Atari 2600 vertical scrolling / hold Problem

[dino999]

Today I tested a vader 2600 and the games with which it came.

 

Of the games it came with, Popeye seems to make the screen scroll uncontrollably. I realized that I hadn't played the copy of this game I already owned since I got my new LCD TV (Samsung LN-T2653H). This game has no issue on my previous LCD (LG 20LS7D).

 

I went through some other games and none displayed this issue. Strangely after booting the console several times, once the image was perfect. I also tested Popeye specifically on my light 4-switch woodgrain and the same TV. It also displayed this problem.

 

Could this be a signal strength issue? Are there any known tricks, amplifiers, etc. that could remedy this?

I enabled an option in the Samsung TV's menu called Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) that does not improve the situation.

 

 

[atari181]

Probably a PAL cart. Some TVs fix the scrolling and some do not. My guess is that the new TV will not fix it.

[+SpiceWare]

The cartridge, not the console, determines the scanline count. Popeye's using 267 scanlines which is 5 too many.

 

Older TVs had no problem with the scanline being slightly out of spec. Newer TVs are hit or miss, some can handle it while others cannot.

Edited June 11, 2015 by SpiceWare

[dino999]

Thanks SpiceWare. I knew it had to be game-specific as I tried two Popeye carts and I know for a fact that one of them worked find on my old LCD TV.

 

Besides getting a new TV (or old one), is there another solution to this problem? Do composite, s-video, or other video mods solve this problem for all modern LCD TVs? If so, would I be sacrificing anything by doing so?

Edited June 11, 2015 by dino999

[+SpiceWare]

Not that I'm aware of, the video mods won't change how many scanlines are being generated.