Thorsten Günther Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Hello! I have noticed that some NTSC titles for the VCS display many more colours on-screen than their PAL counterparts, e.g. Battlezone PAL on Google Video vs. Battlezone NTSC on . Does anyone have a full list of titles that have this issue and thus should be played on an NTSC VCS? Thorsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 The color chart on this page shows the differences in palettes. This will give you a rough idea of the affected colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARMIK Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 That's a big difference is that Pal or SCEAM in the Google video. If it is right and not something to do with the Emu it was taken in, then lucky i ordered a new NTSC board off BEST. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Franzman Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 (edited) Regarding these different colors, there is an additional issue that needs to be taken into account; namely: Are you comparing completely region-matched setups? Are the videos of an NTSC cartridge in an NTSC console viewed on an NTSC TV, and a PAL cartridge in a PAL console viewed on a PAL TV? Putting a cartridge of one format in a console of the other format* will produce a completely different (wrong) set of colors. *Owing to rarity and minimal color capability, SECAM is generally ignored in region vs. color discussions. Also, in most instances, mismatching the console and TV will produce no picture at all, or a black-and-white picture, so this sort of combination is not really relevant. Edited July 8, 2008 by A.J. Franzman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorsten Günther Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 The color chart on this page shows the differences in palettes. This will give you a rough idea of the affected colors. I do not believe it's a palette issue, since every VCS title had to be rewritten for each TV system anyway due to the totally timing and palette differences (an NTSC title plugged into a PAL console will give an entirely wrong set of colours). My guess is that the programmer of the PAL version simply omitted/"forgot" to program the colour changes of the sky and landscape. Thorsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Blair Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 http://www.console-corner.de/vergleiche/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorsten Günther Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 http://www.console-corner.de/vergleiche/index.html Just those two titles? Thorsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Blair Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 (edited) Just those two titles? Thorsten A friend, the Webmaster of this site, had no time to list further games. I will ask him, when it continues. Edited July 8, 2008 by Tom Blair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 (edited) I remember I once made a PAL version of Battlezone which shows the shading colors. Maybe it can be found somewhere on AA. EDIT: Found it! Not perfect though. Battlezone__PAL_color_hack_.bin Edited July 9, 2008 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorsten Günther Posted July 10, 2008 Author Share Posted July 10, 2008 Just those two titles? Thorsten A friend, the Webmaster of this site, had no time to list further games. I will ask him, when it continues. I found two more titles with colour issues in PAL releases (as Thomas Jentzsch's hack has proven, this is the programmers' fault, not that of the TV system or the console) by browsing AtariMania: - "Commando Raid" vs. "Landung in der Normandie" (German release) - "Crash Dive" (at least the colours of the PAL release have a washed-out look in comparison). Any further additions to this "list" are, to course, welcome. Thorsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 (edited) Thomas, I would like to know if Commando Raid really has a graphically different horizon than Landung in der Normandie. I mean not only different colors, but really lacking graphic lines, like Pitfall II and BattleZone. Same goes for Crash Dive, btw. Edited July 10, 2008 by Rom Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I would like to know if Commando Raid really has a graphically different horizon than Landung in der Normandie. Hm, for me it looks identical, just different colors. Maybe you just missed the upmost NTSC lines? They are pretty hard to see in z26. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 (edited) So not really graphical differences. I wonder which PAL vs. NTSC titles have truly different graphics, like Pitfall II and BattleZone? I know of the larger 1 in PAL Mission 3000. Any others? Edited July 10, 2008 by Rom Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_79 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I would like to know if Commando Raid really has a graphically different horizon than Landung in der Normandie. Hm, for me it looks identical, just different colors. Maybe you just missed the upmost NTSC lines? They are pretty hard to see in z26. If you change the console format in stella or z26 you'll notice that in doing the NTSC to PAL conversion they actually only adjusted the framerate (by adding scanlines to top and bottom of the screen) and left the palette unchanged. Screenshots of Commando Raid (NTSC): 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.