How to connect a NES to a modern TV

Last Updated on June 10, 2023 by Dave Farquhar

TVs have changed a bit since 1986, and memories have faded a bit too. So just in case you’ve lost some cables, or just need a refresher, here’s how to connect a NES to a modern TV so you can get a Zelda or Mario fix. You have a couple of options for this, including AV cables.

Keep in mind your vintage 8-bit Nintendo NES will work fine with a modern LCD or LED TV, but the light gun won’t work with newer TVs. The light gun requires a CRT to operate. Also, while it is possible to modify an NES to output something resembling a modern digital video format, I assume you just want to connect an unmodified Nintendo console to an unmodified TV.

The NES’s design lends itself better to modern TVs than some other retro gaming consoles, such as the Atari 2600. This is good, since Nintendo systems aren’t backward compatible.

Table of Contents

There are three ways to connect your old Nintendo NES to a newer TV. If you already know what connectors your TV has, feel free to use the links in the table of contents to jump around. Or you can read the whole blog post if you’re unsure of what your best options are.

1. Hook up a Nintendo NES to HDMI
2. Hook up a Nintendo NES to composite AV video
3. Find your TV’s composite connectors
4. Connect a Nintendo NES to RF
5. Pros and cons of LCD or CRT
6. How to hook up the NES power supply and controllers
7. The power supply
8. Controllers
9. Later Nintendo consoles and final thoughts

Connect a Nintendo NES to an HDMI TV or Smart TV

Some modern TVs, especially smart TVs, only have an HDMI connection. Connecting an old Nintendo NES to an HDMI TV is possible but a little trickier than old-fashioned composite or RF. Fortunately, you can get adapters to convert composite RCA to HDMI. For many people reading this, the most convenient option is an RCA to HDMI converter from Best Buy that includes a power adapter. I’ve written an in depth review of the converter Best Buy sells.

If you want a cheaper option, inexpensive converters with RCA plugs on one side and HDMI on the other are available now for under $10. These converters can’t get the power they need over the video connections, so they need to be powered over USB. You can use the USB connector on your TV if it’s available, or use an old smartphone charger. But the quality with these cheaper adapters varies.

Whichever way you go, you simply run an HDMI cable from the adapter to your TV. Then provide power to the adapter. Set the switch on the adapter to 720p or 1080p. You may find you get a better picture with one setting or the other, regardless of the resolution of your TV. Then run composite AV cables from the adapter to the AV jacks on the side of the NES, just as if you were connecting to composite. See the next section if you need help finding those plugs.

This type of converter also works with any other system that can give composite output.

Note that while special HDMI adapters or cables for later Nintendo consoles exist, these specialized adapters don’t work with the NES.

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How to connect a NES to a modern TV via AV cables

If you don’t have the RF box or want a better picture, keep reading. There’s a better way to connect your NES to a modern TV, as long as you have the older front-loading toaster model. On the side of the unit, you’ll see two RCA jacks. These output composite video and audio. This method gives a much cleaner video signal than RF. Here’s how to connect a NES to a modern TV for the best results, using AV cables.

To use it, you just need a standard set of AV cables, such as what came with a VCR or DVD player. While newer Nintendo game consoles use a cable with its own connectors, the NES used cheap, standard ones. If you don’t have any handy, most electronics stores still carry them, and they’re cheap on Ebay. You should be able to get a set for around $4. Note that modern cables have two sets of audio cables to support stereo sound. Stereo TVs weren’t common in 1986 so the NES has mono audio. You can hook up just one channel using the red cable, or you can get an RCA Y cable and connect the single-ended side to the NES and plug the dual ends into the red and white plugs on the TV. The result is high fidelity instead of stereo, but will come out of both speakers.

If you opt to get a y cable, make sure it has an RCA male plug on one end and two female plugs on the other. The opposite type of cable seems to be more common.

