NES AV Famicom Connecting to TV Help?

Started by makaveli, June 27, 2021, 06:29:53 am

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makaveli

I have a AV Famicom japanese, i would like to connect it to q PVM tv i have bnc connectors. What do i need to do in order for it to display?

Do i need to modify the console with a rgb mod of some sort and buy a scart cable not sure? Can anyone help please

P

Which PVM model do you have? There shouldn't be a need to RGB-mod a Famicom (unless you want to), usually there is one or more composite video input ports with a BNC connector and an RCA for sound (if there is sound at all). Connect the yellow RCA plug (composite video) to the composite video input (using a good quality RCA->BNC adapter) and the white RCA plug to the audio in if there is one (otherwise you need an external audio system).
Also use an NTSC composite video cable for best results. The PAL variants of Nintendo's composite cables has a 75 Ohm resistor to GND and possibly a 220 uF capacitor in series, while NTSC variants of the cable doesn't have any components as this is taken care of inside the console (you can check the cable with a multimeter if you are unsure which one you have).

There is probably a composite video output connector as well (this is so you can connect the same video source to multiple monitors or other video equipment). On some PVMs I think you have to terminate unused connectors using 75 Ohm terminator plugs, but on most models this is done automatically if nothing is plugged into them with an internal 75R. Check the manual or service manual for your model to see if you need terminator plugs or not.

The monitor also needs to be able to display NTSC for composite and S-video to work, but I think most or all PVMs supports both NTSC and PAL (and often NTSC-4.43 used by PAL VHS recorders with the "NTSC playback" function).

Some PVMs actually has a SCART plug, but this is usually only used for RGB, so I don't think you can plug in composite video there, with a plain old RCA->SCART adapter, like you can on a normal TV with SCART.