USA gamers, what do you do to play your Pal consoles?.

I have a CD32 and recently bought an Amstrad GX4000, but there are no Pal tvs where i live. So im looking for a way to play this 2 consoles in color. What do other people do?
By the way, i know both console kinda suck, but i am a collector, besides, i have found some pretty decent games on both systems, so i would like to play them with correct display.
I bought a pal to ntsc converter, but the quality was so bad, that i prefer to play them in black and white.

 

I personally don't own any PAL consoles, but if I did I'd either get a Sony PVM or I'd use my LCD screen which has a SCART input. I also recently found out that a lot of computer monitors and HDTVs in the USA will accept PAL signals through composite RCA. You're better off if you can find a display with a SCART input, but those are pretty rare. PVMs are relatively plentiful, but you'd have to hack up some SCART cables to be able to use it with a console. Those also make excellent arcade monitors.

 

In my case, my 25" Sony PAL CRT made the trip over the pond with me - so I still use that, along with a multi-standard (PAL/NTSC/SECAM) 14" CRT for stuff that only puts out an RF signal. I also use a plasma display & an LCD display, both which will take PAL composite/s-video/component inputs.

 

I don't have any PAL consoles, but if any game had to output PAL I have a High Def LCD that supports PAL as well as a Sony PVM. HDTVs have made it alot more common over here to have a display that supports more than just NTSC.

 

I foolishly bought a multi system tv just for this consoles, but it happens that it uses only latin pal, so i get a well centered in-sync image, but black and white.
Interestingly, the GX4000 has a scart out conection, but the CD32 requieres a scart mod that is well beyond my abilities.
I will do some research on my city for some of the monitors that you have mentioned guys.

 

Ive got my projector or monitor, plus capturing equipment

 

Surely a cheap PAL to NTSC convertor would do the trick?

 

Surely most TVs bought in the last 10 years would display all regions? At least in the UK this is generally true.

 

CD 32 has a TV standard selection menu: I don't remember exactly, but If you insert a mouse in joystick port 2 and keep a button pressed at bootup (or press reset) you can choose 50 or 60 Hz video.
While it is possible to change the screen frequency, I don't really know if the output from the RCA and S-video changes too or if you still get a B/W screen.

 

Sadly, not true in the United States. I basically just have a Sony video production CRT monitor that I use for all my PAL consoles. It has RCA connectors and will display in PAL and NTSC. You can get them for relatively cheap nowadays as most production houses are switching over to HD equipment. You also need to think about voltage, but converters are pretty readily available on-line or at Radio Shack or Fry's.

 

You used to be able to get a box you could plug an NTSC or PAL signal into and convert it, but they cost a fortune.

http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/Misc_htm/m_pal2n.htm is a link to one, however I have never used that store nor that product, so I can't vouch for that particular model.

 

My parents used to have a PAL TV + transformer years back. That's what I would play my PAL SNES on, till the television blew up! :/

 

Bojay1997, could you tell me the name of your monitor?, i wanna be sure to buy one that really will help me, unlike the tv i bought that only is compatible with latin PAL systems.

 

It's a Sony PVM series video production CRT. They sell them in a variety of sizes, but I have a 19". I don't think they still sell them new, but JVC makes an almost identical monitor that they sell for around $500 at places like B&H photo. Used you can probably get a like new Sony PVM for $100-$200. Keep checking Ebay or Craig's List.

 

Ok, thanks. I will look for one of those Sony monitors.

 

I've never seen a reason to import a PAL console when NTSC models are readily available and play American games as they were intended.

 

Well, except for the fact that there are lots of good games never released in the United States and some of us actually want to play those games in English as opposed to importing a Japanese NTSC version.

 

Well, the GX4000 only came out in Europe, there is no ntsc version of that console. Regarding the CD32, there is a ntsc version, but it is harder to find, and few games came out for it, and it is not fully compatible with pal software (there are tons of games for the pal version).
They may not be the greatest consoles ever, maybe not even good, but again, i am a collector, and even these 2 systems have a few decent games up their sleeves, specially the CD32.

 

Is there a way to acces this menu without a amiga mouse?. I have yet to find one of those.
Besides, this method you mention barakka, is said to not work correctly with the majority of the pal games.

 

I guess that you can bring up the selection screen by simulating a mouse button, I don't know if a CD32 pad inserted in the mouse port can do that..
As an alternative, it should be possible to rewire a MD joypad, but then I don't know how you could do the selection. Maybe it is possible with a keyboard?

I guess that games were coded to run in 50Hz, so they fail when run at 60Hz:shrug:

It should be possible to switch between 50 & 60 Hz with a simple hardware modification to the mainboard.


Btw when you are stating: "there are tons of games for the pal version" are you referring to the CD32 only games or are you including all the Amiga games?