Amiga A 1200, games not displaying properly (composite connection).

[Bother]

Hello,
  I've tried searching for an answer but couldn't find one.

 I have an Amiga A 1200 HD (NTSC) that I bought for Deluxe Paint.  Everything runs fine, (the Workbench and Deluxe Paint 3+4), until I try running the games included with the Amiga Magic bundle.  Pinball Mania's screen is too low, so the bottom is cut off.   The game 'Whizz' Shows a software company screen and beginning animation cartoon just fine, but when I get to the title screen and while the game plays, the screen constantly rolls downward.  Those are the only games I've tried/have.

 I've tried connecting the Amiga through a composite cable to a Sony Bravia LCD and a large CRT television with the same results.  I don't have a monitor to try the RF cable.

 Do I need to buy something else to make it run properly?  I'm just trying to find out if the computer is damaged.

Thank you.

[spirantho]

It doesn't sound like it's damaged.... are you certain that your TV is expecting an NTSC signal, though?
Try booting your A1200 with both mouse buttons held down. Then go to Graphic Options. It should have "NTSC" selected currently (if yours is indeed an NTSC machine), so try changing it to PAL and then launch the game - maybe it'll act differently.
It's also possible the signal is degraded because the capacitors are too old (very common in A600, A1200s and A4000s particularly) as this could prevent the sync signal coming through cleanly.

Incidentally, a monitor can't use RF - you have it the wrong way round - your TV can use RF, a monitor can't. Did you try RF on your Amiga with the TV? If it's channel 3 or 4, it's American - if it's channel 36 it's UK.

Your best bet, though, is to get an RGB->SCART cable if your TV has SCART. I'd guess if you're in the USA, though, you may well not have a SCART socket as for some reason they never caught on over there (which is daft because these days all the TVs have the same electronics inside - there's just no connector probably - and SCART is really useful!)

Hope that helps a little - feel free to ask more questions (and let us know how you get on!)

[amiman99]

Yes, it looks like you are trying to run PAL (European) games on NTSC (North American) TV.
You can do what Spirantho said, but you may have problems if your TV does not support 50Hz scan and your screen will ROLL.

You can invest in Commodore 1084 Monitor and play the games using the RGB and Composite.

Some computer monitors/HDTVs support 50Hz 15KHz inputs on VGA, but you need 23pin>15pin converter. I have Dell SR2320L, works great with Amiga.

I have 50in LCD Sony Bravia (KDL-52w41000) and I know that 15khz does not work on it. Other model may support it.

Let us know what route you want to take.

[royalcrown]

I had this exact problem last night playing lemmings, chance it to pal and see if it helps (it did for me, the bottom was not cut off). I was using my 3000 and the vga connection of an lcd tv fyi.

[motrucker]

This sure sounds like the old NTSC <> PAL problem. Been there.
When I had an A1200, I used a Commodore 1942 multisync with it. It's a great setup, IF you can find one. I also used an NEC Mutisync 3D with the A1200. It's only 13" but has an excellent display. You can get 800x600 with the Super 72 driver (might have to tweak it a bit with Mon-ed).

[Bother]

Thank you guys very much for helping.  I'm hoping the answer is that  I'm trying to run PAL games.  If PAL doesn't work I'll just try buying a  couple of games here.  Again, Deluxe Paint 3 and 4 display correctly  and the Amiga is set for NTSC (just checked).

It seems none of my tv's have an RF input.

Question:
   I'm ready to try setting it to PAL first, but if it's an incorrect  setting, will I still get an image on screen to change it back to NTSC?   Or would there be another way to set it back?

[amiman99]

If you do it in the early start-up menu (by holding both mouse buttons) then the setting will go back to NTSC after reboot/power off.

[Bother]

Thank you.  I gave it a try.

Screen constantly rolls down right when I make the switch at the PAL/NTSC select screen.  Pinball Mania scrolls.  Whizz behaves as it does with NTSC.

Does this help reveal the problem?
I'm going to buy Marble Madness or something and see if that works.

[amiman99]

That's normal, it means that your TV does not support PAL 50Hz screens.