Scart Switches

SCART Switches

If you plan on using six or less consoles with your RGB setup, using a SCART switch is an easy way to accomplish that. If your setup consists of more than six consoles, or a mix of VGA and RGB, you might want to consider alternative switches. Using alternative switches is much more complicated than using a SCART switch, so I suggest giving the page a full readthrough to see if it’s something you’d be interested in: Alternative Switches

If you decide to stick with a SCART switch, I’ve done a lot of research on which are the best solutions, as well as what not to buy (scroll down for that). Also, please see the SCART to Display page, if you need info on how to connect the switch to your RGB display. Please keep in mind that some of these switches have been discontinued. I suggest checking the links on the right, then searching around to find them for sale:

	gscartsw: automatic 8:2 SCART-RGB switch This is an 8-port SCART switch made specifically for retro-gaming. I strongly recommend it for anyone who has multiple consoles. It’s current revision has two SCART outputs (no DSUB or separate audio), but it also includes a digital sync processor! Please check out the review page for more information.
	Otaku-Store SCART / RCA Switch In my very limited testing, I’ve found these switches to be a great, low-cost solution. I’ve yet to do an electrical analysis, but I get no interference when multiple consoles are plugged in and the manual switching works great. WARNING: These switches have two outputs, but they can only be used one at a time!!! Do NOT use this as a dual-output switch!
	Hydra 8-port SCART switch This is an 8-port SCART switch from Lotharek. It has one SCART output and is powered by MicroUSB.
	Bandridge 5-port SCART Selector There are two models available: One with a push-button manual switch and another that auto-switches once your console is turned on. Please note that some people have had major issues with theirs, while others seem happy: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=49746
	Hama 100S These seem to work well and can be found pretty cheaply. There are only three inputs, but the extra A/V outputs come in handy if you need separate audio-out.
	Shinybow SB-5525 I owned this switch and can confirm it works perfect and there is zero quality loss. Something else to mention is that this switch will allow you to assign different inputs to different outputs at the same time. That would come in handy if you have two monitors: One regular and one turned on its side like some of the classic arcade systems. The only drawback of the Shinybow is it’s the only switch that doesn’t have a dedicated RCA audio out. That won’t matter if you use a SCART to BNC cable that separates audio-out, but if you don’t have one of those, you can use one SCART to BNC output to go to the monitor and get an adapter to pull just the audio from the other output. Check the links on the right –>
	There’s one last switch to mention. It’s just a basic 2 – 1 switch, but it works perfect with no quality loss. Unfortunately, there’s no writing on it, so I don’t even know what brand it is (click the icon on the left for a full-size image). A few people emailed me and said they thought it might be one of these: Wilko Scart Switch Box 2 Way Wickes 2 Way Scart Switch Box

What not to buy

Absolutely stay away from any switches that look like the ones pictured below (sometimes sold under the “Lindy” brand). I’ve tried a few of those and they ranged from “bad” to “terrible“. One even caused a dark purple tint across the screen!

SCART Splitter

Someone had recently asked about splitting s SCART signal between two devices and this was the recommendation that came back: http://www.shinybow.com.tw/pro/detail.php?pid=253&cid=111&f=61

If you came here while reading the RGB Guide, please move on to the section that shows how to get RGB from each game system! That section also has info on audio enhancements, which versions of each system output the best quality, plus some other helpful info! Alternatively, head back to the main page to see what other retro-awesomeness is available on this site!