Consoles: NTSC vs PAL

[Yoshimax]

Can anyone please tell me the best video setting on my modded PAL xbox (original not 360) for playing NTSC-U Halo?

I\'ve recently softmodded the box and purchased Halo from TBM on these very forums, but I\'d like to be sure I\'ve got the xbox on the correct setting to get the advantage of US Halo over the dodgy PAL version.

You'll be needing the videoswitching software by Enigmah to swap the console to NTSC rather than PAL. That's it.

It comes installed with evo-x in some instances - not too sure how this softmodding lark works I'd just get a chip in there and be done with it.

[PhilG]

Cheers fahrenheit & Yoshimax-UK.



I have Enigma on a disc, so I can run that. I\'d been looking at the \'eeprom safe\' video settings in the softmod \'video settings\' sub-menu. It gives (from memory) these options:



1. Auto Select: Yes/No

2. Multiregion: Off/PAL/NTSC-M/NTSC-J

3. Force PAL60: Yes/No



Would any of these settings be suitable instead?



If I use Enigma will I have to change back to PAL using Enigma whenever I want to play my UK copy of Psychonauts?

[fahrenheit]

Stay away from the Evox settings, they don't actually edit the eeprom and won't do what you want. You will still be able to play Psychonauts perfectly fine (you are changing the video mode, not the region code). Infact I doubt you will ever need to change back to PAL ever again (unless you have some of the very uncommon PAL games that require PAL50).

[randombs]

hey hey hang on a sec. enigmah isn't the only way of going about things. evox does work if you set it to auto, and that way you don't have to faff around booting up psychonauts, then realising you're in ntsc and having to reboot and change the video mode.

the good thing about the evox settings is that they DONT change the eeprom, and just change the video mode on the fly. back in the days when i used to use evox, i never had a problem with game compatibility in this regard. in order for it to work you need to scroll down the settings list, find the bit on the TSR and turn it on or else i think the videomode won't be changed. you can test this by doing something like changing the volume while the game is booting, and seeing if the telly's onscreen display suddenly stretches or not. if it does, you're in 60hz. if it doesn't, you're still in 50hz.

for the past year or so xbox media center has been my dashboard, and that has an option where you choose how you want ntsc games played - in ntsc (m or j, m is american, never bothered with j myself), pal or pal60. or you can choose the mode when running the game by pressing white and just picking one.

as for 'force pal60', are you using evox here? i wasn't aware evox did pal60, but maybe i just didn't pay much attention to it? i know avalaunch has a pal60 option but if you use that you're gonna be buggered as the microsoft xbox dash won't boot in pal60 (you'll get the flashing red light and onscreen error message).

what you have to remember is that the xbox is like the dreamcast, where some import games will run in 60hz and others won't, which is where forcing stuff comes into play. ps1/ps2 don't have this problem as they switch between pal50 and ntsc depending on what the game asks for (some chips can enable a pal60 mode, or you can solder this yourself, but officially the machine won't do pal60). the trick is in using visual cues to figure out what frequency your telly is running at with a particular game, and then changing it if it's wrong. on my sony, i would press the info button that causes the channel number to stay onscreen all the time. then, while it was booting something, if the channel number stretched i knew what's going on. nowadays i just tell by looking

[PhilG]

hey hey hang on a sec. enigmah isn\'t the only way of going about things. evox does work if you set it to auto, and that way you don\'t have to faff around booting up psychonauts, then realising you\'re in ntsc and having to reboot and change the video mode.



the good thing about the evox settings is that they DONT change the eeprom, and just change the video mode on the fly. back in the days when i used to use evox, i never had a problem with game compatibility in this regard. in order for it to work you need to scroll down the settings list, find the bit on the TSR and turn it on or else i think the videomode won\'t be changed.

I actually haven\'t looked in EvoX for the settings (I\'ll do that later when I\'m home). I used the display settings options from the Softmod Installer Deluxe menu. This only boots if I switch on the Xbox using the eject button. If I use the on/off button I get EvoX.

So I would have to change the video mode back to PAL if I played my PAL Psychonauts when using Enigmah?

[randombs]

yep

(about your softmod installer deluxe menu, ok that explains why i got confused )

[Sane]

I have the same softmod and for me the only way to get NTSC video was to use the enigmah switch disc. The settings in the softmod menu can't change the video mode as far as I know, I even had to unmod the box to access the original MS dash to enable 720p etc and remod it even though there are options for that in the softmod menu.

[randombs]

but if it's booting into evox then that should work too shouldn't it? they don't really explain it very well, but if you enable the TSR that should be that.

or just do enigmah and be done with it

[fahrenheit]

So I would have to change the video mode back to PAL if I played my PAL Psychonauts when using Enigmah?

No. 99% of PAL games work fine in NTSC video mode, I doubt you'll ever need to change it back. Ever.

hey hey hang on a sec. enigmah isn't the only way of going about things. evox does work if you set it to auto, and that way you don't have to faff around booting up psychonauts, then realising you're in ntsc and having to reboot and change the video mode.

Please explain why he would ever want to change the video mode from NTSC back to PAL?
I think you are confusing video mode and region codes.

[PhilG]

Well I've learnt how to use IRC, downloaded the latest version of XBMC, set it as my default dash, and made the setting to use NTSC-M video mode for all 60hz games. Halo looks very nice and XBMC is better than EvoX. Thanks to everyone for your advice
An eventful and not entirely wasted evening, although as it's 1.30am and I have to get up at 5.30am, perhaps not to wise

[womblingfree]

Most games allow you to select 50 or 60 hz these days. I suspect this will be even wider spread when the PS3 is out.

I always imported before but now that consoles are also DVD/HD players i think I'll be sticking to PAL and chipping as soon as a reliable mod is out. A chipped PAL console is far more preferable to a chipped NTSC one, for PS2 at least. A chipped NTSC PS2 still can't play PAL movies y'see.

[Lyris]

Yeah, but how many people use a PS2 to play movies?

[fahrenheit]

Most games allow you to select 50 or 60 hz these days. I suspect this will be even wider spread when the PS3 is out.

Why would you choose 50Hz? The days of 50Hz optimised games are relegated to the past. Choosing 50Hz is telling the hardware that you would like to shove a square peg into a round hole. Microsoft should never of had a 50Hz mode for games with the 360, it undermines the console to use it in 50Hz mode. Its my opinion that if someone can afford a 360, they sure as hell can afford a display that can at least cope with a 60Hz signal.

Some people can be led. Most need to be pushed.

[katamari]

According to spec sheets I've read, PS3 won't even support 50Hz. It's 60Hz or GTFO.
The Euro press release for PS3 only listed 480i for SD.

[sj33]

Why would you choose 50Hz? The days of 50Hz optimised games are relegated to the past. Choosing 50Hz is telling the hardware that you would like to shove a square peg into a round hole. Microsoft should never of had a 50Hz mode for games with the 360, it undermines the console to use it in 50Hz mode. Its my opinion that if someone can afford a 360, they sure as hell can afford a display that can at least cope with a 60Hz signal.

Some people can be led. Most need to be pushed.

To be fair, less and less 360 games feature 50Hz anymore, and all games require 60Hz as standard, so all is good.

As has been said, anyone buying a 360/PS3 will have a 60Hz-capable screen, and making sure all games are 60Hz will help maintain compatibility with LCD screens that might even lack the HD-Ready logo, and maintain compatibility with PC screens over HDMI.