Amiga 1200 video output problem. Please help!

[amigalover]

Can somebody help me please? I´ve got an Amiga 1200, and have a problem with video output. When I connect the Amiga via the composite video out jack ( labelled COMP ) to the video-in input of my TV ( it is a NTSC japanese TV but in my country we use PAL system ), the image is sharp and clean, but is all greenish, and does not show the other colors, what could be going on ? something has gone wrong with my Amiga video ? I would be very grateful for someone´s help as there is no Amiga service in my country now to ask.

[amigalover]

First of all, check you are doing things right:

1-Check (do not assume) wether your Amiga is either PAL or NTSC
2-Make sure your Amiga TV standart matches BOTH your Tv and your A1200
3-Connect the A1200 to a TV using the RF output. and check if it works properly

Thanks for your answer, but how do I know wether my Amiga is Pal or NTSC ? Is there an indication anywhere in the computer ?. The thing is that I always used the Amiga 1200 connected to a VGA monitor via a VGA adaptor and worked fine that way, and never needed to connect it to TV. Now I had a problem with my hard disk and the Amiga only boots from the floppy drive, so I have no way but to try it usign a TV set, and found this problem that the image is greenish and not in color. I also connected the A1200 using the RF output to a scart connection to the antenna, but it was worse, I had no image on the TV using the RF output. I have read in the manual that if a TV is Pal I have to turn on channel 36 and tune a screw near the RFT modulator of the A1200 until the picture is clear ? Maybe I did not try that and that is the reason I don´t see any image using the RFT ? I wish I had my hard disk working ! it was far more easy to proceed ... Do I try that procedure ? ( channel 36 and so )...waiting for your next answer...thanks!

[amigalover]

To check wether your Amiga is PAL or NTSC, do the following:

1-Carefully open your A1200 and have the motherboard exposed
2-Search in the motherboard for an oscillator wich is labeled on the motherboard as X1. The Oscillator is a rectangular 1cmx2cm aprox. metal object, located in the center of your motherboard.
3- If on top of the Oscillator you read 28.63636, then your Amiga is NTSC. If it says 28.37516, then it is PAL

By the way, I have never heard about that channel 36 weird trick!

Hello again. I opened my Amiga 1200 and checked the motherboard for the oscillator you mention, it says 286363 MH so mine is an NTSC Amiga.
The TV I´m trying is a modern NTSC japanese or korean Goldstar, but it might have been adapted by the service, to Pal system, which is the TV system we use in my country, could that be the reason why I see the image all greenish ? I tried also with the A520 modulator which comes with the Amiga 500, connected it to the Video output ( the connection with pins ) of my A1200, and I obtained either a greenish image again or a black and white image if I move the switch that is above. Is it normal to see the image black and white or greenish instead of full color on a TV ? Thanks in advance.

[amigalover]

No, the 1200 has colour output on composite. It's probably a PAL 1200 on a NTSC  monitor, some monitors will "roll" others will have no colour others won't show anything at all if you have a PAL/NTSC mismatch. You could try holding down both mouse buttons when you turn it on and go into the boot menu and select "NTSC" and boot. Not 100% sure that will fix your problem, but it's worth a shot.
Len

Hello. Thanks for your quote. I followed the instructions of "Gulliver" and discovered my Amiga is NTSC, seeing the number in the oscillator, but I don´t know wether to consider my TV as NTSC or PAL, as it is a modern Goldstar made in Japan or Korea and I suppose it is NTSC, but as we use the Pal television system in my country it probably must have been adapted to PAL by the service. My A1200 came with a Seagate hard disk and I always used a VGA monitor with no problem, but now my hard disk is dead and I had to boot from the floppy drive for the first time and found the above mentioned problem, which is seeing the image sharp but greenish or black and white, don´t know what to do or if this is normal, there is no Amiga service in my country to ask nowadays.

[amigalover]

why are you not using the A1200 RGB output? your tv can't be that old or is it.

those outputs do my eyes in i will never look at anything lower than S-VID,which is bulit into my motherboard.

Hello. By RGB output do you mean the RFT output or that I have to use a scart/RGB adapter cable attaching the 23 pin video output of the Amiga to a TV antenna ?
I already tried the RFT jack connected via a scart to TV and had no image, but I didn´t try moving the black switch which is near the RFT output of the A1200 and turns NTSC to PAL and viceversa, but the manual mentions I have to put channel 36 in TV while doing that ? I read it in the A1200 user´s guide. I also tried the A520 modulator that comes with the Amiga 500, attached to the 23 pins video output of the Amiga 1200 and used a video cable going from the video out of the modulator to the video in of the TV, but obtained again either a greenish image or a black and white image, depending the way I moved the switch which is above in the modulator, so it´s the same result I had previously obtained by connecting directly to the composite video jack of the A1200.
Thanks in advance for your explanation.

[amigalover]

Hello. By RGB output do you mean the RFT output or that I have to use a scart/RGB adapter cable attaching the 23 pins video output of the Amiga to a TV antenna ?
I already tried the RFT jack connected via a scart to TV and had no image, but I didn´t try moving the black switch which is near the RFT output of the A1200 and turns NTSC to PAL and viceversa, but the manual mentions I have to put channel 36 in TV while doing that ? I read it in the A1200 user´s guide. I also tried the A520 modulator that comes with the Amiga 500, attached to the 23 pins video output of the Amiga 1200 and used a video cable going from the video out of the modulator to the video in of the TV, but obtained no image!
Thanks in advance for your explanation.

