27ace27 Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 what needs to be done to an Atari 2600 (all versions) to convert it from NTSC to PAL? and what needs to be done to the games? thanks in advance! Ace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Ks Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 (edited) Comment deleted. I saw the title and though this was a debate over which format was better. Edited July 28, 2009 by 4Ks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitfall Harry Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 what needs to be done to an Atari 2600 (all versions) to convert it from NTSC to PAL? and what needs to be done to the games? thanks in advance!Ace I'm surprised one of the Atari hardware gurus around here has not yet answered this question for you. Maybe they're all on vacation. I don't pretend to know much from the hardware side of video signal creation in the Atari 2600, but I do know that the machine code within a ROM chip determines whether an Atari game cartridge is PAL or NTSC. Due to the extremely primitive design of Atari 2600 hardware, all Atari 2600 game programmers are forced to include specific machine language instructions in their code which controls the screen refresh rate of their game. The screen refresh rate is deliberated chosen by the game programmer to match the video signal standard of his or her regional target audience (PAL, NTSC, SECAM, or whatever). Those instructions, of course, are disbursed in the silicon sea of 1's and 0's throughout the game cartridge ROM. The only practical way to "convert" an Atari 2600 game cartridge from NTSC to PAL, is to crack open the cartridge case, de-solder the PAL-coded ROM chip from the printed circuit board within, and replace it with an NTSC-coded ROM chip of the same game. I know that's not much help to you, but you did ask for the impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philflound Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Buy a vintage tv with a vertical hold adjuster knob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 (edited) Given the amount of work involved, you're better off just buying a system of the other type, especially given that a bare system can often be had for under $15. They all operate on DC, so you just use your existing power adaptor. Games - may as well forget about it too... like already has been said, the program versions are sufficiently different to make it impossible for a simple modification. A possible option might be to have some sort of switch and use a big EPROM with both versions of a game, but a better option is something already available such as a Cuttle Cart. A hybrid 2600 that can produce both PAL/NTSC signals would be interesting and probably possible... not sure here but aren't the system clock speeds slightly different? The setup I visualise would have an extra board that has the video circuit for the other format, and probably a seperate video output for each as well. Another option is to just get a TV that handles both formats. Mine does, we also have a defacto standard known as NTSC 4.43 - what that is: NTSC frame rate and 262 lines/field, but with PAL encoding and 4.43 MHz bandwidth on the colour signal like PAL. Edited July 29, 2009 by Rybags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polybius Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 If im right, the console itself can handle both NTSC and PAL. The console wont know the difference. You have to have a TV that is PAL compatible. Ive heard that most modern TVs can handle both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorsten Günther Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Buy a vintage tv with a vertical hold adjuster knob. Or just buy a recent TV with a multi-norm tuner like this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=230360645269. Thorsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Dogs Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 A little different question. Why are there different formats? I don't know the history of tv's, which was type was first. With HD tv's now is there still NTSC and PAL for new equipment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben_Larson Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 I don't think you can convert an NTSC Atari to PAL. They run at different clock speeds and have different TIA chips, so you would need to alter the hardware. If your television supports PAL (I think many new ones sold in North America do, but I may be mistaken), you can play PAL games on an NTSC console - the colors will just be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Dogs Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 A little different question. Why are there different formats? I don't know the history of tv's, which was type was first? With HD tv's now are there still NTSC and PAL for new equipment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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