Filter ROMs to PAL or NTSC

[+Andrew Davie]

I think it would be helpful for people to select that they only want to see ROMs for a particular format.

In other words, PAL or NTSC.

When I see "Recent ROMs" for example, there's a (confusing) mix - some I could play on my machine some not.

Perhaps in the Setup menu

Setup/Filter

* Show All ROMs
show ROMs for selected TV mode

 

Note that some ROMs are switchable - these should be included no matter what, but perhaps marked with a different colour so that the person playing knows they may need to RTFM for the game to get the right TV mode.

Edited September 15, 2020 by Andrew Davie

[+Al_Nafuur]

On 9/15/2020 at 12:19 PM, Andrew Davie said:

I think it would be helpful for people to select that they only want to see ROMs for a particular format.

In other words, PAL or NTSC.

When I see "Recent ROMs" for example, there's a (confusing) mix - some I could play on my machine some not.

Perhaps in the Setup menu

Setup/Filter

* Show All ROMs
show ROMs for selected TV mode

 

Note that some ROMs are switchable - these should be included no matter what, but perhaps marked with a different colour so that the person playing knows they may need to RTFM for the game to get the right TV mode.

I thought of a consistent naming in the PlusStore and have the TV mode as a postfix. So if in a directory are multiple files with the same name that differ only by the TV mode, the PlusStore API filters these that don't match to the PlusCart requesting the directory, if a matching TV mode is found.

e.g. files in the dir:

nosehairattempt3.bin
ShatteredEarth20201012b.bin
penult-demo-17-PAL60.bin
penult-demo-17-NTSC.bin
BBBlocks_2020_10_11.bin
Chakdust.bin
Cave 1K HSC PAL.bin
Cave 1K HSC PAL60.bin
Cave 1K HSC NTSC.bin
Turmoil HSC PAL60.bin
Turmoil HSC NTSC.bin

PAL60 PlusCart response:

nosehairattempt3.bin
ShatteredEarth20201012b.bin
penult-demo-17-PAL60.bin
BBBlocks_2020_10_11.bin
Chakdust.bin
Cave 1K HSC PAL60.bin
Turmoil HSC PAL60.bin

NTSC PlusCart response:

nosehairattempt3.bin
ShatteredEarth20201012b.bin
penult-demo-17-NTSC.bin
BBBlocks_2020_10_11.bin
Chakdust.bin
Cave 1K HSC NTSC.bin
Turmoil HSC NTSC.bin

PAL PlusCart response:

nosehairattempt3.bin
ShatteredEarth20201012b.bin
penult-demo-17-PAL60.bin
penult-demo-17-NTSC.bin
BBBlocks_2020_10_11.bin
Chakdust.bin
Cave 1K HSC PAL.bin
Turmoil HSC PAL60.bin
Turmoil HSC NTSC.bin

 

[Wizzard]

Hi, I am new to PlusCart and also new to original Atari hardware. Till now I played just on Taiwanese PAL clones with 128 integrated games and also using Stella and Retroarch. Now I finally have original 2600 Junior and PlusCart and I like it very much, seems to be the best investment for Atari 2600. Great to have all the up to date games without the need of SD card and manual copying.

 

I have PAL 2600 Jr, so I guess I should set PAL TV mode in PlusCart. I am using LCD 16:10 TV (1680x1050) now (also have old Tesla CRT, but it is put aside now).

 

What if I wanted to play also NTSC games? What is the best setting? Should I let it set to PAL? I tried setting also NTSC and PAL60. When I have set PAL, the picture is a little lower (I guess because PAL resolution is higher and it has some additional scanlines up and down, what does not look good on widescreen TV.

[+Al_Nafuur]

43 minutes ago, Wizzard said:

Hi, I am new to PlusCart and also new to original Atari hardware. Till now I played just on Taiwanese PAL clones with 128 integrated games and also using Stella and Retroarch. Now I finally have original 2600 Junior and PlusCart and I like it very much, seems to be the best investment for Atari 2600. Great to have all the up to date games without the need of SD card and manual copying.

 

I have PAL 2600 Jr, so I guess I should set PAL TV mode in PlusCart. I am using LCD 16:10 TV (1680x1050) now (also have old Tesla CRT, but it is put aside now).

 

Currently these filtering is not active.

44 minutes ago, Wizzard said:

What if I wanted to play also NTSC games? What is the best setting? Should I let it set to PAL? I tried setting also NTSC and PAL60. When I have set PAL, the picture is a little lower (I guess because PAL resolution is higher and it has some additional scanlines up and down, what does not look good on widescreen TV.

