ren.dhark Posted April 28, 2001 Share Posted April 28, 2001 Hi Albert, thanks for this wonderful site. I have a question. Maybe you can help me. Does NTSC games (discs & cartridge) works on a german PAL-600XL? Thanks from Germany Günther Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted April 28, 2001 Share Posted April 28, 2001 Hi Günther, I dug up the Atari 8-bit FAQ (which will someday be posted here!) and found the following useful information: quote: Subject: 10.2) What is the difference between NTSC and PAL machines? Software written for NTSC (North America) will always work on PAL machines, but software designed on PAL machines (Europe) won't necessarily work on NTSC machines. Wayne Booth, mailto:trek@ihgp15.ih.att.com writes: The differences with PAL and NTSC have to do with the number of lines displayed on the screen and whether they are using 50 or 60 Hertz. If I remember correctly, I believe PAL has 625 lines/screen and they refresh the screen 50 times a second doing 1/2 the lines each refresh so they effectively repaint the screen 25 times a second. NTSC is 525 lines/screen with a 60 times a second refresh - again only half the lines each refresh so a 30 times a second frame rate. This would change the amount of time available during vertical sync pulse, and the number of lines that need to be redrawn each time. Graham Thornton, mailto:nero@chicagonet.net adds: I use both a real PAL Atari 800 and a PAL-ANTIC 1200XL here in the US. Replacing the ANTIC chip with a PAL version changes the screen refresh rate to 50Hz which allows most of the PAL-only European software to run. Your system will still report itself as a NTSC machine, unless you change the ROM (see the Nir Dary upgrade), but most software doesn't care. But James Bradford responds: (7/19/00) Not true. the PAL Flag is in the GTIA chip, not in ROM. The NTSC and PAL roms are the same. Only Rev A ROM was had different versions. I am not sure if Rev B ROMs had seperate versions. Graham continues: The one problem you might run into is your monitor. Replacing the ANTIC will mean your North-American Atari is now generating an NTSC signal at 50Hz, instead of the usual 60Hz. Some people will tell you that modern TVs and monitors don't care but that isn't actually true. My brand-new Sony Trinitron 15" colour TV/monitor goes bezerk with the upgraded 1200XL, but my 15-year old 10" Texas Instruments color monitor (designed for the TI-99/4A) is fine. You can also use real European equipment here in North America, provided that you have a PAL-compatible TV/monitor. The frequency of the power system is irrelevant, as I use my 800 with a 110V/60Hz 1050 power supply. Hope this helps!! ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ren.dhark Posted April 28, 2001 Author Share Posted April 28, 2001 Hi Albert, this helps. Thank you very much. Günther Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted May 8, 2001 Share Posted May 8, 2001 Just a bit of a note here. While software written for NTSC machines will work on PAL systems, they may function differently or, in some cases, erratically. Any piece of software that uses vertical blank interrupts (VBIs) will typically run slower. Most of the time, routines controlling music use the VBI, and so music will playback at a slower rate. In the case of demos that use the VBI to control other things -- scrollines, rasters, whatever -- may not function at all, or will look corrupted, because the demo is expecting something to happen at a certain rate (60 times per second) but finds it's only happening at 50Hz, and so may not look at all correct. Just a few thoughts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max_Chatsworth Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 On 4/28/2001 at 1:36 PM, ren.dhark said: Hi Albert, thanks for this wonderful site. I have a question. Maybe you can help me. Does NTSC games (discs & cartridge) works on a german PAL-600XL? Thanks from Germany Günther Which one do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tane Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 (edited) That's what I call a super-mega-bumb! Edited July 2, 2020 by tane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ger Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Usually the NTSC stuff works better on PAL, rather than the other way around. You can always go slower. But going from PAL to NTSC means you have less time during the frame, and especially between VBI start and next frame start. That's where most of the not-prepared software fails. Also the colors are different. Old US made games usually works on PAL, even though slow. But it really depends game from game, demo from demo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Why did @Max_Chatsworth bump a 19 year old thread?!?! Holy Necro-bump, Batman! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 6 minutes ago, DrVenkman said: Why did @Max_Chatsworth bump a 19 year old thread?!?! Holy Necro-bump, Batman! I think that's a new record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snicklin Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 8 minutes ago, Stephen said: I think that's a new record. 16 is my record. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 (edited) nope, not even close... unless you mean in the 8 bit only section of AA, unless we all decide to wait a month or 6 months and reply to the earliest thread always setting a new record... but what's the point? Edited July 2, 2020 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilheim Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 (edited) IIRC, there’s is one game that works better on NTSC rather than PAL: Line-Up, coded by NRV. There is an intro that only works on NTSC, but it works in PAL like crap. As a matter of fact, the original disk skips the intro when you load it on PAL so you don’t have any issues. Edited July 2, 2020 by Wilheim Misspelling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max_Chatsworth Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 10 hours ago, DrVenkman said: Why did @Max_Chatsworth bump a 19 year old thread?!?! Holy Necro-bump, Batman! LOL...Necro-bump? I am not familiar with that term Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 5 minutes ago, Max_Chatsworth said: LOL...Necro-bump? I am not familiar with that term Adding a post to a very old, dormant thread. I.e., waking it from the dead. 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.