PAL vs. NTSC

[Schema]

From the ML subforum:

Until now, I have "ignored" NTSC people, but in case anyone wants to play Othello and Zapactris in NTSC land...

Thanks for finally thinking of us in NTSC-land!

I'm curious, though, about the distribution of people in countries using PAL vs. NTSC. I think there are slightly more people on this forum in Europe or Australia than Canada or the US, but am not sure. Hence the poll.

I'm guessing that, since you're on this forum, you have a PC/Mac and have access to emulators. So the poll is worded as, which do you mainly use?


As a related discussion, is it possible to modify a VIC from one type to the other? What about making it switchable?

[carlsson]

I presume you'd have to change VIC chip, crystal and maybe more items. I have a faint memory reading about someone doing that, but it probably is better if you have a TV (and power outlet?) which can take both systems and have two units.

[C2N]

G'day,
Just a little constructive criticism on your poll; not everyone uses emulators! I entered the poll as a PAL VIC-20 user who uses NTSC emulation. The problem is that I DON'T use emulation of ANY sort but there was category for that. Call me old fashioned (or a retro wanker!) but I don't use emulation of any kind, preferring the "feel of the real deal". Maybe it's because I'm pretty computer illiterate (WHAT?!) but I've never gotten around to trying emulators and I don't really see any point if you've got the real thing. Any technology post 1990 is all Greek to me!
Thanks, mates,
C2N.

[Jeff-20]

Ditto.

[ruud]

I use the machine needed at that moment. That option is not given. But testing selfwritten programs in ML, I use emulators first. I use my own compilers on the PC and transfer the result to a D64 using SC. By using an emulator I simply save time by skipping the steps where real hardware is involved.

[viznut]

I don't use emulators either and I only have a PAL machine.

By the way, the choice "I have both a real PAL system and a real NTSC system" is missing as well :)

[carlsson]

Hm, as a moderator one can change other people's messages and polls. Perhaps Leif will add some more options himself (if the poll still is useful) or someone else can do it.

[PaulQ]

I, too, own a real Vic 20 (NTSC), though I did download the emulator, but mostly out of curiosity. I, like others, prefer the "Real Deal" and the emulator rarely if ever sees any actual use.

[Keir]

I've also never used a VIC emulator (though I do have some experience with other emulators like CCS64 and Z26). I have an NTSC VIC-20 that I use, so I voted for the second option.

[a1bert]

is it possible to modify a VIC from one type to the other? What about making it switchable?

See http://www.iki.fi/a1bert/Dev/PAL2NTSC.html

Switchable.. Well, you need a very big switch to swap the VIC-I chip, crystal and the crystal capacitors..

To to original question: I use PAL and NTSC machines (PAL mainly, NTSC to check the end results of NTSC conversions) and also use emulation of both for development.

-Pasi

[carlsson]

Perhaps one can hack up two VIC-20's (one PAL, one NTSC) to use external keyboards, and connect the video outputs as well as keyboard to a big switch box. In that way, you could put away the main units on top of eachother. In theory you could use a switch box for power supply too, but maybe you want to run both at the same time for testing purposes. It sounds like a major hack, but perhaps easier than making the video circuit switchable.