Showbits

I'm an audio/video snob; among my minimum standards are that movies be widescreen and in at least 5.1 surround sound. I insist on having the theatrical experience the directors intended for me.

But I'm also a tightwad who doesn't believe effective presentation should be the exclusive domain of monstrous cables. I'm satisfied with my six-year-old CRT television's one set of component inputs and no HDMI, 480i, or other fancy features that are supposedly making or breaking the next generation of home game consoles.

So I recently tried to squeeze more out of my aging-yet-satisfactory system. I'd historically reserved the component inputs for my DVD player: movies are my television's #1 application, and I hesitated to experience signal degradation via a switchbox. But with the Nintendo Wii packaged with mere A/V cables, making an additional purchase necessary, I decided to make a quantum leap.

The upgrade was forced by my existing A/V and S-Video switchbox, which somehow failed to communicate the S-Video signal from the Wii. Given the choice between two Pelican-brand component switchboxes — one with eight inputs and remote control, the other with four and no remote — I chose the latter. I was going from a four-port box to the same — but now I had to work my DVD into that setup. How would I still have room for all four of my Wii, Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Dreamcast?

The answer came from an enterprising EB Games employee, who recommended I use a "universal" A/V and S-Video connector. The cord has standard jacks at one end, but is a hydra at the other, supporting the GameCube/N64, PS2/3, Xbox, and Xbox 360. I connected my N64, PS2, and Xbox, which actually improved my situation by setting up the previously-overlooked Nintendo 64. And even though the Wii can play GameCube games, I keep my 'cube handy for its Game Boy adaptor. Since the 'cube and N64 use the same cables, swapping them in and out will now be easier than before.

(The only caveat to this configuration was that the PS2 in "sleep" mode overrides the Xbox's and N64's sound. I had to actually turn the PS2 off to get audio from either of the other two. I also removed the digital optical audio switchbox I was using for the PS2 and DVD player; I rarely experienced enough benefit from the PS2 having such a connection to warrant potential degradation.)

I discovered both my primary and spare S-Video cables had broken. I tried getting a replacement at either Best Buy or Radio Shack, but they wanted $20 and $40 respectively. Forty dollars! For an S-Video cable! When I was a kid, we called them ADB cables, and they came free with keyboards! We also had to watch our video uphill in the snow…

Unfortunately, I found my Dreamcast S-Video cable to also be broken, relegating me to composite, as I suspect new Dreamcast hardware is not easily attained these days.

Conclusion: The Wii and DVD are now using component through the same switchbox that runs the N64, Dreamcast, PS2, and Xbox via S-Video. I haven't noticed any video degradation on my DVD (except for extreme blurriness resulting from a loose R [of RGB] jack), or any significant improvement in the Wii (though it's hard to tell from playing just Sports, which is rather simplistic to begin with).

But boy, did I get some dusting done!

Tags: cables, component, degradation, Dreamcast, DVD, inputs, Nintendo, switchbox, video, Wii, Xbox

Share this entry. Email this entry. Print this entry.