sloth-machine Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 So, the 2600 Battlezone happens to be one of my favorite games, and out of the 3 modern TV's I have (2 LCD, and 1 LED), none of them are compatible with this game. A modded A/V and an original RF console both carry the same results. Every other Atari game I own plays just fine with modern TV's. The game itself jitters and shakes, bullets will disappear, and sounds will be out of sync with the gameplay. Anyone have any luck getting this game to work with modern TVs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Use an emulator. Eventually we're all going to have to do that, or maintain a supply of old CRTs. I know that's not the answer you wanted to hear, but it works. More to your liking you might try one of those RF to HDMI converters or run the signal through a VCR. Alternately, see if your TV has any settings for GAME, on some sets it may reduce or change the amount of processing the set does. As time goes on more and more televisions will stray from the old Composite and RF type signals. Eventually they will become monitors only. More or less. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy B. Coyote Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 I've had the same experience with Battlezone and a few other games (Super Breakout being one) looking unplayably awful on modern TVs, regardless of how I connected the Atari to the TV. My best suggestion would be to keep a quality late model CRT TV like a Sony WEGA/Trinitron around for retro gaming and enjoy it for as long as the tube in the TV will last. Eventually all tube TVs will wear out, but hopefully by then the technology industry will have come up with some new kind of TV that is friendly towards the scan lines that most retro systems require to display games properly. In the meantime you can get nice CRT TVs for next to nothing (often completely free) from your local Craigslist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloth-machine Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Yeah, I definitely have some CRT tv's, I was just wondering if anyone had any luck with modern TV's. I just love how the colors pop and are much more vibrant, plus the sleek look of a slim TV next to a retro Atari is cool. None of my TV's have 'game mode". Anyone try this? I understand that it adjusts the hertz and scan-lines to accommodate input response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 it runs fine on my cheap wallmart LED tv. Try using something around 20". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 What you describe seems to indicate a faulty cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloth-machine Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 it runs fine on my cheap wallmart LED tv. Try using something around 20". Yep, one of my TVs is a cheapy WalMart one, 20 inch. What you describe seems to indicate a faulty cart. I have 2 copies if battlezone plus a harmony cart, all have the same results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+splendidnut Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Did you try change the channel and back again to allow the TV to retune? Or maybe try rerunning the channel search? That's the only thing I can think of. I have to do that when I first turn on the TV for playing Atari. On another note, so far it seems older LCD TVs work better with handling the Atari. I've run my Atari on both a 40" Insignia LCD (purchased 2012) and a 19" Toshiba LCD (purchased sometime around 2008). So far the 19" Toshiba works better. I can't even play Halo 2600 on the 40". It displays all washed out with a loud buzzing for the audio. The other game I've had issues with only the 40" is that Q-bert seems to like to display long white horizontal distortion lines when completing the level. Only seems to happen occasionally though. I would also suggest you acquire an CRT... Especially if you have a 6-switch. There's an interesting 3D hue effect I've noticed that makes the games look fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegamatrix Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I believe all of the problems you are experiencing are due to a bad VSYNC signal from the game programming itself. It is 2 scanlines and some cycles long, which is too short and won't work on all TV's. Try this fix and see if it works: Battlezone (Vsync fix).zip 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloth-machine Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 I believe all of the problems you are experiencing are due to a bad VSYNC signal from the game programming itself. It is 2 scanlines and some cycles long, which is too short and won't work on all TV's. Try this fix and see if it works: Battlezone (Vsync fix).zip This fix works perfectly! I cannot thank you enough kind sir. I am quite excited to be back playing Battlezone, and I will be sure to hang on to this beauty (the file). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 What is this buffoonery? It's NOT THE ORIGINAL CODE!! A farce, a charade, how blasphemous!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 A malformed NTSC signal will do that sometimes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloth-machine Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) What is this buffoonery? It's NOT THE ORIGINAL CODE!! A farce, a charade, how blasphemous!!!!!!!! Heh, I will have to turn in my official retro badge now and go rouge. Edited July 2, 2015 by sloth-machine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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.