Cable Type: Coaxial
Signal Type: Fully modulated TV channel (audio + video combined)
Typical Devices: Atari 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari 7800, VCRs
Pros:
Universal on old TVs
Long cable runs
Cons:
Lowest quality
Noise, interference
Blurry image
Weak audio
Cable Type: Yellow video + red/white audio
Signal Type: Luma + chroma combined
Typical Devices: NES Toploader, SMS, SNES, Genesis, N64, PS1/PS2, GameCube (NTSC), etc.
Pros:
Simple and widely compatible
Much clearer than RF
Cons:
Color bleed
Soft image
Not ideal for pixel art
Cable Type: 4-pin mini-DIN
Signal Type: Luma (Y) and chroma (C) separated
Typical Devices: SNES, N64, Saturn, PS2, etc.
Pros:
Clean image
Strong color separation
Reduced bleed
Cons:
Requires TVs with S-Video input
Cables less common today
Cable Type: 3× RCA (green/blue/red) for video
Signal Type: Luma + two color-difference channels
Typical Devices: PS2, Xbox, Wii, some upgraded retro systems
Pros:
High quality
Handles 480p, 720p, 1080i
Sharper than S-Video
Cons:
Some HDTVs mis-handle 240p
Needs correct console cables
Cable Type: Console-specific → SCART/JP21/BNC
Signal Type: True Red, Green, Blue + sync
Typical Devices: SNES, Genesis, Saturn, PlayStation, Neo Geo, etc.
Pros:
Best quality for 240p gaming
Razor-sharp edges
Accurate colors
Ideal for upscalers (RetroTINK, OSSC, Rad2x, etc.)
Cons:
NTSC TVs do not accept SCART
Requires converters/adapters
Some consoles require RGB upgrades
Usually, the most expensive console upgrade option because of the additional upscaler equipment and specialty cables required
Cable Type: 15-pin DE-15 “VGA” connector
Signal Type: RGB with separate H-sync & V-sync
Typical Devices: Dreamcast, some Xbox setups, PCs, some arcade boards
Pros:
Extremely sharp image
Designed for progressive scan (480p+)
Great for higher-resolution systems
VGA to HDMI adapters are fairly inexpensive making VGA upgrades for consoles (if available) an excellent choice for HDMI televisions
Usually, the most inexpensive option since VGA to HDMI and other adapters
have minimal costs compared to RGB equipment. Console upgrade services
are usually cheaper if an upgrade kit is available (i.e F18a and PICO918 video upgrades for the Colecovision)
Cons:
Most VGA displays do not accept 240p
Requires compatible monitor or scaler
Not natively supported on most retro consoles
RF
Composite
S-Video
Component (Y Pb Pr)
RGB (SCART / JP21 / BNC)
VGA (RGBHV)
HDMI
