Forum Discussion

Joe2019's avatar
Joe2019
Binge Watcher
7 months ago

ROKU TV S-Video for Retro Gamers

It appears TV manufacturers have completely ignored gamers, specially retro gamers. If TV's at least had an s-video input, gamers would be able to hook up their retro consoles with better quality than what composite offers. Heck, more and more TV's don't even offer composite input now-a-days. Not the best video signal anyways. But it would be nice if ROKU would offer the s-video option as I'm sure it would start some buzz in the retro community.

Yeah, I know there are devices that you can purchase to do this but some do not even do 4:3 aspect ratio (image gets stretched), others need external power, some want to charge you an arm and a leg for their device, and it's not just a direct input on a TV as it should be.

More of a feature request for ROKU TV's in the future.

6 Replies

  • andyross's avatar
    andyross
    Roku Guru
    7 months ago

    There just isn't enough of a market to build something like that into a TV. Most TV's are often built around 3rd party chipsets, and many may no longer support analog inputs. It's also the media companies that would like to see analog disappear as it would allow 100% encryption on all video.

    • Joe2019's avatar
      Joe2019
      Binge Watcher
      7 months ago

      We're talking cheap chips now-a-days. The cost wouldn't be much at all. The market is large and there are many retro gamers / collectors. They are making youtube videos constantly and many watch. And I don't think anyone is worried about encrypting 240p / 480i content. But thanks for the reply. 😉

      • andyross's avatar
        andyross
        Roku Guru
        7 months ago

        TV manufacturing is very cutthroat. Even fractions of a penny matter. As donglover noted, real gamers will find an old CRT TV to use.

  • donglover's avatar
    donglover
    Channel Surfer
    7 months ago

    Retro gamers would use a CRT these things are too input lagged 

    • Joe2019's avatar
      Joe2019
      Binge Watcher
      7 months ago

      Not too bad with lagging. But what do we say when the day comes that HDMI is not even offered anymore because people use streaming over DVD or Blu ray? A TV is a visual entertainment technology that use to support multiple inputs. Now we are just left with HDMI as some do not even support composite anymore.