How to hook up your Super Nintendo Entertainment System
This page will show you the various ways to get your SNES up and running!
Super Nintendo
Ports and Connections
NINTENDO A/V OUT:
This port is used for the Nintendo Composite RCA AV Cable (red, white & Yellow), and several other connection methods. We carry SNES Cables over in the Trog Store!
RF OUT:
This port is used with the Nintendo SNES-003 RF Switch to hook the unit up via your cable/coaxial connection on the TV.
CH3-CH4:
This switch is used in conjunction with the RF OUT port to pick which channel will display the game.
When you use an RF box to connect your game system, the game will display on either Channel 3 or 4. You should try and use a channel that does not have a local TV station on it for minimum interference, but really either should work just fine.
SNES AC ADAPTER:
This is the power supply port for the SNES-002 AC Power Supply unit. We carry SNES Cables over in the Trog Store!
The Super Nintendo has several different ways to connect to your television.
RF: This cable was packed with all Super Nintendo’s, but provides the worst picture quality. You should only use this method if your television does not have RCA ports available.
COMPOSITE RCA: this provides a good picture quality from the SNES and is much better than RF.
S-VIDEO: this provides the best picture quality available from the SNES on most old CRT or Tube TV’s.
HDMI: this has only recently become available and is the best option for new flat-screen TV’s
RF Switch/Box
Standard Quality
RCA Composite Cable
Good Quality
S-Video Cable
Best Quality – CRT
HDMI Cable
Best Quality – Flat Screen
METHOD #1 – RF Connection
What you will need:
Super Nintendo
Entertainment System
Nintendo RF Box
(SNES-003)
Nintendo AC Power Supply
(SNES-002)
This is the method that most of you will remember if you were born before the 80’s. It was the staple method of hooking game systems up to a TV starting with PONG and was still used for the XBOX and Playstation 2 (never do this). It is by far the worst way to go for picture quality. The reason being is that all the video and audio signals are compressed into one coaxial cable and jammed into the TV, letting the television split it apart on its end. This causes a fuzzy picture, often accompanied by rolling lines! But if you only have a Coaxial input on your TV, what else can you do. Let’s begin.
STEP #1 
Plug the SNES-003 RF Switch cable into your SNES. You use the cable with the end that just plugs in, not the end with the screw on it.
STEP #2
Attach the other end of the SNES-003 RF Switch to your television cable port. (see diagram) If you are currently using this port for your Antenna, Cable or Satellite TV, and you only have one port (unlike the diagram), unscrew the antenna cord, attach the RF box to the TV, and then screw the antenna cord to the port supplied on the RF box (shown on bottom of illustration). This way your TV source will continue to work through the RF box when the SNES is off.
STEP #3 
Change the CH3-CH4 switch to desired channel. Which channel shouldn’t matter. This channel is your TV’s tuner channels or local channel, not a cable or satalite providers channel. On your TV’s INPUTS this is normally refered to as AIR or TV.
STEP #4 
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the back of the SNES.
STEP #1
Plug the SNES-003 RF Switch cable into your SNES. You use the cable with the end that just plugs in, not the end with the screw on it.
STEP #2
Attach the other end of the SNES-003 RF Switch to your television cable port. (see diagram) If you are currently using this port for you Antenna, Cable or Satellite TV, and you only have one port (unlike the diagram). Unscrew the cord, screw in the RF box, and then screw the TV Cord to the port supplied on the RF box (shown on bottom of illustration). This way your TV source will continue to work.
STEP #3
Change the CH3-CH4 switch to desired channel. Which channel shouldn’t matter. This channel is your TV’s tuner channels or local channel, not a cable or satalite providers channel. On your TV’s INPUTS this is normally refered to as AIR.
STEP #4
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the back of the SNES.
STEP #5
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the wall.
STEP #6
Plug in a game and turn on the Super Nintendo, even if you don’t see it on the TV yet. You should see the power light on the Nintendo light up (a good sign). Doing this first will also help find the right TV settings. When you’re searching for the right channel and you see the game, you’ve got it right!
STEP #7
Turn the TV to the channel you picked on the back of the game system. If you have a newer model TV, you probably have several INPUTS SOURCES available from COMPONENT, VIDEO 1 2 & 3 and so on. If this is the case you will most likely need to change it to AIR, which you may also have more than one option (AIR 1 or 2 or A and B, as shown on the above diagram). To change to these different video signal options, you usually have a INPUT or SOURCE button on your remote or television. If everything went right (and your game works…) you should be in business!
