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Pal to NTSC converter


rsb0204

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hey guys, im having alittle trouble tracking down a pal to ntsc converter. all the ones I find on flebay use component, composite, or hdmi cables and I need one that uses coax. theres plenty of adapters on there to match the ends of the pal style plug to a us one so that's no issue, just need a converter that uses coax. any help finding one would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

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what system are you using it with? I wanna say PAL and NTSC Atari 2600s display different colors reguardless

 

Intellivision. They are weird colors: Green things show as Pink, and Blue shows as Yellow... or something like that.

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A cheap solution (at least for us European people) is to hunt down a multistandard LCD analog TV. Today with the closedown of most analog emitters in NTSC and European PAL/SECAM regions, they are dirt cheap (I even grabbed one able to get Digital TV, with VGA, S-video and composite input for as low as 40€).

Hunt on the all analog TV on eBay or something.

This isn't the best solution as you'll be stuck on a tiny screen,but at least you can expect to have the right colors and no rolling screen.

Something like this :

http://dx.com/p/ptv902-portable-9-lcd-tv-player-w-fm-sd-card-usb-car-charger-black-silver-640-x-234-174744

 

Or get an used PAL portable LCD TV like that one :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-C8860A-Mobile-Portable-PAL-Colour-TFT-LCD-TV-Monitor-/271295576409?pt=AU_Televisions&hash=item3f2a79f959

(note that the "USB" plug is only really a fancy AV/In plug. I have the same kind of TV with Firewire input)

 

I'm suggesting LCD TV since getting a cathodic TV shipped overseas might be a bit expensive and would probably not end well for the TV.

 

IMO, finding a PAL to NTSC converter that will take RF, convert color accurately, ANd doing all of this without adding delay is simply out of question.

 

I guess you could also simply look for multistandard TVs, but I get the feeling that they are quite harder to find in the US than they are in Europe; I remember seeing NTSC compatible TVs (through composite/S-video only; very rarely through RF) as "early" as the late 90's being available for the average customer.

Edited by CatPix
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Thanks for the suggestions, catpix. That LCD screen you recommended seem seems fine for my needs. All I wanted was to be able to test and debug my Intellivision games in PAL hardware.

 

A smallish screen is perfectly adequate. :)

 

Thanks!

dZ.

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An old PAL VCR would probably be a good bet to convert RF to composite, which you in the next step might need to run through some other converter to get NTSC unless your TV or monitor doesn't accept it.

 

If you are lucky, you might source something like the Philips TV Tuner 7300. These show up every now and then on European eBay sites (UK, DE etc) and on a good day should cost less than $15 plus overseas shipping. Since they're far smaller and lighter than a VCR, it could be worth looking for if you have regular needs to convert RF to composite.

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/216851-post-a-pic-of-the-tv-that-you-gamed-on-in-the-80s/?do=findComment&comment=2834343

 

I've found that with some of the really old video games and home computers, you tend to need a really old TV or tuner to get a good signal. Just any 1990's CRT won't do it, and the same about modern tuners for your computer I'm afraid.

 

As for the original poster looking to hook up a PAL Studio II clone - I presume either a M1200 or a MPT-02 - I think you'll really need an OLD tuner to make it work well. I had to go back to mid 1980's TV and VCR equipment to find a solution that displays the picture on my Conic M1200 without bleeding, and that is without converting video modes. Hooking it up directly to my USB TV stick didn't do anything good. An Intellivision might fare better in that regard.

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LOL! My Hauppauge USB capture works flawlessly on my NES and later systems; when I hooked it up to my Atari (using a VCR as a demodulator) I got an incredibly grainy mostly grayscale image with fine vertical jailbars. That very same composite signal displayed flawlessly on my CRT TV. I determined that it wasn't the VCR but the Atari at fault, because the capture card captured some old VHS tapes of TV shows on the same VCR without issue.

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I use the Atlona CDM-660 for PAL to NTSC conversion. Here is a video of me testing it out:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyzzfmIPYL4

 

I tried adding a demodulator to this setup, and it did not work for me, but it was a North American demodulator. I suspect a PAL demodulator between the console and the Altona would work, but I have not tried it. I opted to use a console that was modded for composite out, instead.

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I use the Atlona CDM-660 for PAL to NTSC conversion. Here is a video of me testing it out:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyzzfmIPYL4

 

I tried adding a demodulator to this setup, and it did not work for me, but it was a North American demodulator. I suspect a PAL demodulator between the console and the Altona would work, but I have not tried it. I opted to use a console that was modded for composite out, instead.

ok now im relly confused, how are you running a 2600 thew a signal converter without a demodulator? does your console have the AV mod done to it, or am I missing something???

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ok now im relly confused, how are you running a 2600 thew a signal converter without a demodulator? does your console have the AV mod done to it, or am I missing something???

 

I'm using a composite modded PAL 2600. There's a guy in Sweden who does them and sells them on eBay.

 

I started off with a modded PAL Junior. I later obtained a non-modded Irish Vader (due to preference.. the Junior doesn't feel authentic to me.. its just a thing I have), and tried using that with an RF demodulator, and discovered that the console (apparently) outputs on a channel that doesn't seem to be supported on an NTSC demodulator.

 

I later went ahead and acquired a modded Irish Vader, and have been using that with my Atlona ever since.

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ah, ok that makes more sense.

 

I started off with a modded PAL Junior. I later obtained a non-modded Irish Vader (due to preference.. the Junior doesn't feel authentic to me.. its just a thing I have)

likewise, I cant stand the Junior, coincidentally im running a vader as well. Black is beautiful.

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been doing a little more research on converters, and I think I "might" have found something eltse that would work. a TV tuner, I know they can be a cheep alternative to a demodulator but ive been looking at a few and some of them have some really broad frequency ranges for the RF input. anybody tried using one?

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been doing a little more research on converters, and I think I "might" have found something eltse that would work. a TV tuner, I know they can be a cheep alternative to a demodulator but ive been looking at a few and some of them have some really broad frequency ranges for the RF input. anybody tried using one?

 

I have been under the impression that they are essentially the same thing.

 

If you try one, I would be interested in hearing about your results.

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