Han Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Today I got some 2600 games I won in an auction. I wasn't certain that all of them were PAL. But after testing them I had only problems with one game; "Assault" from Bomb. There are some problems with the vertical sync when playing the game. Does anyone here know if there's a way to figure out for sure whether this cart is PAL or NTSC? I have included a pix... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOK-dfa Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Your location says Sweden so i assume you also have a PAL tv. As for as i know a NTSC cart in a PAL system and a PAL tv produces the right picture with the exception of the colors. They should be different. No rolling or anything though... Also, where did you get the cart from? If you got it from ebay (and an european seller) chances are very big that it's a PAL cart. (PAL Bomb carts are much more common than NTSC Bomb carts). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Han Posted September 15, 2004 Author Share Posted September 15, 2004 Yupp, I am from Sweden. I got the cart from a swedish seller, so I would also assume that the cart is PAL. But I have two NTSC carts(got them from AA) and they do work fine, colour and everything. But vertical sync loss happens sometimes when playing, but not always ... its quite odd... Could be something wrong with my VCR I suppose. I run my Atari through my VCR, and it could be having some problems with the NTSC signal I suppose... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyXB Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 When there is a small sticker at the back, you can see there if this is PAL or NTSC. P for PAL and N for NTSC stand in the small sticker. Most the sticker is missing, so you know only by testing the colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Han Posted September 15, 2004 Author Share Posted September 15, 2004 Thx for the info MattyXB. There is a actually a Q.C. label saying PASSED P... So I assume it is PAL then... Hmm.. wonder why I have sync problems... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 The vertical frequency of Atari games varies on a broad range. That is, it is not said that a "PAL" game will have a refresh rate of 50Hz. There are well known examples of games with freak and even unsteady vertical frequencies, that even a good television perfectly complying the specified standard may not be able to handle. However, whether this specific game is one of those or not, is beyond my knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Wersen Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 Thx for the info MattyXB. There is a actually a Q.C. label saying PASSED P... So I assume it is PAL then... Hmm.. wonder why I have sync problems... I'm Swedish as well and I seem to have the same cartridge (and the same sticker on the back of it) as you do. I haven't got any problems whatsoever to play it on my 2600, perhaps your cartridge is broken? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Han Posted September 20, 2004 Author Share Posted September 20, 2004 highinfidelity: Is this due to the difficulty of programming the 2600? Incorrect raster timing in other words... Magnus Wersen: Tjena, kul med mer svenskar ... It could be a problem with my VCR or TV, neither are state of the art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 highinfidelity: Is this due to the difficulty of programming the 2600? Incorrect raster timing in other words... Kind of. It must be said that the internal TV oscillator scans the screen (roughly at 50Hz - that's why you see a full screen "snow" even when you're not tuned to any station), but it is synched with a specific portion of the signal coming from the antenna at every frame. So the screen adjusts itself - it works at a grossly predefined refresh ratio, but "fine synchs" with the incoming signal continuously. Thus, you can drift form the nominal 50Hz, and the screen is supposed to adjust itself. You understand that how good a TV is in "self-adjusting" is dependent on its specific circuitry. Mine - say - can even synch 60Hz NTSC games with no problem (I mean: in PAL mode!) That's why other fellows may see your specific game well, while it rolls on your TV. Wether this technique is used to save CPU time and memory, or it's just bad coding, is beyond my knowledge. You can check this topic for some examples on known-to-roll games. Fellow Thomas Jentzsch is the know-it-all in this matter, if you ask him gently maybe you'll even have him take a look at the code and see if there's a problem with scanlines in this game :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Han Posted September 21, 2004 Author Share Posted September 21, 2004 Thx for the info. No need to decompile to cart, I was just slightly curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.