Firstly I wanna apologise if another thread exists that answers this question, I have totally run out of ideas on what to do about this. I have a PAL region Debug PS2, I am trying to play NTSC PS1 games on it using a UK TV. What happens, of course, is that the picture is off centre and both the game and sound are running slowly. I believe this is because the TV cannot correctly deal with the NTSC signal, I have tried old CRT's and a modern HD TV. For a while I have thought I just need to find a TV that will display it correctly and I understand some CRT's in the UK can do that, but after reading some things online I am now wondering whether trying to use a Debug instead of a "proper" NTSC PS2 is a problem in itself. Should I be able to play these games correctly using this console provided I have a TV that can handle the signal? I could buy 100 different TV's but it not work because of the console or I could buy a proper NTSC PS2 and then it still not work because of the TV, I just don't know for sure where the exact problem lies. The only thing I am sure of is that it is driving me crazy. If anybody can give me any sort of help with this I will really appreciate it, I've been trying to find a solution for months
Sony pvm/bvm can handle both pal and ntsc and are great for running old games! I own one and it's the best thing I have ever bought. The best solution for retro gaming imo. Try to find one on sites like gumtree or something like that. I bought mine for 20 euros.
PS2 has issues playing incorrect region PS1 games. Maybe this could help? http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?52777-PS1VModeNeg-release-thread
I remember a thread about this. Basically, playing ntsc ps1 on pal ps2 will result in a faulty image. After a lot of discussion genius on this site made a script to fix the image. Its bootable from ULaunchELF to fix the image. The thread got deleted sadly half a year ago when the site got hacked.
The problem is not necessarily with the TV. Debugstation consoles are still unable to determine the video mode expected by the PlayStation game, like retail consoles. This is a failure on the side of Sony, as they have obviously never intended PlayStation 2 owners to import PlayStation games. This is a software issue, as the PS1 Driver (PS1DRV) sets up the video more and assumes that it is correct for the running game. If it is wrong, the effect depends on the video mode used and the game's region (and hence expected video mode). For PAL games running on NTSC sets, the screen might be cut off and games may run at 120% of their original speed. For NTSC games on PAL sets, the video will only occupy a part of the screen and the game might run at 5/6 speed.
Ok, this info is really helpful. I thought for a long time that it must just be the TV, I assumed being a region-free console it would run NTSC fine but was obviously very naive or ill-informed about how it all works, it seems obvious to me now that the console will have problems running NTSC. I just looked at it as being region-free and didn't acknowledge the fact that it is still a PAL console. I have actually since bought a proper NTSC PS2 and a voltage converter for use here in the UK, waiting on it's arrival. Now I know this thing will of course be able to play NTSC PS1 games properly, so if it still doesn't work the problem has to be the TV, right? I have 3 different TV's to test, two being older CRT's (I would guess early-mid 90's TV's). If these don't work how hard would it be to find a TV in the UK that will correctly play NTSC PS1 games? I have simply heard that some do, some don't, whether it's generally based on manufacturer or age I don't know. As far as patching / modding goes I have absolutely no idea how any of it works, even if it was an option with my console I would probably need someone to physically hold my hand and babysit me through the process, seriously, I don't have a clue. I wan't to avoid that route as I know I should be able to do this through "normal" means. Thank you all for your responses, it's very helpful , I am desperate to play NTSC console.
I believe that modern-day sets should be alright with both PAL and NTSC... but then you might run into another problem with modern sets: some of them have dropped support for 240P and hence will not support the output for PlayStation games. Again, this is a limitation by the PS1 driver, as Sony never offered support for other video modes like true NTSC and PAL. Or even 480P.
Ah yes I remember reading about the 240p issue with new TV's. How about the old CRT's, I assume they will handle 240p just fine but the only issue would be playing 60hz? I have a Sony Trinitron from 1992 and a Panasonic I believe is slightly newer, I know many Trinitron's will play NTSC but probably not all.
It's not about the referesh rate (60Hz vs 50Hz), but the format of the colour encoding (Hence why PAL-only TVs cannot display colour when NTSC is fed). Why don't you just try out PS1VModeNeg with your current set first? Unless it's really old, it might support both PAL and NTSC.
I have no idea how I would use PS1VModeNeg, I would need an extremely basic step-by-step guide. I'm not clued up on this sort of thing
You need to master patch and burn a copy of uLaunchELF first because it cannot boot FMCB from a memory card (Although Hx10x models can, FMCB needs to be modified first). As for the process of master-patching an ISO disc image, you need to do some research on your own (or ask somebody who knows), since I don't own a debugstation and never did that before. Sony has their own tools for that, but I am not sure what homebrew developers use. Basically, what you need to do would be to start PS1VModeNeg (from uLaunchELF or something that can start homebrew software) and insert your PlayStation game.
