Any Hardware differences between PAL NTSC-U & NTSC-J Dreamcast boards?

Hi all,

Just curious about this as it has been mentioned in various places over the years that the US console/board is the best for compatability etc? Is there really any hardware difference (other than the board versions) or is it all down to the region flash?

I know there is a single wire mod for US consoles to correct some display issues with PAL games so I guess there is some kind of a difference? Here is a link to that simple mod:

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/dc-ntsc-pal.htm

I can vaguely recall some minor issues on a PAL console with things like the VCD kit that was released in Japan....among others....but this could all still be down to the region flash, whcih could easily be changed

Anybody got anymore detailed knowledge on this?

 

I've got all three and other than the BIOS, there is no major difference between them other than a resistor here and a heat pipe there. They all tremble at the sight of my soldering iron though but luckily I broke both of my irons recently so the survivors have nothing to fear... yet

 

A region free BIOS chip makes your Dreamcast happy.

 

Region flash is the only difference pretty much. Which can be changed with the mod you posted a link to.

 

Ok guys thanks for your input