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Connecting the TV side

Sometimes the TV side is simple and sometimes it’s tricky. Many TVs have multiple sets of composite plugs for retro consoles, VCRs, and the like. If yours does, fantastic. Plug the yellow plug from the NES into the yellow plug on the TV and you’re set.

Some TVs have a dual component/composite set of plugs. That’s trickier. On a TV like that, the white plug is audio. So is the red plug right next to it. The video plug you want is a dual color yellow and green. Plug the yellow cable into that one. Pay attention to the legend printed above the jacks if you’re unsure what any connection is. If you have both component/composite and composite available, I recommend saving the component video input for a newer console that can use it. Component input is comparable to VGA input in quality. Not as good as HDMI, but better than composite.

Turn on the TV and select the appropriate composite input, and now you’re ready to finish up the NES side.

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How to connect a NES to a modern TV via RF

The most common and popular way to connect a NES to a TV in the 1980s was over RF, via a cable that connected to your TV’s antenna. Believe it or not, this still works on a good number of modern TVs. And it probably works better today than it did then, since your NES doesn’t have to deal with broadcast interference on channels 3 and 4 anymore. If you happen to have the newer top-loader model, this is the method you have to use.

It’s not the best way to do it, but it works, and if you still have the RF switch box, you can get it running pretty fast.

If you have anything plugged in to the round RF connector on the TV, unplug it. Plug the gray NES RF box into the antenna port, then plug that cable into the duplicate port on the other side of the RF box. Then plug the other end of the cable into the RCA port in the back of the NES. To minimize interference, try to keep the power and video cables separated if you can. You’ll get a better picture that way.

Finally, tune the TV to channel 3 or 4. Select the slide switch on the back of the NES to match the channel you select on the TV. If you don’t get a picture, run a channel search on your TV with the console powered up and connected. Skip the next section if you need help setting up the rest. I have you covered there too.

This isn’t necessarily the ideal way to connect an NES, but if you also have a Sega Genesis, this method lets you use the same wiring for both systems.

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Does CRT vs LCD make a difference?

Purists prefer a CRT display for vintage gaming as it matches the original experience more closely. But most households don’t keep an old CRT around anymore. The venerable NES will work with the newer display types, as the video standards it used still exist today. The graphics may scale a little weird sometimes because newer HDTVs are a different resolution than vintage TVs and you may get just a touch of lag, but many people won’t notice any difference. Some people may even prefer the newer display type. Your NES will probably display better on a 720p HDTV than on a 1080p HDTV because 720p’s resolution is an even multiple of the NES’ 256×240 resolution.

Of course, as I said before, the light gun won’t work with a newer display, so you won’t be playing Duck Hunt. You can play Mario and Zelda all you want though. Or my favorite, Baseball Stars. I bought an NES just to play that one.

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Connecting up the NES power, controllers and cartridges

Connecting the rest tends to be pretty straightforward. If you need a refresher, here are the steps in a nutshell.

The power supply

The NES AC adapter plugs into a barrel connector in the back of the unit. The NES is surprisingly forgiving of what you use for power. If you misplaced the AC adapter, that’s easy to replace too.

NES controllers and cartridges

The NES controllers plug into the front of the unit. The bigger caveat is the cartridges. Do not plug in or unplug cartridges with the power on.

After you insert a cartridge and turn on the NES, you should see a picture. Here’s what to do if your NES blinks. I don’t recommend blowing into cartridges. It works as a temporary fix but in the long term it makes the cartridges and the console less reliable. If you clean them thoroughly they’ll last years. The main reason NES consoles got unreliable in the 1980s was because of cartridge rentals. People rented games from the same place they rented VHS movies. And then the dirtiest consoles in town dirtied up the cartridges and the dirt spread to the local population of game systems like a disease.

That’s how to connect a NES to a modern TV, in a nutshell. Have fun playing the old video games.

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Later Nintendo consoles

If you have later consoles, Nintendo adopted its own cable standard starting with the SNES. That means hooking up the Super Nintendo is a bit different, as is the N64. But they’ll work with newer TVs too, you just may have to get the right cables.