After having given up on RGB to YUV encoders years ago due to the CSY clone giving me too much trouble, I decided to give RGB a go again with something better than a CSY clone. So I went to the basement to pull out my bags of BNC, Scart and RGB related content that I used to use on pro monitors (I had given up on them as I much preferred consumer Sony tv's, and RGB via CSY clone just wasn't working as well on those sets compared to Component and good S-video cables which gave me a stunning picture on all systems). I decided to open up one of my cables since I had one set that I remembered did not work well and here's what the insides look like (picture below).
Retro Access has a page explaining why their cables are better and they show off some examples of their competitors but this cable I have looks nothing like those (and I'm going to assume all the scart cables I have are made like this as I bought them from the same seller back in the day on ebay). It's as if all the pins are individual wires packed together with some thin shielding around. I've never made cables so I was just curious what type of build these ones are compared to the others Retro Access describes in this page:
This just looks like a normal 21-way cable, which is needed for a full SCART compliant socket. I would imagine that the retroaccess cable and most likely others, only use the bare minimum for the needed signals, but with better shielding and so on, as they are specific for the purpose. Like 50% of those cables are GND anyway, but of course do not have 360 degree shielding as the cables retro-access shows...
If you are looking at a Retro-Access cable from back when she sold on eBay, those are very different. The cabling she sells now is individually shielded. The old cable was not, unless you bought the premium coaxial cable.
In the 6 years or so I’ve been running SCART, I’ve been lucky enough not to have any visual noise in any non-shielded cables. Audio buzz was what made me move to shielded ones.
Oh you mean Retro Access is actually the same group of people who used to make the ebay ones I have? I had forgotten the seller's name but I remember it was a lady based on the ebay profile picture at the time. These cables were great and I never any noise on any of them that i could notice, even when using them on pro monitors. I just had this one cable for the NES which never worked right (picture was in black and white) so I cut that one open to see what the insides are like.
What difference does it make to have coax shielding etc? Is this only for folks running them to lcd's? Is there perceptible improvement on CRT's as well?
I used to get irritated that the picture would shift horizontally left or right depending on the console (even on unmodded systems) on the gscartsw (2014 second revision iirc), but according to Superg it was probably more likely the cables (possible having sync cleaner and some not I guess, creating the difference).
Like SavagePencil said, interference between audio and video. Along with additional noise/crosstalk if you have a setup with lots of cables running through switchers. Or if you have long runs. Retro-Access was formerly retro console accessories on eBay. Her old cables were still good. It's just that the new cables are a whole other level.
The retrogamingcables PackAPunch cables are basically the equivalent of her old stuff but with molded connectors. Her new cabling has been deemed excessive by some. Namely because she won't even sell cable that isn't coaxial and individually shielded, specifically 75ohm impedance. I personally would not recommend any other cables. Except hdretrovision but that is totally different.
