Upgrading from s-video to component cables (SNES) - Are my expectations off?

Right. But if the thought is when you have multiple consoles then scart makes more sense, I’m trying to see if that’s really the case in my situation. I have an SNES, Genesis, and DC that I don’t want to use with composite cables. So for the SNES I’ve learned that component won’t be that much of an upgrade over svideo, so I’m going to stick with that. I’m not going to mod the Genesis for svideo, so the component cables look very attractive…but would investing the effort/money in an RGB setup with scart be adding much value? This is all going to be on a Sony Trinitron.

The DC component cables don’t exist yet, so it’s all theoretical at this point, but I’d like to have a plan in place and avoid any more mistakes.

In terms of quality at 240p/480i, RGB = Component. Then it depends on the display, but a higher end Consumer CRT like a Trinitron is imo on par with professional monitors.Hell, any CRT with RGB/Component is much better than the rest.

It’s about your practical setup. Component switch boxes are uncommon, accept only a few inputs, and almost always manual switching (press buttons to change channel). There is a lot more options with Scart, especially nowadays with the enthusiast products like gscartsw and Hydra switches that can give you 8 to 16 inputs with automatic switching (just turn the console on and it’s displayed, no need to think about the switch at all during operation), and legacy switches before that also had these options.

Simple cables like Scart are also easier and cheaper to manufacture than HD Retrovision cables that have a Component encoded integrated.

So when you have a good quantity of consoles that you want to have displayed in Component, it can make sense to go the Scart way and encode after all the switches, just before the monitor, with a dedicated encoding box. It depends completely on how you want to set up your stuff.

Some do!

Some early models indeed can be modded for native component output

I should have clarified, no unmodified SNES outputs component out the multi out !

I’m one of the kooks that has an all component/s-video setup with multiple (8 right now) consoles. I’d argue that the superiority of RGB depends largely on your console choices, display/scaler layout, and overall setup and goals.

I’m personally glad I went NTSC here in the states because it was simpler and cheaper for me. I already had a good basic switch and good manual component switches are easy to find, I didn’t have to worry about sync, component and s-video worked on all my TVs and PVMs with little-to-no conversion cost, the prices of RGB switches and cables are pretty high for a newcomer, and many of the consoles I care about (PS2, Xbox, Wii) had native component support.

I’m also happy with s-video when RGB/component is an expensive or limited upgrade. I went for the Genesis component cables because composite is terrible on there, but for N64, I can’t justify RGB modding for the price. It just depends on what you really want and are happy with.

For your situation, going component or RGB would cost about the same depending on a few choices, so I’d say the decision should rest on your long term goals.