Sound Problems...

[Steve]

Not sure if this is a known issue or not. I did a quick search but found nothing to do with the problem I am having with WinUAE 1.6.1.

I have sound problems when I run games in fullscreen with vsync enabled. It doesn't matter what configuration I use, it always happens. The sound is best described as scratchy like a dodgy old record player. I enabled on-screen LEDs and noticed on one game the CPU usage was barely getting above 30% and yet the sound LED was constantly flashing blue.

The sound is perfect in fullscreen when I don't use vsync and when the emulator runs in windowed mode where there is no vsync option. I've tried adjusting the sound buffer but this doesn't solve the problem. Its a shame because I can only get smooth scrolling in games with vsync enabled.

[Toni Wilen]

Most likely reason for blue sound led in vsync mode is mismatched refresh rates (real refresh rate isn't same as selected in winuae's display panel)

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Most likely reason for blue sound led in vsync mode is mismatched refresh rates (real refresh rate isn't same as selected in winuae's display panel)

Yep, you're right. I didn't realise my monitor only goes as low as 60hz. The sound works fine when set to 60hz with vsync enabled.

The obvious side-effect though is that the game is sped up by 10 frames per second and so is the sound which can be quite funny although not the correct speed.

Still, SWOS is quite good fun at 60fps. lol. Its mad but fun.

Do modern LCD monitors sync down as low as 50hz?

Does this mean that all games designed for PAL machines and sold in the USA ran at 10fps faster or were games sold in the US rewritten to compensate for the extra frames?

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Steve

Yep, you're right. I didn't realise my monitor only goes as low as 60hz. The sound works fine when set to 60hz with vsync enabled.

The obvious side-effect though is that the game is sped up by 10 frames per second and so is the sound which can be quite funny although not the correct speed.

Still, SWOS is quite good fun at 60fps. lol. Its mad but fun.

It is much more funnier if you disable vsync and use fps adj in display panel to increase fps even more

Do modern LCD monitors sync down as low as 50hz?

Very uncommon, usual minimum is 56Hz. Some combined monitor/TV's support 50Hz via HDMI/DVI/VGA. (they always support 50Hz via composite/RGB Scart but even VGA is not guaranteed.. manufacturers probably simply won't care because it isn't any physical restriction like with CRTs but just microcontroller program update..)

EDIT: there is thread somewhere about 50Hz capable displays.

Does this mean that all games designed for PAL machines and sold in the USA ran at 10fps faster or were games sold in the US rewritten to compensate for the extra frames?

Yes to both