Don't know if this is the right section of the forum...
So for those unaware, older PAL and NTSC televisions run at different frequencies and I believed used different color palettes. This causes a game console with AV output designed for one region to display in monochrome on the other television. Unfortunately, my TV can't change regions and I want to play a retro PAL game console on it.
Did anyone else encounter this issue before? What methods or converters did you use/recommend?
I wouldn't think it would matter, but an NES and a Master System.
Well it depends on what type of signal cable you use. Both consoles support composite use different color carriers. Unless the TV supports both a NTSC / PAL signal, the wrong color carrier will be used and result in a black screen.
One option is to use a Scart RGB Cable. This will always display in color, despite if the console is outputting NTSC or PAL. The Master System 1 supports RGB, but the NES and Master System 2 don't, so you would have to mod those consoles. The problem is, RGB isn't common in countries like the USA and Canada, so this option might not help. Perfect in European countries like the UK where my PlayStation 1 uses Scart RGB, so the imports display fine (you can mod the PlayStation to use composite on imports, but when RGB is better to use, it's not worth doing this mod).
There is using S-Video which is more common that RGB in countries like the USA and Canada. Same thing with RGB, it should display in color, despite if the console is outputting NTSC or PAL (although I don't actually have a TVs that support S-Video to prove this). Problem is, the consoles need modding to support S-Video.
The other option is to just buy a USA NES or Master System. The Master System requires no modifications to play PAL games. As long as the game was not optimized to run in PAL, it will correctly in NTSC (what the USA console is set to). Micro Machines and The New Zealand Story are two Master Systems games that only run correct in PAL.
The NES you have to disable the lock-out chip, but then you can play PAL games. Again, as long as the PAL game was not optimized for PAL (like Noah's Ark by Konami or Beauty and the Beast), then it will run at the correctly in NTSC.
@RadioShadow Micro Machines, you say? I thought it was most or all Codemasters games that used a video mode only found on video chip revisions primarily used in PAL SMS2 (definitely PAL only, but typically only model 2 at that).
And Beauty & the Beast... its rendition of the theme song is really awful but forcing it to run at NTSC speed makes it more passable for what we could expect out of an NES rendition.
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Topic: Playing a PAL console on an American CRT help
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