50/60hz confusion on Xbox

[Weinberg]

I got Burnout 3 today, and I'm a little confused when playing on Xbox Live. Not only does it make you choose a lobby (categorised by countries) which I think only allows people in the same lobby to join your games etc if they search for one (is this true?)...but you can't play people who's Xbox's are running in 50hz.

I have a chipped Xbox and I'd like to be able to play people in the UK lobby-other countries are fine, but 90% of the UK games I see when I click join game when in the UK lobby, say game incompatible when I hover over them and say it's because they're running in 50hz.

Someone in one of the games I did join in the UK room said I could just change this setting in my Xbox settings-how do I do that? (and does it matter if I have a chipped Xbox?) I don't want to be cut off from UK-Xbox owning friends. I mean I do have a UK Xbox myself but it's running in 60hz-is this to do with TV compatability or what? I don't understand it all really.

Many thanks

[NeilMcRae]

fire up your xbox and goto settings... then video.

Neil.

[randombs]

oh one more thing
if your xbox is chipped, and has programs installed, it may be set to ntsc mode instead of pal60. you may not know which is which but here's how to check:

go to the ms dashboard and go to settings, then video. if you have the following options:

=====================
Video Mode (or screen size, or something similar-sounding. i can't remember!) - option should read fullscreen, letterbox or widescreen depending on what you've chosen

PAL-60 enabled? - option will read yes or no
=====================

then your xbox is set to uk/pal mode. if, however, you only have the option for screen size and no mention of pal60 support, then your xbox is in ntsc mode and here lies your problem.

if yours is set to ntsc mode, then look in your menu (evox, avalaunch or whatever) for enigmah video select, run it and change the xbox to pal mode, then reboot. go back to the ms dashboard and then set pal60 support to 'no' which will force the game to run in 50hz mode, and now you can play that 90% of saps who haven't set their xboxes up correctly because i seriously doubt that 90% have old tellys!

if you have a headset, i implore you to do the right thing by telling these lemmings to set their xboxes to pal60 (by default they're set to pal50 only). you've scared me out of getting burnout 3 for now!

[Weinberg]

I tried all this just now-I never had an option of choosing Pal 60 in the settings screen as the Xbox was in NTSC mode the whole time. However, the problem is still the same.

I've done a few tests. When in 50hz mode and I go into the UK room, all the games which aren't full say that the host is running in 60hz. However when I switch to 60hz mode, most of the games which aren't full don't say anything when I hover over them, but they're blank. In 50hz mode I either can't join as they're 60hz games or the game is full. And when in 60hz mode I can't join most games and it doesn't even say why when I hover over them, and the games aren't even full. I rule out the idea that the games are in progress as the games still popped up as normal when in 50 hz mode and it was obvious then why I couldn't join games....

95% of the games are apparently in 60hz when I boot in 50hz mode, unable to join the 60hz games (obviously). Yet when I do go into 60hz mode, although I know 95% of the hosts are in 60hz, it doesn't let me join almost every game-and mostly never says why, and most of these games aren't even full. And the very few of those unjoinable games are genuinely in 50hz, and on those occasions it scrolls that message across the bottom. Even more confusing is that some of the games (very few though) are joinable...

Very, very confusing.

[lostn]

They really should have included filters for Hz so that it only displays games you actually can join.

I take it 50hz mode is slower in this game?

[Hitcher]

They really should have included filters for Hz so that it only displays games you actually can join.

No, they should have just used the proper Xbox Live service then we'd be able to play anyone, anywhere and not worry about 50/60Hz.

[fragmast3r]

even easier would be for every one in the uk (tv allowing, which lets be honest is most of em) to change there settings and use 60hz on there uk xbox, mind dont think that will happen its bad enough trying to tell people to use rgb scart and not composite/rf etc

[Pij]

Yet when I do go into 60hz mode, although I know 95% of the hosts are in 60hz, it doesn't let me join almost every game-and mostly never says why

wait and watch it for a while, you will notice it goes white, you cannot join a room/game while there racing