centrespot Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Hi All Does any one know how to fix an Atari 2600 that has lost all it's colour. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Dumb question - have you toggled the Color/B&W switch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centrespot Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 13 minutes ago, Stephen said: Dumb question - have you toggled the Color/B&W switch? Yes, and I've tried different TV's etc. I'm guessing it's going to be the TIA chip but I just thought I'd ask before dismantling it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 2 hours ago, centrespot said: Does any one know how to fix an Atari 2600 that has lost all it's colour. Are you using the stock RF output, a composite mod, or a UAV or similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centrespot Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 3 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said: Are you using the stock RF output, a composite mod, or a UAV or similar? It's an unmodified 2600, standard RF output Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 By any chance is this a PAL unit? If so, using NTSC games with it could potentially cause them to display in black and white. FWIW, the TIA could be at fault, but I'm trying to avoid pointing fingers at it until all of the other basic possibilities have been gone through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 15 hours ago, Stephen said: Dumb question - have you toggled the Color/B&W switch? Just to be clear here - the colour/b&W switch does exactly zero to the actual RF output from the '2600. That is, it does not turn colour/b&W on/off. It is the game cartridge software which may or may not check the status of that switch, and then the software decides what to do with it. Some (very few, almost none) of the cartridges switch to a black and white display when you set it to B&W. But mostly, most games/software do nothing. And again, this is not a switch that changes the output of the console to the TV from colour to B&W. Completely a programmer-decision, in other words, what to do with that switch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centrespot Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 Ok I have now sorted out my issue with the lack of colour. With the top off and fiddling around before deciding to look deeper, I happened to to knock the reset switch (sideways) and the colour flashed back for a split second. I removed the switch circuit board and noticed dry contacts on the reset switch, after re-soldering it worked fine. I haven't looked at any circuit diagrams to see why this would happen but it may now help others (in the future) if they have a similar issue. Thanks to all that gave advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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