There are many retro enthusiasts, and one of their qualities is that they never give up when it comes to achieving their goals, even when we are talking about devices that have been discontinued for years. This is the case of the famous Super nintendowhich thanks to a modification They have managed to solve a problem that they have been suffering from since their launch 34 years ago.
Since its launch in November 1990, the Super Nintendo has suffered from a problem that has not yet been solved: the video output was a bit blurry, and depending on the screen used this affected the colours and sharpness of the image. The problem lies in its analogue-to-digital video converter (DAC), which is not able to properly transition between colours and makes the image look a bit blurry.
This is Voultar’s Edge Enhancer mod for the Super Nintendo
This problem was widespread on dual-chip Super NESs, though Nintendo eventually fixed the problem in later versions of the console. However, we’re talking about millions of consoles that were left as is, with the problem unfixed. Luckily, Voultar’s Edge Enhancer mod kit now fixes the problem by recovering, correcting, and restoring the video output of the dual-chip Super Nintendo, making it as good as the single-chip variant, which was the model Nintendo later released to fix the problem.
The mod also improves the console’s RGB, composite, and S-Video outputs by integrating a pair of dedicated onboard chips to “clean up” the video output.
The bad part is that, for now, this mod only works for the NTSC version of the console, although the company that created it has said that they are already working on the PAL version, which is the one sold in Europe. Voultar will sell the mod kit with precise installation instructions, something very important because, in case you didn’t know, there are 18 different variants of the Super Nintendo PCB, and in each of them the installation of this mod is different.
You should know that you will also need to have some soldering knowledge, as well as some tools. The job involves several steps that require unsoldering and re-soldering various transistors and resistors, so be careful because you could end up turning your Super Nintendo into a paperweight if you’re not careful.
As we mentioned earlier, Nintendo fixed the problem years after the initial launch in 1990 by releasing a single-chip version of the console. However, millions of consoles had already been sold by then, so millions of users had to suffer the problem. Surely many of these consoles are no longer in use, but for retro-loving users who still have one and want to improve the quality… well, they should know that this modification already exists, and that it should soon be available for the PAL version of the Super NES that we had in Europe.