Hi,
I own a Twin Famicom 505, but for an obvious collecting purpose I'd like to get an AV modded Famicom.
I want to play with this system too, so I'm quite worried about the picture quality it'll have. Let's say the mod is done properly or that I correct it if it's a crappy mod, what can I expect compared to the Twin Famicom in terms of picture quality? Exactly the same? A little less? A lot less?
Thanks for your help!
Really? No one knows about this?
I have both a Twin & AV modded Famicom and the picture & sound is pretty much identical. I did the mod myself, so it wasn't a crappy job, but who knows what you'll get if you're just buying one online. You could always fix the mod yourself to suit your tastes. ;)
Great, thanks for this quick clarification!
As an additional note, I detect little difference between my AN-500R and my New Type Famicom (A/V). It's all essentially the same deal, and a lot of what you can or can't see depends on your monitor (or TV). I like old CBM monitors, as they are just the right size and have internal speakers. NES games also look better to me on a CRT, not on an LCD or plasma screen. They lack that classic 'raster-line' look and seem choppy, but any older TV or composite monitor is perfect (again to my eyes).
If you have an old CBM (Commodore) or Apple][ or other composite colour monitor of that vintage,you may want to give them a shot. I think they give the clearest image at just the right size, short of RGB video. In fact, I don't see that big of a difference between my ASN-500R on an old 1702 monitor versus my C1. Sure, the images and colours are slightly crisper and a touch more vibrant, but a bit off. For example, on my C1's RGB PPU, fire-powered Mario's overalls look yellow instead of white.and it has a slight jail-bar effect.
All-in-all, if you do a decent A/V mod, you'll love it. It makes it a snap to plug into any North American NTSC monitor or TV made in the last 15 years or more...no messy NTSC-J conversions required or importing super-heavy TVs or VCRs from Nippon. :) My next experiment is going to be playing with the RF coils to see if there is a sweet spot for setting the Famicom to operate on USA Channel 3 or 4 and I may start selling A/V mod kits in the soontime.
Oh yeah, and if you were wondering what that DIN connector is supposed to do on the back of your 505, that's where you plug in the special Sharp RF modulator box. I have a couple on order, and once I get them, I'll post a pinout, assuming kyuusaku doesn't decide to give me an enema about posting some original pinouts that AFAIK aren't available on the 'net. I'll do the same for a C1 controller, eventually.
It's nice to have two running systems though. I occasionally run mini-tournaments with mates and having multiple consoles ins a must for doing this. Your original FC is also easier to carry about if you want to take it somewhere, so doing the A/V mod is just an all-around perfect solution for giving it some new life rather than it sitting on a shelf dozing in the background.
-Xious