NTSC CD32 and a 1084s monitor question

I have had an NTSC CD32 for a few years now but my 1084s monitor arrived broken in the mail (well, the thing has a power issue, it turns on but only displays a white line that scrolls), so I have been unable to test it.

Tonight I decided to hook up my CD32 to my LCD tv and I found that 2 of my games displayed fine (Fire and Ice, Fury of the Furries- no screen cutoff). However, my other games had some really bad screen cut offs (which was expected, based on what I read.)

I need to be 100% sure on this before I go through the trouble of buying another 1084s monitor. Will hooking an NTSC CD32 up to a 1084s monitor (or alternative one? not sure what others would work- I like the 1084s for built in stereo) eliminate ALL screen cut off? or atleast display 99% of my games correctly? Would I need to boot it into PAL mode for each game in order to solve this problem(with the mouse)? This is OK as long as my games have no cut off or audio/visual problems).

I have read that the 1084s will only fix the screen cut off if used with RGB connections, but this would require me to have a modded system (I dont do mods). I have also read that composite will work fine too on a 1084s with an NTSC system, so I am reading conflicting reports.

Are there any other alternatives that don't involve me having to do a mod? Would owning a PAL CD32 and a 1084s monitor (with a safe power converter) be better? Would this still work using say a composite cable?

Sorry for so many questions, I just need to be absolutely sure this will work before I go investing into anything else. Thanks a lot for your help I really appreciate it!

[alenppc]

While I have never seen an NTSC 1084 (I have seen plenty of PAL ones), I have an NTSC 1080 (the original A1000 monitor). The picture on this one can be streched to display almost a full PAL picture (only a very slight cut off), so around 320x240 maybe instead of 320x256, but that's usually good enough.

If you are planning to use composite cable, do not buy mismatching system consoles/monitors, because you'll get a black and white picture only.

Certain modern LCD TVs will display PAL however over composite, it depends on model and brand. For example most SHARP branded NTSC LCD TVs will display a full PAL picture, including colour over composite (both 3.58 and 4.43 standards), so far they seem to be the most flexible ones.

Philips branded ones will display colour over composite (3.58 and 4.43 standards) but cut off the picture to NTSC size (so 320x200 only).

Sony branded ones will only display PAL over Component, but not composite.

Samsung branded ones will not display any PAL at all (black screen).

This is obviosuly generic and the features may vary by model, but they tend to be similar across a brand.

[Ze_ro]

Originally Posted by pdorr3

Will hooking an NTSC CD32 up to a 1084s monitor (or alternative one? not sure what others would work- I like the 1084s for built in stereo) eliminate ALL screen cut off? or atleast display 99% of my games correctly? Would I need to boot it into PAL mode for each game in order to solve this problem(with the mouse)? This is OK as long as my games have no cut off or audio/visual problems).

Yes, you should be able to get every game playable on a 1084S, but you WILL have to switch to PAL mode in order to get most games to display properly.

It's worthwhile to keep a mouse hooked up anyways, because there are plenty of CD32 games that can be played with one.

I have read that the 1084s will only fix the screen cut off if used with RGB connections

The 1084S can handle a 50Hz signal just fine through composite or separated video. Even if you don't want to mod, I would at least suggest making a cable to convert from S-Video to separated chroma/luma RCA jacks. It's a very easy cable to make, and you'll get a better picture than just composite alone.

RGB would give you an even cleaner picture, but otherwise wouldn't really change anything at all. It would be of much greater use if you were trying to use a PAL CD32 on an NTSC 1084S... but that gets a little complicated to explain.

Would owning a PAL CD32 and a 1084s monitor (with a safe power converter) be better?

Only if it's a PAL 1084S!

I guess I'll explain the complicated part here: While an NTSC 1084S can handle a 50Hz video signal, it can NOT handle a PAL colour signal. You'll just get black and white. Even if you switch your PAL CD32 into NTSC mode, it will actually put out a 60Hz signal with a PAL colour signal, so you're still screwed (There are some cheap PAL/NTSC converters on eBay that will convert the colour signal, but they'll absolutely destroy the picture quality. Trust me, I tried it. Totally not worth it). Likewise, when you set an NTSC CD32 to output in "PAL" mode, it actually still uses an NTSC colour signal, which is why it works nicely with an NTSC 1084S.

Here's where RGB comes in handy. It handles colour differently from PAL/NTSC, so you can ignore these problems. Of course, this requires either modding the system, or buying an expensive add-on.

So yeah, unfortunately, the cheapest and easiest way for us North Americans to enjoy the CD32 is to use an NTSC system on an NTSC 1084S, and switch into PAL mode on bootup. Note that there ARE other TV's and monitors that can handle 50Hz like the 1084S, but identifying PAL compatibility is almost impossible without actually trying it.

--Zero

[Jope]

The 1084 can take analogue RGB in too, so you could just modify your CD32 to have an RGB output and then you get colours in 50 and 60Hz modes, no matter what colour system the CD32 identifies itself as.