Hong Kong PS2 Slimline UK compatability

[johnfuller]

Hi

I have purchased a PS2 slimline (new design) from Hong Kong that will
arrive within the next few days. I bought it beleiving that Hong Kong
use the PAL-I variation of PAL which is the same as the UK that uses
PAL-I along with South Africa and the Falklands. Luckily if it is
going to be a prolem I have an RGB TV but I really need to know if it
is going to be PAL-I standard. I assumed that as the console is from
Hong Kong and that the TV's there apperently use the PAL-I format then
I should just plug and play here in the UK on my UK tv!? I would be
grateful if anyone has any info on this.

Thanks in advance

John

[Pavey]

I thought the Asian consoles were NTSC-J but 220v. I have been known to be wrong once or twice though.

[johnfuller]

Yes the Asian consoles are (Japan, China etc). However for hong kong I beleive they are PAL unless Hong Kong's TV's support both PAL and NTSC!? The DVD region is Asian region 3 but their TV's are all PAL-I. I have done many google searches and they all seem to agree that the TV standard in Hong Kong is PAL-I like the UK. It may be that the console is NTSC and that Hong Kong TV's also support NTSC consoles but I really dont know and am finding it difficult to know for sure.

[monsieurblack]

hi
unfortunately i don't know the answer to your question but thought i'd say that i've ordered many region 3 dvd's [hong kong originated ones too] and from what i can remember they're all ntsc...i know its not specific to the console par se but thought it might be wrth knowing
good luck
regards
monsieurblack

[johnfuller]

If the Hong Kong DVD's (region 3) are NTSC then the consoles must be NTSC too. What I have been getting from my research so far is that the UHF or VCR standard for HK is PAL-I like the UK. This has led me to beleive that if the TV Standard is PAL-I then how can the consoles be NTSC and function correctly on HK TV sets? I'm just getting more confussed.

[gIzzE]

Every Hong Kong Machine I have bought since after the snes/mega drive era have been NTSC, the first Hong Kong machine I bought was a Megadrive and that was Pal-I but everything after that has been NTSC.
The white saturn I bought was NTSC and 220v (oh and also came fitted with a modchip, which we could never work out as it said nothing about it and the box was completely sealed?)

I know the machines are locked for NTSC-J games anyway, and the PS2 will switch to whatever the game is so it would only be the set up menus that were in Pal anyway so it doesn't really make alot of difference either way.


Let us know how you get on.

[johnfuller]

Thanks some really helpful info. So let me get this straight. It seems that the consoles are NTSC. If the first Megadrive was PAL-I then it confirms that Hong Kong use the PAL-I standard or at least used to. This probably means that the TV's in HK can support both PAL and NTSC consoles. The locked region wont be a problem as I will mod it (any good ideas for a HK PS2 slimline mod would be great). I hope that I will be able to connect my HK console to the RF connection on my TV. If I can't I will use the RGB connectors but this will limit me to one TV in my house. Supposing it is possible to connect directly to my TV's RF won't I experience a loss of colour or loss of sound?

[gIzzE]

This is totally from memory and based more on the ps1 than the ps2 as I have only ever used component with the PS2 which makes all what I am about to say irrelevant.

I beleive that with a HK PS2 you will be outputting NTSC composite and S-video from the av output or RGB (or componenent if you prefer), to get RF you need to use an rf adapter, this takes the composite and left channel sound and converts it to an RF signal that you tv can tune into.
The RF adapter for a british TV will be looking for a Pal composite signal to convert, however coming from you machine will be ntsc which it will not recognise so you will get no picture at all at worse, or a black and white image at best, but don't worry you will get mono sound!!
Also I am pretty sure that when you play a pal game on an ntsc machine that you can only get colour when using RGB or YUV anyway, I will test this in a bit, maybe there is a colour mod to get round this though or maybe this is no longer the case, someone could probably confirm or put me straight on this?
I would have thought that there would be a point on the board that if you ground or give a certain voltage would force you PS2 to output 4.43mhz colour (pal) but keep the 60Hz, this would probably mean that you could then use a PAL RF cable to get it running on you TV.

So to sum up it seems that buying a Hong Kong Machine was probably not the wisest of moves??

[DjSatansfury]

Far as i'm aware (although im probably horribly wrong) all PAL devices work with any other PAL device, its when tv tuner signals come into play iirc. That's when things dont begin to work

Could be wrong though, but im sure im not

[Neo]

As far as I can remember, HK has always been a PAL region regarding TVs and transmissions. But, most TVs in HK in the late 80s until now have been multi format, so it can accept NTSC signals from consoles. If the PStwo you ordered is PAL-I, it should work straight out of the box using the composite cables (not sure about RF)