POUND HD Link Cable for SNES

I am extremely happy with this product. I must preface my review by saying I did not purchase this for use with a SNES, nor did I even plug it in to. Here is how I used it. I took it out of the package. Looked it over just to see what the build quality was like. I have a few other Pound cables and they are all of good build quality. This is no different. I put it on my work bench and took the case off. I desoldered the cable and micro USB port. Then I hard wired it into my PC Engines TennoKoe 2. So yes, I used it to get RGB into HDMI on my Japanese PC Engine. And it works perfectly!!! If you keep the RGB lead short, route your power lead separate from the video and pay attention to where your audio routes you will end up with great clean signal. To the people that have had artifacts with this cable and their SNES. The cable lead that goes from the converter to the console connecter isn't shielded. This cable carries RGB signal, Sync, Audio + Power. This is allot of signal and power to be in a single bundle without any kind of shielding. I never used this on a console in it's factory form but I can't image there would be no issues caused by this. The cable length is short so this probably helps to contain some of these issues. But I would gladly pay $5 more for a shielded cable to the console. Maybe pound can work this out in another revision.

tl;dr - great solution for "big screen gaming" without the big costs. If your TV doesn't have a 4:3 mode, and you don't like stretched images, may be a deal breaker. I have to say I was excited, if not skeptical, about this cable. I had been doing research on the retroTINK 2x, OSSC, and framemeister to improve the quality of gaming on my "big" TV (55" TCL 5 series), as it only has HDMI and component. I also tested it on my older 40" Samsung LED TV, and the experience on that set was fantastic, with its auto color correction and 4:3 mode. The price was right, and it claimed to be using the RGB source, so I took the plunge. I got the cable in yesterday, and it sure didn't disappoint. The only thing I'd be tempted to take a star away for is the lack of "4:3" mode - while many TVs have a way to force 4:3, some newer ones do not. I haven't finished doing slow-motion captures, but lag seems to be minimal if any at all when setting my TV to game mode. As for the other complaints about color - yes the colors are a bit over-saturated. Spending some time with my color settings helped it out tremendously, but games that use a very vibrant color spectrum (like Yoshi's Island), tended to be problematic. I'm not sure if Pound left themselves any wiggle room on the power port also allowing for software updates, but if so I hope they can work out a patch to allow for native 4:3 mode. Final verdict - This is probably the most affordable option right now for playing a SNES on your modern television. It's not perfect, and you aren't going to get high end features, as most of the functions rely on the functions of your television. I look forward to their other RGB solutions, both genesis and saturn, at this point to bring those systems into my living room.

Sturdy build quality, works on my RGB-modded N64 (for now.) Teardown provided. The device radiates heat through the plastic after a few seconds of use.

I'm a huge fan of Pound. Their inexpensive HDMI cables for retro consoles makes them simple to connect to a modern TV. I have the cables for the Sega Genesis and and OG xBox. Both work great. What I can't understand is why they made the deliberate choice to only output a 16:9 720p signal. It's not like the SNES has a 16:9 mode. It's only 4:3. The Genesis cable is not like this and works perfectly. If you need an HDMI solution for the SNES, purchase the LevelHike RGB cable. It has a 4:3/16:9 switch and is a far superior product.