STEP #8
Now go play some Donkey Kong Country!
METHOD #2 – RCA Connection
What you will need:
Super Nintendo
Entertainment System
Super Nintendo
RCA AV cable
Nintendo AC Power Supply
(SNES-002)
This method will give you good picture quality out of your SNES. You should use RCA Cables over RF whenever possible as the improved image quality is very noticeable. So let’s get started!
STEP #1 
Plug the Nintendo RCA Composite cable into your SNES.
STEP #2
Attach the other end of the Nintendo RCA Composite cable to your TV. You could have multiple options available like on the diagram. You can place it in any one that is not in use. YELLOW is always the VIDEO and should be plugged into the YELLOW port. RED and WHITE (right and left respectively) are the sound and should be plugged into the proper color for the cable.
STEP #3
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the back of the SNES.
STEP #4
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the wall.
STEP #1
Plug the Nintendo RCA Composite cable into your SNES.
STEP #2
Attach the other end of the Nintendo RCA Composite cable to your TV. You could have multiple options available like on the diagram. You can place it in any one that is not in use. YELLOW is always the VIDEO and should be plugged into the YELLOW port. RED and WHITE (right and left respectively) are the sound and should be plugged into the proper color for the cable.
STEP #3
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the back of the SNES.
STEP #4
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the wall.
STEP #5
Plug in a game and turn on the Super Nintendo, even if you don’t see it on the TV yet. You should see the power light on the Nintendo light up (a good sign). Doing this first will also help find the right TV settings. When you’re searching for the right channel and you see the game, you’ve got it right!
STEP #6
Turn your TV to the appropriate VIDEO SOURCE. You probably have several INPUTS available from COMPONENT, VIDEO 1 2 & 3 and so on. In the diagram above you would need to change your TV to VIDEO 1. To change to these different video signal options, you usually have an INPUT button on your remote or television.
STEP #7
Now go race some F-Zero!
Need these cables? Save money with our combo packs!
METHOD #3 – S-Video Connection
What you will need:
Super Nintendo
Entertainment System
Super Nintendo
S-Video cable
Nintendo AC Power Supply
(SNES-002)
This method will give you the best picture quality out of your SNES when using most CRT Televisions. It is the method you should use whenever possible as the improved image quality over RF and RCA connections is very noticeable. So let’s get started!
STEP #1
Plug the Nintendo S-Video cable into your SNES.
STEP #2
Attach the other end of the Nintendo S-Video cable to your TV. Many times, if you television has a S-Video connection it will be in-line with the RCA ports (red, white & yellow) like shown on the diagram. So in this case you would still use the red & white audio cables, but not the yellow video port. You will plug the s-video cable into the same AV option as the audio cables.
NOTE: If your cable has both S-Video and a yellow RCA Cable, just use the S-Video cable, let the yellow RCA cable hang loose.
STEP #3
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the back of the SNES.
STEP #4
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the wall.
STEP #1
Plug the Nintendo S-Video cable into your SNES.
STEP #2
Attach the other end of the Nintendo S-Video cable to your TV. Many times, if you television has a S-Video connection it will be in-line with the RCA ports (red, white & yellow) like shown on the diagram. So in this case you would still use the red & white audio cables, but not the yellow video port. You will plug the s-video cable into the same AV option as the audio cables.
NOTE: If your cable has both S-Video and a yellow RCA Cable, just use the S-Video cable, let the yellow RCA cable hang loose.
STEP #3
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the back of the SNES.
STEP #4
Plug the SNES-002 Power Supply into the wall.
STEP #5
Plug in a game and turn on the Super Nintendo, even if you don’t see it on the TV yet. You should see the power light on the Nintendo light up (a good sign). Doing this first will also help find the right TV settings. When you’re searching for the right channel and you see the game, you’ve got it right!
STEP #6
Turn your TV to the appropriate VIDEO SOURCE. You probably have several INPUTS available from COMPONENT, VIDEO 1 2 & 3 and so on. In the diagram above you would need to change your TV to VIDEO 1. To change to these different video signal options, you usually have an INPUT button on your remote or television.
STEP #7
Now go play some Star Fox!
Need these cables? Save money with our combo packs!
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