Atari 2600 FPGA and Harmony Cart Encore

[M-S]

On 7/31/2022 at 4:24 PM, Marlosrob said:

 And the output is in HDMI, PERFECT SOUND AND IMAGE. I ask my colleagues again if there is any test tool that checks the HAmony Cart circuits, I'm afraid I've damaged it with everything that happened.

That isn't the win you think it is to write in all caps, let's be real, the 2600 doesn't have the best pixel art, it lacks both details and colors, this already makes the "sharp and clean" image sound a lot less appealing, this is why most people are fine with just a composite mod. But the games that do have more colors and details only work with the Harmony cartridge as well some really expensive and hard to find addons.

[Keatah]

Of course it's The WIN! Not all of it is in caps, only about 1/5th is. And that's quite acceptable.

 

The 2600 doesn't even have pixel-art. It's 40 years too early for that.

Pixel-art is some post-millennial wanna-be-retro nonsense cheaply done on even cheaper modern hardware by developers that don't know jack about 2600 programming.

 

But you're right about the sharp HDMI. A 2600 game needs plenty of post-processing to give it the NTSC/RF look, if coming straight out of FPGA without and shaders/filters. Or just play on a real console with real CRT.

 

Emulator Stella gets us some of the way there (but not all) with its effects & adjustments.

[Marlosrob]

Yes of course my friend, you are absolutely right in everything you said. My understanding of Atari hardware is very limited. I'm just a player and also an enthusiast. The HDMI to my use and in my opinion is as sharp as possible and I was pleased with the result.