Vader Model Video Signal Question

[marlowe221]

I have noticed that my Vader model 2600 doesn't seem to output a video signal that takes up the entire screen on my 19" RCA CRT television.

 

There seems to be an area on the left side of the screen that is just black. It's more noticeable on some games than others.

 

I messed around with the tv's settings but everything seemed to be adjusted properly. I do not have this problem with any of my other older consoles (NES, SMS, Genesis, SNES).

 

Any thoughts on this? Is this normal or is something wrong with my television and/or 2600?

 

Thanks!

[Mef]

Nothing wrong with your console! They all do that with certain games.

It's a matter of a programming trick for more sprites in one picture frame than the official TIA specs allowed (relocating them after scanlines above are already "drawn").

It causes kind of indents or "comb" pattern on the left of the screen. Clever programmers (Activision was prominent with this technique) used to mask this unwanted side-effect with a solid bar of black in that place.

Your image looks as if it's not filling the entire screen, while it actually is, only with this black stripe along the left edge. It's easy to check with emulators, or modern widescreen TVs.

On the contrary, the simplest games which don't re-use graphical objects within one picture frame, like Combat, Outlaw, Indy 500, etc. will appear to span the whole screen width instead.

Edited November 23, 2015 by Mef

[Micheloni2600]

Implying what Mef said, if your looking also to enhance a good signal from your system you can can out that old rf cable, cut down a tad bit of an rf nes cable and plop it in there, it does some wonders. Just somethin to think about if you want to enhance the experience!

[marlowe221]

Nothing wrong with your console! They all do that with certain games.

It's a matter of a programming trick for more sprites in one picture frame than the official TIA specs allowed (relocating them after scanlines above are already "drawn").

It causes kind of indents or "comb" pattern on the left of the screen. Clever programmers (Activision was prominent with this technique) used to mask this unwanted side-effect with a solid bar of black in that place.

Your image looks as if it's not filling the entire screen, while it actually is, only with this black stripe along the left edge. It's easy to check with emulators, or modern widescreen TVs.

On the contrary, the simplest games which don't re-use graphical objects within one picture frame, like Combat, Outlaw, Indy 500, etc. will appear to span the whole screen width instead.

 

Thanks guys! That is very reassuring. Fortunately, my video quality is actually pretty good on this particular unit.