Correct Way to Set Up NTSC and PAL Games?

[PhDTenma]

Hello,

Yesterday I was testing some PAL games for SNES, Megadrive and PSX and notice that by default the hdmi output was at 60 Hrz. My question is how should I change the output for PAL games? Do I need to go to the ini file, change the refresh there? Is there a way to set the MISTer so it changes from 60 hrz to 50hz when selecting a PAL game?

I'm not familiar at all with many of the options in the ini file that's why I ask.

Thanks in advance!

[12characters]

Look at the following section in MiSTer.ini:

Code: Select all

; These parameters have the same format as video_mode.
; You need to supply both PAL and NTSC modes if you want vsync_adjust to switch between
; predefined modes as a base. This will reduce the range of pixel clock.
;video_mode_ntsc=0
;video_mode_pal=7

Uncomment and edit the last two lines. If you have an 1080p display, you want to use the video modes 8 and 9.

Also check that you have enabled automatic region detection in the core menu for each of the three cores.

[Malor]

The Mister is supposed to ask your monitor for the resolutions and refresh rates it supports via the EDID protocol. If it's not doing 50Hz, one possibility is that your monitor can't handle that refresh rate.

The fix above may work, but if your monitor indeed can't handle 50Hz, you'll probably just get a blank screen, or garbage, as soon as you launch a PAL core. Rebooting should give you the menu again, so you can undo the changes.

[PhDTenma]

Look at the following section in MiSTer.ini:

Code: Select all

; These parameters have the same format as video_mode.
; You need to supply both PAL and NTSC modes if you want vsync_adjust to switch between
; predefined modes as a base. This will reduce the range of pixel clock.
;video_mode_ntsc=0
;video_mode_pal=7

Uncomment and edit the last two lines. If you have an 1080p display, you want to use the video modes 8 and 9.

Thanks! I guess that part in the ini file is the same as the options in the menu for PAL and NTSC, right?

The Mister is supposed to ask your monitor for the resolutions and refresh rates it supports via the EDID protocol. If it's not doing 50Hz, one possibility is that your monitor can't handle that refresh rate.

The fix above may work, but if your monitor indeed can't handle 50Hz, you'll probably just get a blank screen, or garbage, as soon as you launch a PAL core. Rebooting should give you the menu again, so you can undo the changes.

Mi TV can handle 50Hrz and many other refresh rates I think the problem was also that vsync was at 0 instead of 1 so the MISTer was always outputting 60Hrz.

[Malor]

Yes, you can use the GUI script modifier if you prefer. You don't have to do it manually.

vsync_adjust=2 is the lowest latency setting, if your CRT can handle it. The note in the config file says to use a 60Hz HDMI signal as your base setting, even for PAL cores; apparently this gives the Mister more flexibility about pixel timings. I guess it will then go ahead and output 50Hz, even though 60Hz is your base mode.

This is the exact note in the INI file:

Code: Select all

; Set to 2 for low latency mode (single buffer).
; This option makes video butter smooth like on original emulated system.
; Adjusting is done by changing pixel clock. Not every display supports variable pixel clock.
; For proper adjusting and to reduce possible out of range pixel clock, use 60Hz HDMI video
; modes as a base even for 50Hz systems.·

That's only for mode 2, if I understand correctly. In mode 1, I guess setting a 50Hz base frequency is fine.

[limi]

Also note that not specifying an explicit setting for PAL will result in graphical corruption when scrolling in some cores like Amiga (Minimig).

[Malor]

Is the scrolling corruption CRT-only? I don't think I've ever seen that on HDMI.

[lagerfeldt]

No, it can happen on digital displays.

[limi]

There’s no scroll corruption on CRTs. It’s only on displays involving the HDMI scaler.