N64: Any quality difference between SCART and AV cables?

[mikeymikec]

I think I've lost the battle to mold in this particular instance so I'd like a replacement N64 to TV cable. When I search ebay, most of the results I'm getting are for N64 to AV cables (the current cable has a SCART connector), and I'm wondering whether I should prefer one over the other.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well, it depends on what you have... Normally a N64 can not use a real SCART cable as the N64 does not have the RGB pins connected. However, you can easily modify certain versions of the N64 (the original models) to add a RGB signal amplifier (the RGB lines exist on the board, they were just not amplified to the proper output levels since they were not connected to the output), add in proper sync line (luma is usually used) and wire up to the correct output pins on the N64 pin out board. You can then use a luma sync SCART connector to hookup to your TV (if it has SCART), or more appropriately to something like a mini-frameister which will upconvert the resolution and output to HDMI.

Alternatively, now there is a HDMI mod for the N64, it is just hard to get as production has been limited. It will cost about as much as the RGB mod+mini-frameister, so it is a wash either way. The benefits of the HDMI mod is that it is much more portable and that is is also designed around the way the N64 output the video to correctly deal with textures. The mini-frameister approach can be used with a lot more consoles (Nintendo, SNES, Atari, Sega, Playstation, PS2, Gamecube....), but as stated is much more a jack of all trades (and mastering many of them), but does not seem to get as good a result with a N64 due to the way the N64 handled textures.