JPN Sega Saturn help and 50/60hz question

[Corbo]

Okay,i just read the guide in this forum about importing consoles.But i have a problem.

Okay i have a JPN white Sega saturn.All was fine until one day it thought it would be a good idea too pack in.

Before my JPN Saturn was playing perfect though a composite lead full colour etc.Then all of a sudden i get this black and white rolling picture,which if memory serves right means my TV is 50HZ.

I then brought a full 21 pin RGB lead and tried it out again,same rolling picture except i get colour this time.I'm really confused to why it isn't working and i could a colour rolling picture.

What is your advice on this....i was thinking it could be a lose part or something.If i took apart my Saturn and had a look would it be fine?

Also another question....i'm not sure if my TV is 50 HZ or 60 HZ.My PAL Dreamcast playing PSO on Sonic in 60HZ mode fine... i think my TV's are 60HZ going off the guide....but i want to be 100% sure as i'm buying a NTSC Gamecube and i'm gonna have to buy a modded RGB too as well then right anyway?

Sorry if it sounds like aload of bull****,but please help me out!

Thanks for your time.

[charlesr]

Welcome to NTSC.
If your TV displays fine in the 60Hz mode choice on PAL DC games, then all you can tell is that it displays 60Hz signals. There are 2 types of 60Hz signals and your TV may only display PAL60 ("pseudo NTSC" - what your Dreamcast is displaying). If you have a PS2 then try the 60Hz choice in a game for that (with a composite cable), because the PS2 displays 60Hz in "pure NTSC". If that works in colour then your TV is fully NTSC compatible, so you don't have to worry about not being able to play your NTSC Jap GC because you can definitely use the composite cables for it. However for the best picture quality, you need to check if your TV does RGB which is a different format and is independent of ntsc or pal.

[MD]

Can you clear up a few points...

When you say rolling do you mean you can see the picture but its moving up the screen quite fast or do you mean you see nothing but garbage with the picture looking very torn?

And the same TV displayed 60Hz from the Dreamcast fine?

And you are selecting the AV channel rather then letting the lead select it?

Make sure the lead is plugged firmly into the Saturn, you could apply gentle pressure on each side of the connector into the saturn to see if that improves it. Don't use any force.

If the picture is very torn then I would test the machine out on a friends (or at least another) TV with both RGB and Composite cables, if it does the same then it could be the Saturn at fault as about 95% of TVs that can do 60Hz PAL would display the NTSC signal in B&W but with a picture...

[Corbo]

Okay i've done a little test it was the least i could do.

So here's like a mini result table of what was happening on each TV in my house.My PAL Dreamcast works on 60HZ mode on all TV's as well.

All TV's said 50HZ at the back.All were selected on AV mode.

TV1:This was the one i played my JPN saturn on.Connected a RGB lead 21 pin and i got no picture what so ever.Then i connected a 9 pin RGB lead and got a Black and white BOUNCING picture.When i mean Bouncing you get the same image but it just jumps up and down the screen.Not like a ROLLING picture

TV2:Connected a 21 pin RGB lead in got a BOUNCING COLOUR picture.Connected a 9 pin RGB lead and got a black and white scrolling picture.

TV3:Same as above

TV4:Same as above,but i tried a S-VIDEO lead on this and got a Black and white rolling picture.

I havn't got a torn screen yet though.I'm gonna try this on a 60HZ TV if i can find somebody with one.But i find this so werid,why was it working in fine on a 50HZ TV then it just doesn't.I can't afford to buy another Saturn and playing 50HZ on my PAL Saturn is painful.I might have to get it fixed somewhere.

I knew i shouldn't of sold my VGA box

Looks like i will have to play games via a VGA box then i guess.

Thanks for any help

[Dache]

If it's not working on 4 different TVs, then it sounds to me like your Saturn is ****ed. Must've broke something off when you had a look inside.

[Corbo]

I havn't touched the insides nor have a opened it up....

Do you reackon i should,or will it just make it worse?

Thanks,Ben

[MD]

Can you describe the leads you are using in detail? I.e not the Saturn end but the other end.

To be honest it does sound like your Saturn is up the duff.

[Mofoman]

If it is your Saturn that is broken,I need some spare saturn parts and bits and bobs out of a saturn,so I'll buy it at a reasonable price if you do not want to get it fixed,which is hardly worth it considering the cheapness of saturn's new and used these days.

[Corbo]

I think my saturn is duff really.But here are the lead details anyway.

Every lead i used had all the pins in,the 9 pin,21 pin RGB lead and so did the S-Video.This is the bit that plugs into the saturn and appears the be problems at all.

It's a shame to be used as spare parts,it's fully boxed and very white like the day it was brought.Anyone know how/where to fix these things maybe in the Manchester area