Switchbox

[bluejay]

I don't understand why atari, nintendo, and many other companies made gamers require switchboxes or some type of adapter for the console to connect to the tv. Why not just equip it in the console itself? Why not make the cable a standard tv rf cable(Whatever that's called; the screw-on thing)?

[+KaeruYojimbo]

Most TVs didn't have the RF jack in the 70's, just the old pronged antenna leads, and usually that was the only input. Even when RF jacks became common, TVs still often only had one input. Since you can't have two things connected to one input at the same time, you needed the switch box, which allowed you to connect the antenna and the game console and select which signal fed the TV (later ones, like those that came with the NES, switched automatically).

[InfoMan]

19 hours ago, bluejay said:

I don't understand why atari, nintendo, and many other companies made gamers require switchboxes or some type of adapter for the console to connect to the tv. Why not just equip it in the console itself? Why not make the cable a standard tv rf cable(Whatever that's called; the screw-on thing)?

Let me guess, you were born in the 21st century?

[bluejay]

*clears throat*

maybe...

[Love Cowboy]

On ‎6‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 9:30 PM, KaeruYojimbo said:

Most TVs didn't have the RF jack in the 70's, just the old pronged antenna leads, and usually that was the only input. Even when RF jacks became common, TVs still often only had one input. Since you can't have two things connected to one input at the same time, you needed the switch box, which allowed you to connect the antenna and the game console and select which signal fed the TV (later ones, like those that came with the NES, switched automatically).

This.  My parents were still using one of those old RF-jack-less TV's as their main TV as late as the early '90s.  Hooking my SNES up to it required some pretty wacky adapters too lol

[+KaeruYojimbo]

4 hours ago, Love Cowboy said:

This.  My parents were still using one of those old RF-jack-less TV's as their main TV as late as the early '90s.  Hooking my SNES up to it required some pretty wacky adapters too lol

I had one that was my main TV until the early 2000's, and then my retro gaming TV for another 5 or so years after that. I had everything from Pong to a TurboGrafx-16 hooked up to it at one point or another. I hooked it up to the cable too so I could watch everything up through channel 13 on it (The local broadcast stations, the city government channel and WGN. I distinctly recall watching the final games of the 2004 and 2005 World Series on it in my game room).

[bluejay]

I have a woodgrain crt from the late 80s as my gaming tv. maybe it would be cool to make a switchbox between my atari and my cv!