Super Nintendo Poor Man Component Video Mod

Lately forums have been all excited with the discovery of a super cheap component video mod for older super nintendo / super famicom systems. I discovered the possibility of this mod ages ago but never really cared. This mod only works in video encoders found in the older models of the snes, the older models all used the old 2 ppu system and those older ppus output very blurry rgb. The snes didn't get a ppu upgrade until the very last model 1 and the model 2. The upgraded snes ppu outputs a rgb quality that's much better looking than the old ppu system. However by the time the snes got an upgraded ppu it also came with an upgraded video encoder that no longer generated component video. Therefore the only models of the snes that can be cheaply modded for component video will have a blurry picture no matter what video signal you use.

Anyway for the hell of it I decided to crack open my model 1 super famicoms and give this a whirl. I first opened my yellow backup sfc and got an interesting surprise. It turns out that my backup super famicom is literally the very first revision ever made. The pcb is stamped 1990, has no trace masking, has the audio hardware in a separate module that you can disconnect from the pcb, and even the video encoder chip has its original rohm label only "ba6592f". I have a first revision snes pcb that someone destroyed and mailed to me just to harvest the multi av port from it. The first revision snes pcb is the same except the video encoder is a ba6594f. We should remember that the japanese super famicom came out a full year before it was released in other countries so it seems by the time the system came out in canada / america / elsewhere it already had an upgraded video encoder. This means that you should only be able to find the ba6592f in the ultra early japanese super famicom systems.

I wired up component video to my first revision japanese super famicom and it did work....but the picture looked horrible. The picture was too dark and the colours were way too weak. I actually have a schematic of the very first japanese super famicom pcb that I was working with and indeed the video signals coming out of the ba6592f went through transistor amps before going to the multi av port at the back. Luckily a snes / super famicom with this old ba6592f encoder is probably very rare since I'm almost certain you only found this encoder in the very first japanese release of the system.

The next logical step was to do the ghetto component video mod in my newer 1993 super famicom. The 1993 sfc video encoder just says "s-enc" on it but I'm going to assume it's a ba6594f. I wired up the component video and the picture looked fine on my crt. The brightness was fine as was the colour strength. I'm pretty sure the snes used the ba6594f until the s-rgb model so if you have a model 1 snes or super famicom you're most likely to have this encoder. Still as expected the component video quality from this system isn't as sharp as the s-video from my snes 2 because the rgb in this model 1 is blurry right from the ppu chip.

Anyway the s-rgb series snes model 1 I don't think came out until 1995 so if your snes is from 1991 to 1994 you should have a system with the ba6594f encoder which is fine for the component video mod. The component video mod is a pretty cool mod and it's not terrible looking at all it's just that you can get a much sharper picture from the snes revisions with the upgraded ppu chip. However getting component video from the onechip ppu snes systems would require much more work / money but you'll get a much better looking image quality.

Drakon wrote:

Lately forums have been all excited with the discovery of a super cheap component video mod for older super nintendo / super famicom systems. I discovered the possibility of this mod ages ago but never really cared. This mod only works in video encoders found in the older models of the snes, the older models all used the old 2 ppu system and those older ppus output very blurry rgb. The snes didn't get a ppu upgrade until the very last model 1 and the model 2. The upgraded snes ppu outputs a rgb quality that's much better looking than the old ppu system. However by the time the snes got an upgraded ppu it also came with an upgraded video encoder that no longer generated component video. Therefore the only models of the snes that can be cheaply modded for component video will have a blurry picture no matter what video signal you use.

Anyway for the hell of it I decided to crack open my model 1 super famicoms and give this a whirl. I first opened my yellow backup sfc and got an interesting surprise. It turns out that my backup super famicom is literally the very first revision ever made. The pcb is stamped 1990, has no trace masking, has the audio hardware in a separate module that you can disconnect from the pcb, and even the video encoder chip has its original rohm label only "ba6592f". I have a first revision snes pcb that someone destroyed and mailed to me just to harvest the multi av port from it. The first revision snes pcb is the same except the video encoder is a ba6594f. We should remember that the japanese super famicom came out a full year before it was released in other countries so it seems by the time the system came out in canada / america / elsewhere it already had an upgraded video encoder. This means that you should only be able to find the ba6592f in the ultra early japanese super famicom systems.

I wired up component video to my first revision japanese super famicom and it did work....but the picture looked horrible. The picture was too dark and the colours were way too weak. I actually have a schematic of the very first japanese super famicom pcb that I was working with and indeed the video signals coming out of the ba6592f went through transistor amps before going to the multi av port at the back. Luckily a snes / super famicom with this old ba6592f encoder is probably very rare since I'm almost certain you only found this encoder in the very first japanese release of the system.

The next logical step was to do the ghetto component video mod in my newer 1993 super famicom. The 1993 sfc video encoder just says "s-enc" on it but I'm going to assume it's a ba6594f. I wired up the component video and the picture looked fine on my crt. The brightness was fine as was the colour strength. I'm pretty sure the snes used the ba6594f until the s-rgb model so if you have a model 1 snes or super famicom you're most likely to have this encoder. Still as expected the component video quality from this system isn't as sharp as the s-video from my snes 2 because the rgb in this model 1 is blurry right from the ppu chip.

Anyway the s-rgb series snes model 1 I don't think came out until 1995 so if your snes is from 1991 to 1994 you should have a system with the ba6594f encoder which is fine for the component video mod. The component video mod is a pretty cool mod and it's not terrible looking at all it's just that you can get a much sharper picture from the snes revisions with the upgraded ppu chip. However getting component video from the onechip ppu snes systems would require much more work / money but you'll get a much better looking image quality.

really the only downgrade on the 1-chips is the soldered-in cartridge connector much more difficult to replace than the snap-in ones.

For curiousity i tried to see if i could replace the soldered in cart slot with a header from an older snes, but they have a different footprint - the two rows of pins are further apart on the 1-chip.

youll never need one of these though unless the 1-chip has been played hard or had some liquid spilled down the cart slot.

Yes, i have gotten some that had liquid spilled in the connector, but they still powered up and worked, just wouldnt read games and cleaning did no good.]

btw, thanks again for reminding people that theres no substitute for a 1-chip or mini snes when it comes to video.

My BA6594AF SNES outputting component.
I've since changed it to RGB to better fit with my switching setup. I haven't noticed much to speak of in the change of quality.

For anyone curious, here's the s-video quality difference between my model 1 with the old two ppu system and my snes mini with the onechip ppu and a sony cxa2075:



The rgb from the onechip ppu is wayyyyy better. I remember finding out about the component signals from the older models before it was posted all over the internet. I never bothered trying it out because I knew the rgb was terrible therefore all other formats including built in component would look just as bad. If you really want a change in quality then you need a onechip snes, all snes minis / jrs have the onechip ppu. The encoder built into these systems isn't the best for s-video which is why I bypassed the encoder in my system. Also bypassing the built in encoder and using just a ths7314 amp should remove the translucent bar in the middle of the screen. Once you get interference free amped rgb, you can externally convert it into whatever video format your heart desires.

Ive seen the difference for myself just using the 1-chip. Havent even tried wiring in the cxa2075 yet.

Its a big difference even without any mods. the colors are much more vivid and the image is just much sharper on the 1-chip.