Wide-screen 2600?????

[moycon]

Well I finally got around to hooking the 2600 up to a the wide-screen TV. But to my suprise it won't stretch to fit the screen no matter what I do... I don't have a problem with the more modern consoles... DC,PS2 etc.... I havent tried anything older than DC yet. I suppose there is a reason for it. Can someone clue me in?

 

This first shot is how it would appear on a standard TV:

 

 

Next is in widescreen format, notice it is still cropped on the sides:

 

 

Damn I was hoping to stretch that sucker all the way...I figured it would take 5 minutes to run from one side to the other!!!!!! Hehheh

 

Note: (Yeah I know it wouldn't take any longer)

[Burgel]

I can't help you, but I do have an observation to share. I noticed your television is a new Sony. I use a 1.33:1 36" Sony that is also new. When I use my 2600 on it, it doesn't fill up the whole screen, either. The picture is framed with black bars on all sides. Maybe that's just the way Sonys handle the Atari input. I don't know why it happens, but it appears to be a normal result. Does anyone else know why this may be?

 

Burgel

[liveinabin]

Wierd, must be an NTSC thing. I got Atari filling my PAL widescreen Sony fine. Speaking of Widescreen - I don't know if Manuel knew this when he programmed it, but the playfield of Gunfight exactly fills a 16:9 screen

[geogray]

I *THINK* the problem lies in the way the Atari generates the video. I believe the actual video signal did not actually fill the entire screen - even in 1976. Today's sets overscan...badly. You pretty much miss about a quarter inch, sometimes more of the picture. The new wide screen sets do a reasonable job at reproducing a standard NTSC signal in either standard mode (video in center, banded on the side) or stretched. Since the Atari cannot (and it was probably by design to save on the cost of the video circuitry) fill the screen, you get what you see in the photo posted in this thread. There is nothing more you can do. Interestingly, the Activision 10-in-1 DID pretty fill in the screen. Maybe a half inch on each side was blank.

[moycon]

Cool thanks for the input...Incidentally it's a Samsung....not a Sony..... Vietnamese make a good product, and cheaper... The 32" TV I had before this one was a Samsung and I had like 14 years!!!! No problems.

 

I guess I'll try my other systems and see what they do...I will track down at what period in video gameing history wide-screen became possible!!!!!

[Burgel]

quote:

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Originally posted by moycon:

Incidentally it's a Samsung....not a Sony.....

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oops. Sorry about that. I couldn't read the name on the tv and it looks like a Sony, so I just jumped in.

 

Burgel

[kyle]

Oh come on now!! We all know atari 2600 is ment to be played on a 13 inch TV like we all had in our bedrooms with our atari hooked up to as a kid!!

[Big Player]

When I was a kid, we only had one TV and when the six-o'clock news came on, the Atari was turned off, no matter what. Oh, to think of all the Activision patches I could have had if I hadn’t run out of time . . .

[geogray]

Moycon,

I thought it was a Sony too! Kinda looks like it. Credit Samsung with much improved quality. They are like Hyundai. Used to make crap, now they are making quality products. (FYI: the Hyundai XG-350 is very nice auto. Anyone wanting a a luxury car without the luxury price should check them out.)

If you *REALLY* want wide screen atari, get an ATI All-In-Wonder 8500, connect it to your big screen and run Stella. Looks great.

[slapdash]

Samsung is a Korean brand, not Vietnamese. Or are they using Viet labor?

[mos6507]

I don't know why you'd want to stretch it anyway since everything is going to look too wide.

 

I see this a lot with widescreen TVs. They either crop the top and bottom off the frame or everything is stretched when dealing with standard NTSC signals. I don't see the point of that.

[moycon]

Glen, I have yet to run into that problem. I was worried about it myself before I bought the tv. The TV I have takes a standard picture and somehow stretch it out and it looks awesome!!! (With the exception of the 2600 games which is why I started the thread)

There is an aspect button on the remote...and if one setting has that "stretched out" look to it... I just put it on another setting until it looks fine. I dunno how it works...But it does.

 

Russ... I maybe mistaken... Im going by what the guy at Circuit City told me 14 years ago or so when I bought that other TV from them.... The Samsung was about $250 less than other brands with the same screen size... He told me that the reason was because they had Vietnamese workers and they did the work cheap. He may have just been FOS or racist or something.... I guess I shouldn't pass on 14 year old info from some Circuit City sales person. But yes I think Samsung is itself Korean.

[slapdash]

No biggie; was curious. I've had this pet curiosity about tech sliding from Japan to Korea and later into Vietnam and other countries... Was wondering if it were coming true or not.

[Room 34]

quote:

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Originally posted by KBeXpress:

Oh come on now!! We all know atari 2600 is ment to be played on a 13 inch TV like we all had in our bedrooms with our atari hooked up to as a kid!!

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If only I had been so lucky. For several months around 1984 or '85 I had my Atari 2600 connected to a FIVE-INCH B&W TV in my bedroom! Oh well, at least it was IN my room... that was the exciting part. I could play Atari in bed at 2 AM and my parents would never know!