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What do PAL carts do in an NTSC system?


Ian Primus

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They are usually playable, with a few "buts." You will need a TV with a vertical hold adjustment, or the picture will roll. Also, the image will be taller, and small parts of the top and bottom will be cut off the borders of the TV screen. This is, of course, assuming you've got the Atari connected to an NTSC television. I don't think there's any difference between an NTST and PAL Atari, although I could be wrong. As far as I know, it's dependent on the software.

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Recently, I asked the opposite question.

 

(Thanks matthias fot the answer)

 

In the meanwhile, I also found some infos about systems/carts compatibility at : http://www.gyruss.demon.co.uk/ccnuk/compat.html

 

quote
I don't think there's any difference between an NTST and PAL

 

That's a good question... Someone is sure of that ?

 

Regarding the Stella manual, The SECAM console is a little bit different (for color conversion table, as the games are only displayed in 8 colors).

 

Is there a way to convert a Secam VCS into PAL ?

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Actually, my TV is quite forgiving about 50Hz signals..

 

I put a PAL 32-in-1 cartridge into my 7800 and the only problem I had is the picture starts farther down than normal so the bottom's cut off. Since it was mostly Atari and Activision games, not much is lost on the Activision ones (where the Activision logo usually is) but Sky Diver is unplayable since the targets are off the screen.

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The PAL and NTSC carts have different palletes and also have different VBLANK (the space at the top of the screen) periods. The main difference is in the software though. The VBLANK period would be different, causing some noticable rolling, or the screen starting at a different posistion.

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Now allow me to take this question one step further, is there any way to tell if a cart is PAL on the outside?? I ask this because I have a Realsports Tennis that has the whole "screen roll" thing down pat. I'm trying to determine if it is PAL or just bad, thanks for the help.

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The few Atari Brand PAL carts I do have, have a P beside the name on the end label. And I'm not sure but the Number of the game might also have a -P or something.

 

So you can tell that way hopefully, at least for Atari Brand.

 

Also, activision games might have a little round sticker with a "P" on it, because some of my international versions of Activision games have a round sticker with and "N" since they are NTSC.

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Living in PAL-land I have nothing but PAL carts at the moment!

 

Usually (but not always) there will be a P somewhere on the cart (see http://www.best.com/~jearney/images/atari12.jpg) for some examples. There is a version of Combat with a large PAL detail on the label itself. More usual is a black sticker with a white P on the back of the cart. Some Atari carts have a P suffix on the CX number.

 

I composite modded my PAL 2600 and on my monitor (OK with 60Hz DC games) some PAL games roll, although on my TV they're OK (?any ideas?)

 

John

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Another factor to take into consideration is the model of Atari you have. For example, I have a PAL Pitfall II which works perfectly (albeit with screen rolling) on all of the 2600s I've tried except for my heavy sixer; on the H6, all I get is a black screen. I haven't tried this cart on a 7800 yet. I've heard of a few other cases in which a cart behaved differently on different consoles; I don't think we were able to come up with a definitive answer as to why this is. Still, it's fun to experiment; try PAL carts on all your 2600s and see what happens.

There are usually differences in the labels of PAL vs. NTSC carts. The Atari labels may simply have a "P" on the end (although some ordinary NTSC carts will have this as well for no apparent reason), while others, like the Activision labels, will be multilingual and say something like "International Edition".

 

 

HEAVY***6***er

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just as a note that you will more or likely have problems using pal on a ntsc atari. I have a Congo Bongo cart which seemingly is pal (dosn't state that anywere on the label ...but) since it scroll like crazy..i heard you could fix this if you have a vertical hold on your tv..however i have a new tv (only has cable input on back) so i have no idea what to do in this case senario..blarg! blarg! (::did he just say blarg!???:

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Ok, thanks for all the help, unfortunately now it just looks like I have a bad Realsports Tennis cart Now I have to go find another one (not easy in my parts). Another point, I thought that all of the Realsports series used the term "Realsports" on both the front and end labels, this Tennis cart has "Realsports" on the end but only "Tennis" on the front label. Is this "just one of those cooky Atari" things?? Thanks again for your help...

 

 

move every 'zig'

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I've seen both types of label for RS Tennis. I currently own one that has "RealSports Tennis" across the front label. This site has that example in the cartridge scan archive. Why not scan yours and have it added as a label variation!

 

John

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