Diagnosing clarity issues with composite mod

[Steve Guidi]

Hi everyone!  I've been puzzled by the lack of clarity in the image that my composite-modded 2600 Jr produces.  I have a feeling that what I see is normal, but I can't rule out choosing a poor mod.  I've tried connecting my 2600 Jr. to my computer via an upscaler and a capture card, as well as directly to a LCD TV that supports composite video; both results are similar.

 

To illustrate, below is a screenshot of "Basic Programming" produced by my NTSC 2600 Jr, and interpreted by my upscaler and video capture card.

 

 

And the following is a similar screenshot which appears to be captured from an emulator.

 

 

My image is a bit dark, and that can tweaked on the composite mod circuit by replacing a resistor.  However, I can't seem to produce solid text characters -- perhaps my TV and upscaler are interpreting an interlaced signal and the 16:9 upscaling is displaying the artifacts of that.  Is the text display in my image normal -- perhaps the emulator is intentionally producing a clearer image?

 

 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Pretty sure the text in basic programming is using flickering to simulate a more solid character and with a CRT the phosphor persistence would make it less noticeable. Many emulators too can make it appear to be more smooth than it is. So I think it is just the way your TV is interpreting the signal and flickering. What do the asteroid rocks look like as a comparison?

 

[Steve Guidi]

21 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Pretty sure the text in basic programming is using flickering to simulate a more solid character and with a CRT the phosphor persistence would make it less noticeable. Many emulators too can make it appear to be more smooth than it is. So I think it is just the way your TV is interpreting the signal and flickering. What do the asteroid rocks look like as a comparison?

Thank your for your feedback and confirming one of my thoughts about the cause: flickering and/or interlacing.  The asteroid rocks are clearly flickering through my upscaler and video capture card.

 

 

On my TV, the signal is not interpreted as cleanly -- sometimes the asteroids have jagged or incomplete edges, probably caused by some of the scan lines in the flickered signal being dropped.