PAL version of Atari 2600 do you need a PAL version TV?

[kulaspg]

I am curious if any one knows I am trying to sell a PAL Version of the Atari 2600 on ebay. I was wondering if you can only use the system if you have a PAL Version TV. It may be a stupid question, but don't know. By the way, the item is ebay item number 3052772818. My email is [email protected]

[Dauber]

This is only going to be a GUESS, but it's based on experience...I used to have an Amiga 600 [now I have a Power-Towered Amiga 4000! ] and at first I used a TV set as a monitor for it. Because most Amiga activity was [and still is] in Europe, a lot of the software I downloaded used a PAL screen. If I tried to open a PAL program on my TV, the vertical hold would go outta whack. Sooooooo, I'm guessing that if your TV set has a MANUALLY-adjustable vertical hold, a PAL Atari VCS should be usable on it...although it will be painful to look at...yes, PAL screens have slightly higher resolutions than NTSC, but they refresh only at 50hz while NTSC refreshes at a faster 60hz...so more lines AND not as much refresh = MAJOR FLICKER!

[Xot]

AFAIK, It's going to depend on your TV. Like with PAL carts, most newer TV's can handle both signals. On older TV's the screen will roll. If the TV is old enough to have a manual vertical hold knob, this can be overcome.

 

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

But don't PAL 2600's use that weird European power supply,that can't be plugged into North American wall sockets?

[JB]

But don't PAL 2600's use that weird European power supply,that can't be plugged into North American wall sockets?

ure, but the power going into the VCS is still 9V, 500mA. I'd bet a US power supply can be substituted and you'd never know the diffrence.

[bjk7382]

I have tried running pal roms on my atari and I always get a rolling screen. I bought my tv the DAY the N64 came out. Went to best buy and maxed out the credit card, back in 1996. Anyway I haven't had any pal roms run right thru the supercharger. Maybe my tv it not new enough. I have read some of the homebrewing for newbies section and they say that either it will roll or it will be in black and white.

 

I would say you need a pal tv to play a pal game system or just game.

[Lumpbucket]

Hey Dauber! Nice to see a fellow Amiga 4000 user Mine is slightly more upgraded than yours, though (Mediator 4000, Voodoo 3, TV card, Repulse, Algor etc. etc.), but they're cool machines

 

Anyway, getting back to PAL vs. NTSC, one thing you have to be careful of is if you use a PAL game in an NTSC Atari 2600, thats different to using a PAL Atari 2600. AFAIK, an NTSC Atari 2600 with a PAL game in it outputs a 50Hz NTSC signal, and a PAL Atari 2600 with an NTSC game outputs a 60Hz PAL signal.

 

The same is true with Amigas. If you take a PAL Amiga, and set it to NTSC mode, it outputs 60Hz PAL, and likewise an NTSC Amiga can output 50Hz NTSC.

 

The upshot of which is, some TV's will only show their native format, others will show NTSC at both 50hz and 60hz but not "true" PAL, and others will show everything. The TV card in my A4000 takes several varieties of PAL and NTSC but won't do 60Hz PAL, or 50Hz NTSC. My actually TV will do PAL in 50 or 60Hz but not true NTSC.

 

I guess you just need to be careful.

[Godzilla]

how do you have a voodoo 3 on an amiga? I have an a4000/040 25mhz (bought when it first came out,) can it do voodoo 5 too??? what in the world on an amiga would use a voodoo graphics card?

 

I loves me my amgias (amiga 1000, 500, 2000, cdtv, cd32, 4000.)

[Dauber]

A couple of years ago Power Computing released a seven-slot Zorro III daughtercard for Amiga 4000s. I sent mine to Software Hut to get it towered, as a Christmas present to myself, and they gave me a tower with the new backplane. It actually has PCI slots on it. You need to buy what's called the "Mediator" to enable them. [i don't have the Mediator...I just use Amiga-specific graphics and sound cards...] Thanks to these PCI slots, Amiga users can use PC graphics and sound cards [yup, including Voodoo 3, but I don't know about Voodoo 5], TV tuners, $5 NICs, all that good stuff.

 

It sounds glamorous, but man...I have a pretty decent 32-bit graphics card already, a Prelude sound card with more inputs on it than a fly has eyes [seriously, I NEED that many inputs!], a Norway NIC attached to my USB card [that's right, I have four working USB ports in my Amiga!]...so with all the stuff I already have, I can't justify paying two hundred bucks for the Mediator PCI enabler...:/

[Bryan]

PAL and NTSC use a different method of decoding color, and different channel frequencies. Since the only output from the 2600 is RF, you cannot use the wrong standard TV.

 

If you had composite video in PAL, it could be seen on an NTSC monitor (with a VHOLD adjustment) but with messed up color.

 

If you have RGB in PAL, then an NTSC monitor would work with a VHOLD adjustment.

 

-Bry

[+Mitch]

Assuming you have a TV that can handle the different frequency (AKA no rolling picture), you can run a PAL Atari system on NTSC channel 34 (If I recall correctly) in black and white with no sound.

Not really worth it.

 

Mitch

[Lumpbucket]

how do you have a voodoo 3 on an amiga? I have an a4000/040 25mhz (bought when it first came out,) can it do voodoo 5 too??? what in the world on an amiga would use a voodoo graphics card?

 

My Amiga 4000 is in a tower case, and the original 4-slot Zorro III backplane has been replaced with another backplane that has 7 Zorro III slots, and 5 PCI slots. The PCI slots are activated by a special bridgeboard, called a "Mediator". On the Mediator, I have 3 PCI cards (100Mbit NIC, WinTV Primio FM TV card, Voodoo 3 3000), and some Zorro III cards (Algor USB controller, ATA hard disk controller, Repulse 96Khz 24bit audio card).

 

There are drivers for the Voodoo 5, but they are not as mature as the Voodoo 3 drivers.

 

Amigas have had 24 & 32bit graphics cards based on standard chipsets for many years, and so lots of software works with the voodoo. This is what my workbench looks like.

 

Anyway, this is all off topic, so i'll shut up now

[Video]

That probably depends more on the games than the system.

 

I have only NTSC atari consoles. But I have quiet a few Pal games. Most pal games work fine with the exception of colors showing up funny cause the pallates different between systems, but a few scroll and need adjustment to run. It's probably a similar effect playing NTSC/Pal games on a Pal Atari.