PAL or NTSC? Was PAL a 'better' Video Resolution?

[CodeHunter]

...And why? I am playing the game DELIVERANCE on my US NTSC A2000 system, and the bottom of screen where my health and number of lives are displayed is cut-off. I am sure it is due to the game being a PAL. (See the info about the game here:
http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=315)

My question is, that how can I switch between PAL and NTSC? (My system came pre-installed with a KickROM 2 and 1.3 switcher). And why PAL games do this?

Thanks!

[save2600]

First off, you need a 1MB Fat Agnus in order to switch between modes on an Amiga. Assuming that's in order, you can flip between modes by soldering a switch between Jumper 102 or using a program such as Tude or Degrader after Workbench has loaded.

[prowler]

First off, you need a 1MB Fat Agnus in order to switch between modes on an Amiga. Assuming that's in order, you can flip between modes by soldering a switch between Jumper 102 or using a program such as Tude or Degrader after Workbench has loaded.

I remember bring able to choose between NTSC and PAL in the boot menu or was that only for the 1200/4000?

There are advantages and disadvantages between the two formats as far as Amiga gaming is concerned. You have the advantage as outlined by the poster where you have more realestate on the screen for graphics to go but PAL also runs a little slower due to the 50Hz vs 60Hz scanning frequency. Since PAL is(was) the standard for Australia, I know of a friend how did the mod to be able to switch between the two modes on his Amiga 500. He swears some games did receive a slight speed up.

At the time, I just remember being glad we had PAL so it meant we could play all the games from around the world

[Tripitaka]

the bottom of screen where my health and number of lives are displayed is cut-off.  And why PAL games do this?

PAL has a higher resolution, sounds like your extra pixels are off screen taking a siesta.

[save2600]

I remember bring able to choose between NTSC and PAL in the boot menu or was that only for the 1200/4000?

Yeah, but only because they came with Kickstart 3.x. The OP indicated he only had 1.3 and 2.x.

[slaapliedje]

I've seen many games not even work in NTSC, or have corrupted colors (Hudson Hawk through whdload is one)

@prowler
Yeah, it's the 1200/4000 (All the AGA Machines?) that have that feature.  There is also a jumper on the A4000 motherboard (not sure about the A1200) that lets you choose PAL or NTSC as default.  Switched mine to PAL for the above issues.  If I ever get my second Amiga 4000D from Discreet... then I'll leave that switched to NTSC, because the Video Toaster I bought from them (haven't been able to use yet... :madashell:) requires NTSC.

Yeah, the whole NTSC vs PAL thing has been a pain for the Amiga.  For the Atari ST, most games ran in NTSC, which for earlier games where programmers didn't take advantage of Amiga's custom chipset, the Atari ST versions appeared better (read faster) because of this.

Of course once about '89 (maybe '88?) or so rolled around the Amiga games definitely got better looking overall.  Shadow of the Beast for the Atari ST for one was absolutely crap looking in comparison.

slaapliedje

[Daedalus]

Yep, PAL has an extra 56 lines of pixels on the screen, at a loss of 10Hz from the refresh rate. So some games, if their timing is based on the VSync rather than arbitrary timing or CPU speed should run faster in NTSC. As pointed out though, this is at a cost of 56 lines from vertical resolution, probably where the OP's lives etc. were displayed.

[Matt_H]

Degrader is a critical tool for any Amiga. No need for hardware mods with this thing! And it does much more than switch between NTSC and PAL. Absolutely essential for systems or games that don't support WHDLoad.

[bbond007]

Degrader is a critical tool for any Amiga. No need for hardware mods with this thing! And it does much more than switch between NTSC and PAL. Absolutely essential for systems or games that don't support WHDLoad.

is there a way to tell whdload to switch to NTSC mode for ntsc games? I have been setting it in the boot menu but that is a pain.

[desiv]

is there a way to tell whdload to switch to NTSC mode for ntsc games?

Just add a tooltype to the icon that says NTSC and the whdload game will run in NTSC.

desiv

[bbond007]

Just add a tooltype to the icon that says NTSC and the whdload game will run in NTSC

Cool worked like a charm.

Wow. Brian the Lion AGA looks outstanding on my new dell monitor. thats all it needed to fix the wide-space at the bottom. .

Thanks,

-nate

[bbond007]

Just add a tooltype to the icon that says NTSC and the whdload game will run in NTSC.

desiv

Does it only work for some games?

[save2600]

is there a way to tell whdload to switch to NTSC mode for ntsc games? I have been setting it in the boot menu but that is a pain.

In Degrader, you simply click on 60hz System and hit NoReset. ALL NTSC games from here on out will be NTSC without fiddling with individual games' tooltypes...

[Matt_H]

Does it only work for some games?

Any game. And of course the PAL tooltype does the opposite.

[Framiga]

Yep, PAL has an extra 56 lines of pixels on the screen, at a loss of 10Hz from the refresh rate. So some games, if their timing is based on the VSync rather than arbitrary timing or CPU speed should run faster in NTSC. As pointed out though, this is at a cost of 56 lines from vertical resolution, probably where the OP's lives etc. were displayed.

where have you got that number from?

NTSC is 525 lines while PAL is 625

PS- ah, ok in LowRes 320 x 200 NTSC vs 320 x 256 PAL