rca jack Archives - The Silicon Underground

Home » rca jack

Ye Olde Nintendo 64

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing April 24, 2011December 4, 2018atari, atari 2600, NES, nintendo, playstation, RCA, rca jack, sega dreamcast, SNES, VCR, video game

I fixed up a Nintendo 64 this past weekend. People of a certain age affectionately refer to it just as “the 64,” though to me, “the 64” refers to a computer with 64K of memory introduced in 1982. I have an inherent bias against almost anything that reminds me of 1997, but in spite of my biases, I found a number of things to like about the system after spending a few hours with it.

Using s-video gear with Commodore monitors

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing March 6, 2011March 6, 20111980s, 1990s, atari, camcorder, chroma, commodore, Dollar Tree, radio shack, RCA, rca jack, rca plugs, video connector

Commodore and Atari used an early implementation of s-video on their home computers in order to show off their computers’ advanced-for-their-time graphics. Many monitors sold for those computers featured compatibility with this feature, which was called “separated” or “y/c” composite or at the time. JVC called the feature “s-video” when they started using it on their SVHS camcorders starting in 1987, and JVC’s name stuck. Other companies followed suit, and s-video and the mini DIN plug became an industry standard.

Commodore and Atari used a different connector than JVC did, but all it takes to use s-video gear with those old monitors is a cable, which you can make with about $10 worth of parts from Radio Shack. Read more

How to connect a Commodore 64 to a television

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing January 4, 2005March 13, 20211980s, 1990s, ancient computer, antenna, atari, atari 2600, c64, chroma, commodore, commodore 64, JPG, radio shack, RCA, rca jack, rca plugs, RF, video connector

It is less than obvious how to connect a Commodore 64 to a television, especially a modern television, and it’s even more difficult if your C-64 didn’t come with the cables or the manual.

There are, as it turns out, several ways to do it. The C-64 and 128 have an RCA jack on the back that matches the RCA jacks on most televisions, whether LCD or CRT. Confusingly, this isn’t the key. If you just plug a cable from the RCA jack into the RCA input on a TV, you won’t get a display.