⭐ANALOG VIDEO SIGNAL QUALITY COMPARISON (WORST 🡢 BEST)
1. RF (RADIO FREQUENCY)
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
2. COMPOSITE (RCA – YELLOW FOR VIDEO, RED AND WHITE FOR 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
3. S-VIDEO
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
4. COMPONENT (Y PB PR)
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
5. RGB (SCART / JP21 / BNC)
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
6. VGA (RGBHV)
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
⭐ QUALITY RANKING (WORST 🡢 BEST)
-
RF
-
Composite
-
S-Video
-
Component (Y Pb Pr)
-
RGB (SCART / JP21 / BNC)
-
VGA (RGBHV)
- HDMI