Playstation 50/60 Hz modification

[ORTA]

I've posted  this problem before but i haven't had the right solution. The problem is my playstation is PAL and my TV set is NTSC, whenever I play games it's always in black and white, a friend told me that a 50/60 Hz modification will do the trick, he showed me a 50/60 Hz modded saturn when he switched it, it turned into black and white and vise-versa, my question is this:

1. Is there a way to mod a playstation into 50/60 Hz?

2. Can anybody show me a link to this guide?

Thanks in advance any help would be greatly appreciated    

[hellbelly]

It's the software that sets whether the console is outputting an NTSC or PAL signal.

Cheers
Pete

[Martin]

Just use an RGB lead :rolleyes:  

[Aidan]

I'm assuming that you're either running Composite or S-Video rather than RGB. *IF* your TV accepts RGB over SCART and you have an RGB SCART cable for your playstation, then this is the best and easiest solution!

Otherwise... It's not easily possible to mod a Playstation to fix the 50/60Hz. This is because the Playstation can switch between these modes in software, rather than it being fixed in hardware. The downside of this is that when it switches into 60Hz mode, it switches it's video output into NTSC mode.

One mod that can be done is to cut the trace providing the colour carrier to the colour encoder, and feed in the PAL colour carrier frequency instead. This is what I did when I modified my (old) Playstation. The Playstation will still produce the 60Hz signal, but the colour will be encoded at the PAL frequency. In my case I used my own modchip that was set to use a PAL colour crystal as it's clock. As the modchip was already producing this frequency, it was relatively trivial to pull off a feed from the crystal and then push that into the colour encoder, so that the output was always encoded with the PAL colour carrier.  Yes, this is a bit technical!

If you have a newer playstation (7002, 7502, 9002), then there are some instructions in various places on the net, such as http://www.playstationchips.co.uk/pages/mc-instructions.html - Note, I've not tried any of these!

[ORTA]

To Mr. Martin

I don't have a scart ready TV  

To Mr. Aidan

I've tried that colour mod before but it didn't work, I've read on a site before that this kind of colour mod will only work if your TV & PS is PAL and the game you're using is NTSC, it won't work for me because my TV is NTSC

Thanks for the help anyways!!  

[Darklegion]

The mods are done the other way around since these instructions are most likely for pal users who want to play nstc games in colour.You want to do the opposite so the mod is done differently.I'm sure you'll be able to find the correct mod around somewhere,most likely the pin you'll need to modify will be connected to ground and will need to be lifted or a trace down the line will be need to be cut(which ever way you think is easier)  so it can be run to 3.3 V which IIRC will force NTSC colour.I said IIRC because it may be that 0V(ground) selects PAL and 3.3 V is NTSC.An easy way to check would be to use a multimeter while powered on to see if a voltage is running through the pin.....this could be very fiddly if it is a ps2 though.You shouldn't need to do this anyway,just look for a guide that supports your particular video chip and is wired the opposite of what you were doing before

[Guest]

orta you dont need scart ready. scart is the big mother fucking plug and rgb is the three cables.

you can get many different type of cable for instance rgb to rgb or rgb to scart ...

[hellbelly]

I don't know if this is going to confuse things any further or not, but I'll say it anyway.

There is a modchip for psone consoles (the little console), and when fitted the side effect of it turns the video output of a PAL console to NTSC.  I have tried and confirmed this using the video in on my graphics card and manually selecting the video mode.

But when I put in a PAL game then the video mode swaps to PAL, regardless of the fact the console is set to NTSC.

So I suspect (although I may be wrong), that even if you did find a way to mod your console to output NTSC, it may go back to PAL because that's what the game is telling it to do.

EDIT - now I'm not too sure about those last 2 paragraphs.  I can't remember if it switched video mode, or just switched between 50 and 60 hz.

I do remember seeing a cdr though which allowed you to select the video output on a playstation console, I'm not sure if that would be any use to you?

This was about 2 years ago now, but I'm pretty sure it's correct.

Pete

[Aidan]

I've tried that colour mod before but it didn't work, I've read on a site before that this kind of colour mod will only work if your TV & PS is PAL and the game you're using is NTSC, it won't work for me because my TV is NTSC

Ah, yes! Thanks for pointing out the fact that I can't read! Sorry about that.

As Hellbelly suggests, the mod forces the console to produce the PAL colour carrier, which is what you want if you play NTSC games on a PAL setup. Also as Hellbelly suggests, if you invert the mod, then the console should be forced to produce the NTSC colour carrier, which your TV should understand.

However, your TV would still need to be able to sync up with 50Hz signals which, by the sounds of it, it can as you're getting a stable black and white picture.

[ORTA]

Thanks for the infos guys I'll try it again  

[Guest_MaDMaLKaV]

There's an easy way to make ntsc games show in color in a pal tv cutting a data track and soldering a point to ground, if you don't have the possibilty to use a scart cable.

Look on google for: psx[your model number] colour mod

[Aidan]

Indeed, but ORTA wants to display a PAL game on an NTSC TV!

(I also presume it's a case of cutting the track, and connecting it to VCC rather than to ground, but I've not tried that!)

[ORTA]

There's an easy way to make ntsc games show in color in a pal tv cutting a data track and soldering a point to ground,

Mr. Aidan was right about that thanks anyway guys and maybe I'll try that idea connecting it to Vcc rather than to ground

Anybody knows the Vcc rating? is it 5v or lower?

[Aidan]

I *think* it's 3.3v actually. If you have a multimeter, it's worth checking out the supply to the encoder. If you don't have a multimeter, go out and buy one.

[ORTA]

I *think* it's 3.3v actually. If you have a multimeter, it's worth checking out the supply to the encoder. If you don't have a multimeter, go out and buy one.

Mr.Aidan the 3.3v I found on the board doesn't have any effect on the color I've tested it on my PAL guinea pig PS thanks for the idea anyway    

[phreak97]

anyone know what points i'd use on an old scph-1002? i dont even know which chip takes the signal let alone what pin or even what frequency.. btw its pal, plays ntsc in b&w.  

[qwasz]

perhaps the wrong solition is bein looked here? perhaps a rgb-->composite video converter external to the system via the multi out could work. it would have to convert to a ntsc signal.

Isn't this how it outputs composit/rf anyway?

[qwasz]

i've done some research on this subject, mainly because i'm in the same position. I accidently bouht a ntsc playstation ( the original) in a pal zone ie. it is only blak and white on my tv(no rgb).

I followed the output of the composit and found that it came to an ic, the cxa1645m. After some research i found out this chip is the rgb encoder. the datasheet says pin 7 is ntsc/pal select. Vcc is ntsc and GND is pal. The graphics chip(s), thus select it through a paralle line. My guess is that it selects pal/ntsc according to the frame rate set by the game. i don't think the region code is responsible because (from what i understand) modified systems playing import games are still in B&W even though the mod chip has given it a local code.  

Although i have not yet tried this, it should work.

lifting pin 7 and soldering a wire to it and connecting it to ground for a pal output or 5v+ for ntsc. pin 18 may also need to be connected to ground via a 20k ohm resister for ntsc or 16k ohm resister for pal. if this works it should work permenently regardless of the game region.

PLEASE NOTE I HAVE NOT YET TRIED THIS AND YOU SHOULD CONSULT THE DATASHEET IF YOU ARE GOING TO ATTEMPT THIS

here is the link for the datasheet

http://www.datasheetcatalog.com/datasheets.../CXA1645M.shtml

[FM-77]

If you have a modchip installed in your PS1, you can use this boot disc to force the game into either PAL or NTSC mode. I've tested it and it works.

For PAL systems