Sorry, I made a mistake in my explanation, using an A520 modulator I obtained either a greenish image or a black and white image depending the way I moved the switch wich is above in the modulator, so the same result I had obtained by connecting directly to the composite video jack of the A1200.

[amigalover]

why are you not using the A1200 RGB output? your tv can't be that old or is it.

those outputs do my eyes in i will never look at anything lower than S-VID,which is bulit into my motherboard.

Sorry, I made a mistake in my previous explanation, using an A520 modulator I obtained either a greenish image or a black and white image depending the way I moved the switch wich is above in the modulator, so the same result I had obtained by connecting directly to the composite video jack of the A1200.

[amigalover]

Hi amigalover,

Which country are you in ?

Hi Homer

I live in Uruguay, South America

[amigalover]

Why dont you try your Amiga with another TV? Preferably a relatively modern one, these are nearly allways supporting PAL and NTSC alltogether, you just need to pull a switch or access the OSD menu of the TV and change its configuration.
You must be sure which TV standart is actually using your TV, so that we dont wrongly declare broken your Amiga built-in modulator or something else.

By the way, i am in Chile so, if you require any help you can PM me and i can talk you through this in spanish if it is easier for you.

Hola, gracias por tu ayuda, no sabia que eras de Chile si no te hubiera hablado en español desde el comienzo.
Mi TV es moderno, es un Goldstar made in Korea, con entradas RCA video in y audio in atrás. He probado todas las formas de conectar la Amiga 1200 al televisor, la Amiga 1200 resultó ser NTSC siguiendo las indicaciones que me diste de mirar el número en el oscilador, pero el televisor supongo que será NTSC modificado a PAL. ¿ Cómo se hace para acceder al menu que mencionas en el Televisor y que permite elegir NTSC o PAL ? eso lo desconocía......A esta altura me parece que algo está mal en el chip de video de mi máquina, porque estoy seguro que hace pocos días vi la imagen por el TV a todo color, y ahora sale verdosa...tengo la máquina en venta, me da mucha pena, pero no puedo gastar mas dinero en ella, gasté una fortuna y ya no queda service en mi país, hace años que cerraron, si la conservo o encuentro otra solución te consultaré, mientras tanto me mantengo en el mundo Amiga, que no pienso abandonar, usando "Amiga Forever" con el emulador WinUAE, y WinFellow para juegos, en mi PC, no es lo mismo pero es lo mas parecido ! Gracias por todo y saludos cordiales!

[amigalover]

Hi Amigalover,

I'd also suggest trying another TV. The 'greenish tint' you describe has me at a loss, but the back and white image makes me thinks it's some PAL/NTSC problem, as mentioned. Always check the simple stuff first before suspecting your Amiga. You're in Uruguay? Cool, I just sold an A500+ service manual to a guy in Uruguay.....

Good luck with getting this fixed up... and when you can, get that hard drive replaced...

Hi

As I said to "Gulliver" from Chile my TV set is modern, it is a korean Goldstar with video in and audio in RCA jacks on the back. I am afraid the video chip of my Amiga has something wrong, it should display full color not a greenish image through the composite jack! Moreover I had my hard disk broken yesterday, lost four or five pins of the connector while trying to fix it, so I would have to replace it, just in case how much does it cost a 2.5"" Seagate hard disk with enough capacity, say more than 80 mb, nowadays ? Just to make up my mind about what to do. Thanks in advance!

[amigalover]

Goldstar es una marca un poco viejita, fue rebautizada a LG hace ya mucho tiempo. Lo mas probable es que el TV haya sido reconvertido a PAL y no se pueda cambiar de norma.
En todo caso, proba con el control remoto de la TV para ver si aparece algun menu en pantalla que permita hacer el cambio de PAL a NTSC.
Te ofrezco, si te interesa, un modulador A520 PAL gratis, solo te pediria que me pagues el costo de envio a Uruguay que es menor a diez dolares americanos, tendria que averiguar cuanto exactamente.

In English:
Goldstar is a little bit old brandname, it was renamed LG long ago. The most probable thing is that the TV has been reconverted to PAL and you cant change the standart.
Anyway, you should try with the remote control of the TV to see if some kind of on screen menu appears that allows you to change from PAL to NTSC.
I am offering you, if you are interested, an A520 PAL modulator for free, i will only ask you that you pay the shipping cost to Uruguay that is less than 10 USD, that i will eventually have find out the exact amount.

Si, en realidad tienes razón, dije televisor moderno pero tiene como 15 años de comprado, lo compré nuevo, me refería a que por lo menos tiene las entradas RCA de video in y audio in.
Yo tengo un modulador A520 que funciona bien de otra Amiga 500 que tenía, pero ¿ hay moduladores PAL y moduladores NTSC ? El mio no se que norma es, pero tiene una palanquita arriba, que cuando conecté el modulador a la computadora y con un cable al TV, me cambiaba el color de la imagen desde el verdoso ese que te conté a blanco y negro, nunca a colores, ¿ la palanca será para pasar de Pal a NTSC o viceversa ?