MiSTer FPGA Forum

Is there a way of getting the MiSTer to force all the cores to display at 50hz?

The Atari 800, C64, BBC, ZX Spectrum and some others all look right on my TV (I'm in the UK), but the arcade cores, Amiga, and ST look stretched and the display from the MiSTer on those cores is larger than my TV shows (at the moment, I am having to go into the service menu on my CRT via the remote and shrink / enlarge the vertical size for every one individually, depending on whether they display in 50 or 60 hz, which is a pain)

You can use the scaler to fake it (vga_scaler=1), but if you go that route, rather than outputting 50hz, you can instead adjust the mode line to add larger horizontal blank to 60hz output so it fits on your display. See this for more details, try the calculator to make a starting modeline, and then try adjusting the horizontal blanking parameters until it looks good on your TV.

FoxbatStargazer wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 6:26 pm

You can use the scaler to fake it (vga_scaler=1), but if you go that route, rather than outputting 50hz, you can instead adjust the scaler to add larger horizontal blank to 60hz output so it fits on your display. See this for more details, try the calculator to make a starting modeline, and then try adjusting the horizontal blanking parameters until it looks good on your TV.

Thanks for your reply. If I go vga scaler=1, the CRT just goes blank / black.

insanityprawnboy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 7:12 pm

FoxbatStargazer wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 6:26 pm

You can use the scaler to fake it (vga_scaler=1), but if you go that route, rather than outputting 50hz, you can instead adjust the scaler to add larger horizontal blank to 60hz output so it fits on your display. See this for more details, try the calculator to make a starting modeline, and then try adjusting the horizontal blanking parameters until it looks good on your TV.

Thanks for your reply. If I go vga scaler=1, the CRT just goes blank / black.

You need to supply an appropriate 240p resolution via your video_mode. Maybe something like 640x240@60hz for starters, although you will probably want to move to 1920x240 eventually, and use wide aspect ratio to fill the CRT. I would also try vsync_adjust=1 for now.

insanityprawnboy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 6:20 pm

Amiga, and ST look stretched

Most Amiga games run in 50hz by default, and you can force 50hz for all games in the options if you use https://amiga.vision

And if the launcher is unreadable on your screen, you can also force that to 50hz, but that’s a bit more complicated.

limi wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 9:22 pm

insanityprawnboy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 6:20 pm

Amiga, and ST look stretched

Most Amiga games run in 50hz by default, and you can force 50hz for all games in the options if you use https://amiga.vision

And if the launcher is unreadable on your screen, you can also force that to 50hz, but that’s a bit more complicated.

Where is the option to force the games to 50hz? I can't see it anywhere.

Edit: I've found it (again). I didn't realise that worked at first as it didn't change the menu. Thanks.

insanityprawnboy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 10:21 pm

limi wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 9:22 pm

insanityprawnboy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 6:20 pm

Amiga, and ST look stretched

Most Amiga games run in 50hz by default, and you can force 50hz for all games in the options if you use https://amiga.vision

And if the launcher is unreadable on your screen, you can also force that to 50hz, but that’s a bit more complicated.

Where is the option to force the games to 50hz? I can't see it anywhere.

Edit: I've found it (again). I didn't realise that worked at first as it didn't change the menu. Thanks.

limi wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 9:22 pm

insanityprawnboy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 6:20 pm

Amiga, and ST look stretched

Most Amiga games run in 50hz by default, and you can force 50hz for all games in the options if you use https://amiga.vision

And if the launcher is unreadable on your screen, you can also force that to 50hz, but that’s a bit more complicated.

I just tried a couple of games on the Amiga (after pressing F12 and selecting PAL, saving the settings and then resetting), but they're still displaying in 60hz.

Oh right, for Atari ST, most games will go to 50hz if you supply a UK bios instead of US. Some will still force 60hz though, and you might need to find a UK version of those games.

The scaler advice is for cores that never had any built in 50hz ability like arcade cores.

insanityprawnboy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 10:43 pm

I just tried a couple of games on the Amiga (after pressing F12 and selecting PAL, saving the settings and then resetting), but they're still displaying in 60hz.

You need to select it in the AmigaVision Options menu, “Force PAL”. This is a computer, it manages PAL/NTSC independent of what the core is set to. We recommend setting the core to PAL since that’s usually the right setting if you use ADF floppy images, but the AmigaVision setup manages it on a per-game basis.

limi wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 12:09 am

insanityprawnboy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 10:43 pm

I just tried a couple of games on the Amiga (after pressing F12 and selecting PAL, saving the settings and then resetting), but they're still displaying in 60hz.

You need to select it in the AmigaVision Options menu, “Force PAL”. This is a computer, it manages PAL/NTSC independent of what the core is set to. We recommend setting the core to PAL since that’s usually the right setting if you use ADF floppy images, but the AmigaVision setup manages it on a per-game basis.

Is AmigaVision the same as Minimig / Mega-AGS?

I've just seen the Options in the menu. How did I miss that before?