ntsc vs pal (framerate)

[san-d-2000]

Here in Europe Sega games are realy hard to find, anyway this week I found Congo Bongo Pal version, so for the first time I could play the game in the right colors.

After a while I noticed the music was two times slower as the NTSC version.

Does this mean that if you play an NTSC game on a pal machine, everything slows down (like different frames a second, or something???)?

 

Sandy.

 

Might come in handy for hi-scores

[Paul Slocum]

I just dealt with this issue when working on the Synthcart. The clock speeds of the NTSC and PAL machines are slightly different. But the more significant issue is that PAL TVs have more scanlines. Since PAL games draw more scanlines and it takes time to draw them, PAL games run at a slower framerate. Usually the game logic (like the music code) runs through once per TV frame, so a PAL version of a game may run slower.

 

-Paul

[Thomas Jentzsch]

quote:

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Originally posted by san-d-2000:

After a while I noticed the music was two times slower as the NTSC version.

---

PAL versions run about 17% slower than NTSC games. That comes from the different frame rates (60 vs. 50Hz).

But two times slower can't be explained with that.

 

quote

Might come in handy for hi-scores  

Yes, you can't compare PAL with NTSC highscores.

[jahfish]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Thomas Jentzsch:

PAL versions run about 17% slower than NTSC games. That comes from the different frame rates (60 vs. 50Hz).

But two times slower can't be explained with that.

 

Might come in handy for hi-scores    

---

Yes, you can't compare PAL with NTSC highscores.[/QB]

 

at last, a good argument that may have the US change their system to PAL hehehe

 

Atarian worldwide .... UNITE!

[Thomas Jentzsch]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pitfall Harry:

Does that mean that for games of a set duration you will get 20% more game play with the PAL version before time expires?

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In most cases: yes!

 

There are however some PAL games than run not exactly with 50 Hz and some NTSC are a bit slower than 60Hz, so the difference might vary.

 

quote:

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For example,

Pitfall!

has a 20 minute countdown timer. I know first hand that when I play the NTSC version of

Pitfall!

with my NTSC console and TV, the timer indeed expires after exactly 20 minutes. If I don't make my way completely through the jungle and collect all 32 treasures within that time, the game is over.

 

Now, since PAL runs at 50/60 the speed of NTSC, then

Pitfall!

's "20 minute" timer should stretch to 24 minutes, despite the fact that it displays 20:00 at the start of the game.

---

I have completely disassembled both NTSC and PAL versions, and Activision didn't adjust the timer at all (-1 second every 60 frames). So the answer is yes again, the PAL game lasts exactly 24 minutes.

 

BTW: I also disassembled Starmaster and River Raid and they are both not speed adjusted too.

[Paul Slocum]

Isn't it true though, that if they don't add the extra scanlines (keep it at 262) then the game will run at pretty close to the same speed? Are there PAL versions where they only fixed the colors and didn't add the scanlines?

 

-Paul

[Paul Slocum]

Then my next question is: Will a game with 262 scanlines work on a PAL system? I thought that I had read that NTSC games work fine on PAL except that the colors are mixed up and there's black space at the bottom of the screen. I kept the Synthcart at 262 on the PAL version because I wanted to keep the tempos roughly the same. But I need to add more scanlines and adjust the tempos if it's going to cause problems.

 

 

-Paul

[Thomas Jentzsch]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Smart Patrol:

Then my next question is: Will a game with 262 scanlines work on a PAL system?

---

It depends.

 

My modern Sony Triniton PAL TV won't synchronize to my own Thrust game (which is already doing a bit more lines: 270).

 

But when I send the signal thru my the Sharp VCR, it does.

 

Looks like it's not the TV itself, but the tuner.

 

This is only one example, but I bet some others have similar experiences.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

quote:

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Originally posted by Smart Patrol:

Isn't it true though, that if they don't add the extra scanlines (keep it at 262) then the game will run at pretty close to the same speed?

---

Yes, that's true.

 

quote:

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Are there PAL versions where they only fixed the colors and didn't add the scanlines?

---

I don't know any. Some PAL games have less (~290) than the normal PAL lines (312), but that makes them still slower.

And for the major companies (Atari, Activision or Imagic) all games I know about, are running very exactly at the specifications.