Nintendo Multi Out

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Most Nintendo home consoles released between the SNES and the GameCube use the same video output connector (under a variety of names such as AV Out, Multi Out, Analog AV Out), however its capabilities vary widely across consoles, regions, and specific models.

Compatibility

Exclamation-triangle-fill.svgDraft - to be completed and most likely corrected



RF mod. CVBS S-Video RGB Aux signal Sound
AV Famicom (J) Yes Yes No No ? Mono
AV toploader NES (U) Yes Yes No No ?
Super Famicom (J) Yes (& builtin) Yes Yes Yes (⏦ ?) ? Mono, Stereo, Pro Logic (very rare)
Super Nintendo (U) Yes (& builtin) Yes Yes Yes (⏦) CSync (most models)
Super Nintendo (E) Yes (& builtin) Yes (Ω) Yes (unspecified) Yes (Ω) 12V
Super Famicom Jr (J) Yes Yes No No No
New SNES (U) Yes Yes No No No
Nintendo 64 (NTSC, EP) Yes Yes Yes No ($) CSync? Mono, Stereo, Pro Logic (rare)
Nintendo 64 (NTSC, LP);
IS-NITRO-DEBUGGER (EP)
Yes Yes Yes No CSync?
Nintendo 64 (PAL, EP) Yes Yes (Ω ⏦) Yes (Ω ⏦) No CSync?
Nintendo 64 (PAL, LP) Yes Yes (Ω ⏦) No No CSync?
Nintendo 64 (French) Yes Yes (Ω ⏦) No No ($) CSync?
GameCube (NTSC);
IS-NITRO-DEBUGGER (LP)
Yes Yes Yes No CSync? Mono, Stereo, Pro Logic II (uncommon)
GameCube (PAL) Yes Yes (Ω ⏦) No Yes (⏦) 12V
  • Light green means additional components are expected in the cable for best quality/performance:
    • ⏦ means AC coupling, achieved with a 220 µF capacitor in series (positive side towards output), except for S-video chroma where it is 68 nF.
    • Ω means external termination, achieved with a 75 Ω resistor in parallel (to ground).
  • Orange means: not out of the box, but installable without proprietary parts.
    • This may mean anything from plain wiring to a preamplifier (marked with '$'); refer to the appropriate console's section (SNES, N64) for further information.

Nominal Pinout

Socket (console side)
Plug (cable side)
Pin # Description
1 Red
2 Green
3 CSync or +12 V (see above)
4 Blue
5 GND
6 GND
7 S-Video Y (Luminance)
8 S-Video C (Chrominance)
9 Composite Video
10 +5 V DC
11 Left Audio
12 Right Audio

Non-Multi Out video connectors

  • The Famicom is RF only; it can have a composite output added.
  • Most models of the frontloader NES have RF and composite out of the box.
    • The French NES uses an exclusive cable (vaguely resembling the Multi Out but actually the Disk System's connector) to provide RGB (decoded from the native format: composite. Providing RGB in any form must have been considered better value than inventing and manufacturing a SECAM PPU, a concept most other home computer and console brands agreed with.)
  • Most models of the toploader NES are also RF only, and a subset of those are poor at that.
  • The DOL-001 and 002 GameCubes additionally have a proprietary digital video connector for an external alternative DAC.
  • The Wii did away with the legacy by switching to a new connector. This still did not address the fragmentation it caused.
  • The Wii U continued to use the same, adding HD options.