Atari 2600 jr video problems

[leoger]

Recently I bought a Atari 2600 with 15 carts. (for 45 euro's about 57 dollar) Six of them work really well but the other nine give a crappy image (3 times overlapped).

 

I can actually start the games.

[leoger]

The sound is alright now... Only what to do about the bad image...

 

int looks something like:

Jr. Pacman

Atari 1884

[Whisper]

Hey a felow Dutchman! Leuk! Er zitten hier nog een paar Nederlanders meer

 

You probably got some NTSC carts. Europe uses the PAL tv standard and NTSC cartridges (mostly from the USA) work with a different number of scanlines and frequency. So the good news is your Atari is probably just fine, it's your tv that can't sync to NTSC. I have the same problem too, so I try to steer clear from NTSC carts. How to identify a NTSC cart? That's really tricky, but when looking for PAL carts try to find the letter P anywhere on the end label or on a sticker on the cart. Check for "international edition" on Activision carts... Anyhow, if you have any further questions, feel free to PM me.

 

I still don't understand why so many NTSC carts turn up in the Netherlands

[leoger]

Leuk om te weten (nice to know)

 

I' v got a Philips TV, so I think it would support NTSC.... But hey with Philips you' ll never know

[AtariBuff]

I still don't understand why so many NTSC carts turn up in the Netherlands

marco`s spare ones maybe

[Seob]

Dutch to

 

I haven't come across any NTSC games yet. But then again i haven't come across any 2600 cart this year.

 

I've took this part of text for the atarihq site but it maybe helping you:

 

"Can we play U.S. games on our PAL 2600 Systems and vice versa? Sure, no problem. The games are perfectly compatible and interchangable. Only colors will vary (playing AcTiVision's Tennis on a blue court is actually pretty awsome). It's your TV-Set that could cause trouble. If you have an old big television (like Deleto) it doesn't care at all. Newer TVs will cause the screen to roll when other standard games are played. If your TV has a Vertical (for PAL ppl) or a Horizontal (for NTSC ppl) Pot Holder/Meter, you can adjust this until the rolling and flashing stops. "

 

You could also try to connect your 2600 to a VCR. Maybe you're VCR has NTSC playback over PAL.

[Seob]

NTSC (National Television Standards Committee), PAL (Phase Alternating Lines) and SECAM (SEquentiel Couleur Avec Memoire) are different worldwide, generally incompatible television standards. Some short, not completely accurate information follows.

 

what where freq/frames/scan lines

---- ----- ----------------------

NTSC US/Japan 60hz/30/525

PAL Europe 50hz/25/625

SECAM France & many others 50hz/25/625

 

So how does this affect Atari games?

 

Each cartridge tells the 2600 when to generate TV line sync pulses. This means that using an NTSC cartridge in a PAL console, or vice versa, will cause synch pulses to be generated at the wrong frequency. The net effect of this is that some TVs will "roll" the picture, and may need the vertical hold control to be adjusted. Some TVs will handle the incorrect synch frequency transparently though.

[Whisper]

Dutch to    

 

I haven't come across any NTSC games yet. But then again i haven't come across any 2600 cart this year.

 

I had at least 2 consoles with games I bought that had one or more NTSC games mixed in. Marco's doubles? I doubt it. It's an evil plot against nice innocent PAL people like myself!

 

It has nothing to do with Philips. The only tv here on which I can play NTSC games is an early 90's big Philips TV. The newer Nokia TV we have in the attic (yes, they make TV's too appearently) also has the rolling image you described.