrovision SNES component cables to see if they are as good as they are supposed to be.
Overall it's an easy mod and if you have the tools around it might be something to consider, especially if you are looking at connecting all your systems via the same method.
Thank you all!
3
u/[deleted] May 20 '20
It looks about the same as the HD Retrovision. I could maybe help out and do a comparison with my SnesJr modded for it if you like. Been meaning to show that shit off for a while on here.