The PlusCart TV mode setting only affects the menu, not how the ROMs are displayed on your TV. So if you have a PAL 2600jr you should mainly play PAL or PAL60 ROMs otherwise the colors will not be correct.

 

[+Andrew Davie]

38 minutes ago, Wizzard said:

What if I wanted to play also NTSC games? What is the best setting? Should I let it set to PAL? I tried setting also NTSC and PAL60. When I have set PAL, the picture is a little lower (I guess because PAL resolution is higher and it has some additional scanlines up and down, what does not look good on widescreen TV.

 

OK, here's how it works...

 

The cartridge of each game is responsible for forming a correct "TV frame" for the TV.  Now, TV frames are different in NTSC-land and PAL-land. Specifically, the standard # lines per "frame" in NTSC-land is 262, and in PAL-land it is 312.  TVs generally have a fair bit of tolerance, but you can get issues (rolling, for example - and some modern TVs might just refuse to display a picture) if your "frame" is non-standard. Typically we have found that you can send 276 scanlines to most NTSC TVs and they're quite happy.  Likewise, you can send 262 to most PAL TVs and they're happy.

 

NOw it happens that there is a direct relationship between the # scanlines sent to the TV and the # frames per second that TV displays. That's basically because a scanline is exactly (on both NTSC and PAL consoles) 76 cycles of 6507 long. So, you take your # scanlines and multiply by whatever time in milliseconds that is, and you get the # frames per second that are displayed.

 

Now on a 262 scanline frame (i.e., standard NTSC) that's pretty close to 60 frames per second.  On a 312 scanline frame you get 50 frames per second. These are again the standards (60Hz and 50Hz) for NTSC-land and PAL-land. Deviate from these and your NTSC-land and PAL-land may or may not have issues. Close to them, and your TV should be happy.

 

So, your Atari console has basically no idea what the # scanlines being sent to the TV is. It is very primitive. The programmer has to do all that stuff, and so it's up to the programmer of each game to decide how many scanlines to send to form a TV picture. Could be 312 (so the programmer is making a PAL-land game). Could be 262 (so the programmer is making a NTSC-land game). Could even be something like 280 in which case who KNOWS what the programmer is intending.  So the very simple answer is - if you are in PAL-land and try to play a NTSC-land game, then your TV will probably be happy and play it, but then again... some TVs might not. And that's because of the # scanlines being drawn (again, by the programmer).

 

FOr this reason, some games are released with NTSC-land version, and another PAL-land version.  SOme modern games let you switch between PAL-land and NTSC-land - and here the programmer changes the # scanlnes he sends to form a TV frame, based on what was selected.

 

All good so far, but there's one GOTCHA.

 

And that is the actual difference between PAL-land '2600 and NTSC-land '2600 machines.  And that's the colours.  To form a compliant TV signal, while it's the programmer who sends the correct # scanlines in the signal, it's the Atari itself that sends the colour information.  Yes, the programmer chooses which colours to display - but these are just numbers.  The *meaning* of the numbers are different on the different consoles.  So, a red on a NTSC-console is not a red on a PAL console. The actual physical reason, as I understand it, is to do with the production of the colour-information for the TV, and differences between each standard.  The upshot of it, though is that red isn't red unless you have a PAL game on a PAL '2600 shown on a PAL TV, or a NTSC game on a NTSC '2600 on a NTSC TV.  You can use different combinations of all those (NTSC game on a PAL'2600 on a PAL TV). Some of which might work (you get a TV picture), some which will have bad colours, and some which the TV will just refuse to display anything.

 

Typically, most PAL TVs are happy displaying 60Hz (compared to the standard 50Hz). Many modern games release PAL60 versions to allow for the more pleasant experience of the higher frame rate. Easier on the eyes, less flickery. Smoother movement.

 

As a side-note, movement speeds of things need to be modified by programmers too.

 

[+Andrew Davie]

1 hour ago, Wizzard said:

What if I wanted to play also NTSC games? What is the best setting? Should I let it set to PAL? I tried setting also NTSC and PAL60. When I have set PAL, the picture is a little lower (I guess because PAL resolution is higher and it has some additional scanlines up and down, what does not look good on widescreen TV.

 

The shorter answer is - leave your PlusCart in the TV Mode that your TV recognises. If you're in PAL-land, this will typically be "PAL" or "PAL60".  This only changes how the PlusCart menu appears, so choose whatever is most pleasant to your eye.

 

As to playing NTSC games, you can play any of them, but the colours WILL be wrong if you're playing them on a PAL '2600.  And depending on your TV, the frame may or may not be too small (# scanlines) for your TV to be happy. Depends on the TV.  And again, the # frames/second will be 60 instead of 50... and your TV may not like that, either.

 

In summary... it depends.