RGB output

RGB Output

RGB is the highest-quality analog signal the Sega Saturn produces. Instead of combining brightness and color into one wire as composite does, RGB sends red, green, and blue on separate lines along with sync. This keeps colors clean, eliminates the dot crawl and rainbow artifacts of composite, and preserves fine detail in text and 2D artwork.

Why the Saturn shines in RGB

The Saturn's 2D hardware was exceptional, and its sprite-heavy games reward a sharp signal. Fighters, shooters, and arcade ports look noticeably crisper over RGB than over composite or even S-Video. Because RGB is the console's native internal format, you are seeing the output with the least possible processing.

Getting RGB out

Most users access RGB through a SCART cable wired for the Saturn's multi-AV pinout. The console outputs analog RGB plus composite sync, which most RGB displays and scalers accept directly. A small number of cables add a sync stripper or sync-on-luma circuit for displays that are picky about sync.

• CRT with SCART: plug a quality RGB SCART cable straight in.
• JP-21: Japanese consoles often pair with JP-21 cables, which use the same connector shell but a different pinout than European SCART.
• Scaler input: feed RGB into an external scaler for modern TVs.

Important: use shielded cables with proper sync handling. Cheap unshielded cables introduce interference that undermines the whole point of going RGB.