Bought a pre-modded Mega Drive 1 a few years ago from ConsolePassion. It has the switchless 50/60hz region mod installed. Forgot about the console due to exams and what not, and it was stored away. I dig it out of the loft a month or so ago and finally turn it on to play PAL Sonic 1 in 60hz. I connected it to the TV with an official power adapter and an RGB Scart cable with stereo audio from Consolegoods.co.uk. At 60hz, i get a horribly distorted picture, colours all over the place. On another TV, it is black and white. At 50hz however, the console is fine. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW29NKvnuWg Thing is, i've got a modded SNES which outputs 60hz via an RGB scart cable, and the picture is perfect. What's going on guys?
is your tv still using composite eg, not switching to RGB ? (rgb cable carries composite video aswell as RGB) the RGB scart switch may not be wired up right in the scart connector, there should be a resistor connecting pins 8 and 16(from memory)
Ok. I've opened up the cable. There does seem to be a resistor between 8 and 16. Several Caps etc... See pics. To be honest i don't know :S I have a Sony KDL32S3000 and it says in the Manual it accepts 60hz feeds etc, but nothing to tell when the TV can detect between Composite and RGB Scart. It seems as though it can't decide between 2 types of image, i don't know! Worth opening up the console to see if anything has blown? EDIT: does this have anything to do with it? -> http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/mega-drive-1-pal-60hz-colour-mod/ I'm thinking now maybe it is a faulty switchless chip. After reading through my manual, it states that certain Picture options will be available only when an NTSC signal is detected. Hue/Green correction to be precise. When the MD is running, i go into the menu and the option to change the Hue flickers from being present to disappearing from the menu altogether (synced to when the MD picture flickers). EDIT 2: Got hold of another MD Scart cable. Same results. So it's got to be the console or chip? EDIT 3: The manual says that my TV accepts NTSC video types: 3.58 and 4.43
Your TV is too talented; it's locking to an invalid color carrier signal instead of ignoring it (resulting in black & white). MD master oscillators don't support BOTH NTSC/PAL system frequencies, it's one or the other, and yours is PAL. When you switch to "60 Hz" mode it divides the PAL frequency to the NTSC prescale, which is "close enough" when viewing over RGB, but too significant for composite.
So my TV is at fault here. Great! Is my console definitely outputting an RGB signal then if this is happening? I've been thinking of getting a broadcast monitor to play retro on on for some time now. Seems this is the kick i needed Those Sony Trinitron's look ace! Thank you very much for your quick replies guys EDIT: Am i correct in assuming i wouldn't have this problem if i had an NTSC machine?
No, for sure your TVs aren't switching to RGB. B&W indicates composite video as do the artifacts above.
This might sound obvious but you never know: some TV have two SCART inputs, of which, only one can handle RGB, so if that's your case, make sure you are using the right one . Either that or your cable is not a real RGB cable but just a SCART cable which only handle composite video. PS: i don't really know what kind of cable you are using but the MD1 sure does not output stereo from the AV connector. http://www.gamesx.com/avpinouts/genesisav.htm
Ok. Thank you for clearing that up for me. Will getting a CRT solve this issue? I wanted to grab one anyhow, and it seems now i have no choice. Will a CRT work ya think? My TV has two SCART sockets you're right. But according to my TV manual they are both RGB enabled so that isn't my problem unfortunately. In terms of the cable itself, it's a custom one from: http://www.consolegoods.co.uk/ It draws Stereo audio from the 3.5mm headphone jack at the front of the MD1 It's pretty cool
If it's feeding RGB, it shouldn't be using PAL or NTSC colour space. The colour drops on SMDs because of the way the system delivers the oscillator input into the video encoder. Thus if you grab composite or tap and amplify an s-video signal off the video encoder and change the refresh rate the colour drops out. The way you get around it if you don't go the RGB route is to cut the feed and get a 4.43mhz or 3.58mhz signal in there (I normally use self-contained crystal oscillators - add +5v and GND and the components takes care of the rest). I've never had any problems with Mega Drives in terms of colour when changing refresh rates since using RGB. If colour drops out it generally means it isn't using RGB, either at the cable or at the TV. You can check by using another console's RGB output. I'm with Calpis and retro - looks like your display isn't taking the RGB output.
It's been a few weeks since i've had time to tinker with the MD 1. Got an old CRT, same problem. So, how can i force the MD into RGB when using scart? How can i get the oscillator singing and dancing correctly? I haven't enough cash to get an NTSC MD 1 just yet, so i'd rather try and further modify the console i have.
your rgb cable is faulty. its missing ground new tv had scart with out ground. I have found some new tvs has scart that's no rgb so that could be other prob.
I've tried it with 2 RGB cables, it's highly unlikely both are at fault. However the console has now developed a new fault. Games keep resetting after around 2 minutes of play.
