A few inquiries about the 7800

[Gamer888]

Hi all,

 

I am considering getting into the atari scene and I am quite a newbie

 

I read the 7800 is backward compatible so it might be my best option. I know some 2600 games might not work but as long as Pac-Man, Defender, Missile Command and Asteroid work I am good!

 

Here are my questions:

 

Some 7800, in Europe have the RGB cable. Is it actually a "normal" RGB cable as the one we can buy in stores or an specific 7800 rgb cable?Is it attached to the system or can it be removed?

 

Are they compatible issues with LCD screen??I know I know...CRT is better but I have LCD only.

 

Are 2600 or 5200 games better on the 7800?Will they get any upgrade by being played on the 7800??

 

Do 7800 systems play slower in Europe than in the US due to the whole 60/50 hz?Or this doesn't apply?

 

Thanks for educating a atari virgin!

[+SmittyB]

To the best of my knowledge the RGB models you're talking about were limited to SECAM regions to save having to do a very limited run of SECAM specific circuitry by essentially having a composite mod inside the machine then converting that to an RGB output.

Because of this I don't know whether these models would revert to the hideous SECAM pallette when a 2600 game is played.

 

No idea about the cable but I imagine it's a proprietary cable if it's not fixed in place.

 

As for LCDs it really depends on the quality of the circuitry or software in the TV. I've never had any issues with rolling screens on any consoles but then other people get nothing but.

 

The 7800 essentially becomes a 2600 when it doesn't detect a 7800 game so everything will be the same. In comparison to my 2600jr the screen is darker and the signal is noisier on my 7800.

 

The 50/60hz thing still applies. I doubt any of the official games would have been optimised for 50hz.

[Gamer888]

Thanks for the info! I have something to think of.

[DrSidneyZweibel]

5200 games are not compatible with the 7800.

[alex_79]

The cable for the French 7800 came with the console and it has a circular 13 pins DIN connector on one side and a standard SCART on the other. So, the cable is not standard, but in case it's missing or broken it can be easily built by anyone with basic soldering skills using standard parts (pinout is here).

The console is based on a PAL unit, and the signal is converted internally to RGB (Note that it's RGB only, there's no composite video). It takes PAL games and has PAL palette for both 7800 and 2600 modes.

[Gamer888]

5200 games are not compatible with the 7800.

oki good to know.

[Gamer888]

The cable for the French 7800 came with the console and it has a circular 13 pins DIN connector on one side and a standard SCART on the other. So, the cable is not standard, but in case it's missing or broken it can be easily built by anyone with basic soldering skills using standard parts (pinout is here).

The console is based on a PAL unit, and the signal is converted internally to RGB (Note that it's RGB only, there's no composite video). It takes PAL games and has PAL palette for both 7800 and 2600 modes.

 

thanks for the info!

 

But it seems risky to play with Atari 2600 games on the 7800 unless maybe the rgb is amplified or something?

[davyK]

I prefer the image I get when I play my 2600 games on buy 2600. The 7800 image is fine but it just doesn't look as good.

 

Re 50/60Hz - I've compared 7800 Asteroids in an emulator - seems to run at a similar speed but the 7800 image is bordered and isn't as smooth which is not a surprise given it's a lower frame rate.

 

Advantage of a PAL 7800 is it has Asteroids built in which is a brilliant version of the game.

Edited November 4, 2017 by davyK

[Swami]

Your LCD may be PAL/NTSC dual compatible. Most of the newer ones are. If so, you could buy an NTSC 2600 and a harmony cart. Then you can play the 60Hz games. Or maybe a composite modded NTSC if the LCD has the composite ports, which I would think it would. Just don't get one of the cheapest composite mods.

[+SmittyB]

It's good to know that Asteroids was optimised at least. In my experience any TV in PAL regions made since the early 90's is multi-regional as long as it's not a budget model.

As for the borders on PAL, if you have a TV or monitor that allows you to manually adjust the image height you can stretch the screen vertically and get an exact recreation of an NTSC image. The borders come from displaying the same resolution as NTSC in a higher resolution format so cutting out the extra lines undoes the effect.

[Gamer888]

I am hesitating between 7800 and 2600...Most of the games I would like to play are on the 2600 but I thought playing them on the 7800 would enhance my experience because of the RGB and such. I know some can modifiy the 2600 to display a crystal clear picture with RGB though.

[LidLikesIntellivision]

Once I had the Vader 2600 VCS, system changer (intellivision adapter to play 2600), Colecovision module (#2?) to play the 2600 and the 7800.

 

From all these options, I chose the 7800 as my favorite console to play 2600 games.

But, of course, it's very important to have decent controllers, not the stock american 7800 controllers!

 

Probably the best cost/value relation goes with the Genesis controller and the Seagull 78 Controller Adapter from Edladdin.

Edited November 5, 2017 by LidLikesIntellivision

[+slx]

The cable for the French 7800 came with the console and it has a circular 13 pins DIN connector on one side and a standard SCART on the other. So, the cable is not standard, but in case it's missing or broken it can be easily built by anyone with basic soldering skills using standard parts (pinout is here).

The console is based on a PAL unit, and the signal is converted internally to RGB (Note that it's RGB only, there's no composite video). It takes PAL games and has PAL palette for both 7800 and 2600 modes.

 

 

The cable seems to have the same pinout as the Atari ST monitor cable, so you can look on (European) EBay for an ST to SCART cable. These are usually available for a reasonable price from Poland.

 

Be aware however, that some ST cables seem to have an additional resistor that makes the 7800 output too dark. I do have a SECAM unit but have not used it a lot. The picture seemed OK with my original 1980s ST cable but I tried a few 7800 games only.

 

Getting a SECAM unit at a decent price isn't that easy, however, so you might want to consider the "Ultimate Video Mod" (look in the 8-bit forum) which will give you composite/S-video output with apparently less soldering than some of the oder mods.

 

As posted above, the RGB output seems to be re-created from composite with a daughter board (which someone actually sold here a couple of years ago).

[BassGuitari]

Are 2600 or 5200 games better on the 7800?Will they get any upgrade by being played on the 7800??

As mentioned, the Atari 7800 is not compatible with 5200 cartridges, nor does it enhance 2600 cartridges in any way.

 

However, several of the 7800's arcade titles also had previous iterations on the 2600 and 5200; the 7800 versions are generally superior in some ways (usually graphics, sometimes control), but also worse in others (usually sound).