Hi all, probably a silly question, I want to get a Famicom someday alongside a PAL NES. I'd love to RGB it, but the cost of the RGB board is astronomical, so I'm abandoning that right out of the gate. But I hear certain old VHS players are quite good at converting NTSC composite signal into PAL. Is this right? 1) Is there a loss of quality/colour/off-centre image or somesuch? 2) Any recommendations of particular VHS models that would do this best? Or would any VHS player do? Thanks
Are you in a PAL country? If so, you may have a TV or HDTV with an RF input that supports NTSC signals. You will have to find a channel that is the same frequency as the Famicom. The original Famicom uses RF without mods so the VCR must have a demodulator compatible with NTSC-J signals. On USA NTSC-M TVs, Japanese channel 1 and 2 correspond to American channels 95 and 96. Many of our VCRs support these signals but the channel needs to be selected via the remote. You could import one of our VCRs (go for one from the 2000s) and then use composite video to a NTSC-capable TV or to a NTSC to PAL converter. Depending on your country, you may need an RCA to SCART adapter. All of this would be more expensive than the NESRGB board though. There are the Twin Famicom and AV Famicom which use Composite video but they are expensive. They would eliminate the VCR part of the equation though. AV Famicom uses NES controllers but lacks the microphone. The Twin Famicom has the microphone but the controllers are hardwired. The later model TFs have turbo fire buttons and longer controller cords. What do you mean the NESRGB is outrageously expensive? It's about $65 USD, the price of a yellowed Famicom on eBay. Don't let the Australian currency numbers on Tim's site fool you, it's actually cheaper. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the thorough advice MonkeyBoy, really appreciate it! Yeah, I'm in the UK. I had a HDTV, but it seems not to co-operate with NTSC - US/Japanese games on my N64 via composite turned up black and white. I had it RGB modded. Could RF be an exception, do you think? I say the NESRGB is expensive based on websites I had looked at (which appeared to be US) which quoted upwards of $150. But I'll keep looking if it's a lot cheaper! I had googled the specific board on eBay at some point and the consoles were nearly £400! Pounds!
For example: Pal RGB'd NES, although a lot cheaper than the £400 I quoted above: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pal-Nintend...7?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_146&hash=item2c9cbc3803
Wow, those are expensive. Here is Tim Worthington's store: http://etim.net.au/shop/shop.php Tim made the NESRGB so you'll be buying directly from him if you use his site. It uses Australian Dollars but PayPal should auto-convert it. Is your N64 a PAL system by any chance? If so, that's why it was in black and white. You need RGB SCART cables to get color with PAL systems in 60Hz mode. If it's an NTSC system, make sure to use Composite cables designed for NTSC systems. PAL cables have extra components in them that cause it to work improperly on NTSC systems. Just don't use NTSC C-Sync RGB cables on the PAL SNES, PAL N64, and PAL GameCube. You'll end up sending 12V to the Composite Video pin on the SCART connector!
Ah, I should have pointed out I have absolutely zero modding skills and would want to either buy one pre-done or else get someone to do the work for me. I guess that's where the additional cost comes in? Stock N64s can't produce RGB. Mine's a French N64, modded to allow RGB. It works fine now as I have the mod plus the right SCART cables, but before, my SCART cable wasn't enough for a stock PAL N64 to show NTSC games in colour.
Modding can be tricky *cough* GameCube *cough* but it is usually quite easy. I recommend taking some time to learn how to solder and then installing the NESRGB board yourself. It would save you time and money. Just make sure to use the right tools. If you really don't want to solder it in yourself, Game Tech US is a great modder based here in the USA. He charges $40 for installing the NESRGB and he offers additional features for some extra cash. You can find his site here. He doesn't mention the Famicom in his posts but he does offer mods for it if requested. There is probably someone on here offering pre-modded consoles or an install service. I'd recommend posting a WTB thread in the marketplace for one of those previously mentioned things. I would offer to do the mod for you but I've never been inside my Famicom or any NES systems for that matter. Early French and NTSC models do produce RGBS but it's a weak signal and isn't wired to the AV out. Tim also has a N64RGB mod board that works with ALL N64 consoles. So you do get color now on it via RGBS in 60Hz mode? Then that is good. As long as you can get color via 60Hz RGB SCART then you should be good to go with the NESRGB.