For those of you who are unaware, there are 2 versions of this cable, one specifically for the SNES and the other for SNES, N64 and Gamecube. The universal or "3-in-one" takes the S-video signal that all three consoles support and upscales it to 720p. This cable however, takes the RGB signal that only the SNES natively supports and upscales it to 720p. RGB (which stands for Red, Green, Blue) is a superior signal to S-video so it produces a better overall picture. While it's not marketed as supporting the N64, you can use it on your console if it has been modded. If you dig around on ebay, you can usually find pre-modded consoles for around $80. So how is the video quality? In short, it's a fairly nice leap over composite, but don't expect the world. You have to bear in mind that the N64 has notoriously poor video quality, this is exacerbated by the heavily compressed textures (due to limited capacity of cartridges). In general, you should notice sharper text, more defined edges and less blurriness all together. While it won't compete with what the Ultra HDMI mod or an emulator can do, it's an elegant solution for a fairly reasonable price, and it won't give you any issue with input lag. Now there are some caveats. First off, as others have mentioned, it will stretch the image to fill in a widescreen TV, every HDTV I've ever owned has had the option to scale it back to 4:3, but I can see where it might be an issue if you're connecting this to a monitor. Second, you will need to power the cable, there's a micro USB cable included, most HDTV's support USB, but if yours doesn't, you'll need to purchase an adapter. Finally, you will have to make some adjustments on your TV, the whites are too bright and the blacks are too dark, color saturation is a bit heavy too. While it's by no means the perfect solution for your SNES or RGB modded N64, it's certainly an affordable and convenient way to get better video quality out of an old console. Side note: Only the model 1 SNES supports RGB natively, the SNES Jr. (much like the N64) only supports RGB when modded. So while I haven't personally tested it, I'm fairly confident this cable would work for it as well if modded.

Exelente

スーファミ専用ですが、RGB対応に 配線したN64も対応できました。 ケーブルを変換すれば汎用の RGB→HDMI変換器として使えるので 便利です。改造や配線は自己責任です。

Excellent! Worked with my U.K. SNES! Tested it with U.K. and US SNES games. Nice HDMI colour

Habe mir das Kabel vor etwa zwei Jahren für meinen pal SNES two Chip gekauft. War sofort von dem Bild begeistert. Ein Gravierender Unterschied zum composit Anschluss! In den letzten Monaten ist das Thema retro gaming für mich dann wieder interessanter geworden und ich hab mir einen PAL GameCube dol 001 besorgt. Offiziell ist das Kabel ja nur für den SNES, aber da es der gleiche Stecker ist hab ich es einfach mal versucht und siehe da, es funktioniert! Auch hier ein tolles Bild. Nun habe ich mir noch eine pal N64 besorgt und die hat auch den gleichen Stecker. Aber bei ihr funktioniert das Kabel leider nicht. Ich habe mir darauf hin zwei andere HDMI Konverter besorgt, die offiziel zu allen drei Konsolen kompatibel sind, aber beide hatten ein wirklich schlechtes Bild! Nach etwas Recherche habe ich dann erfahren, dass der Pound Adapter auf das RGB Signal der Konsolen zugreift und dadurch ein deutlich besseres Bild liefert. Und das liefert leider nur der SNES in allen Regionen. Beim GameCube haben wir glück, da nur das pal gerät ein RGB Signal ausgiebt. Jetzt bleibt nur noch der N64 übrig, aber bei dem gibt es Mods um ein RGB Signal auszugeben. Ich habe mich für die Tim Worthington Mod entschieden und hoffe nun auf ein gutes Bild nach dem Einbau. Also volle Empfehlung für das Kabel bei SNES und NGC!

Provato sul mio Nintendo Super Famicom giapponese (non so se funziona anche sulle altre versioni della console) collegandolo ad un monitor 4K di ultima generazione , il risultato è veramente ottimo . L’immagine viene trasmesso al video in maniera pulita, senza artefatti e con i colori ben riprodotti. In giro esistono strumenti ancora più performanti , ma a costi elevatissimi… e per un buon retrogaming qui siamo già ad altissimi livelli . Si noti che la conversione in hd avviene su un massimo di 720p ( più che sufficienti per veder benissimo i nostri giochi) e che il dispositivo deve essere alimentato con un cavo usb in dotazione (dimenticarsi di quest’ultimo potrebbe danneggiare la Console!) . Completa il pacchetto un cavo hdmi incluso . Straconsigliato!

The cord has great quality. It’s not as good as pure HDMI like a SNES classic but it’s very clear. Only slight RF disturbances and slight blurring of pixels. Comparable to RGB. The adapter needs a separate USB power source so I had to buy a separate USB cell phone charger so the USB cord could get power from a wall power outlet.