2600RGB - Video upgrade kit for the Atari 2600

[rayik]

I just tried installing an RGB board, but I'm having trouble.

I tested out the video and got nothing. There's 5 volts going to the board. The grounds are connected. The LED on the board goes red for less then a second, then nothing. I'm using composite video for sync. I have no idea what to do.

Any ideas?

**** EDIT

Do you have a CRT plugged in? If not, you'll get a black screen.

I've done that and thought the rgb2600 was not working. .

[mvsfan]

thats right. It only works with certain flatscreens unless you have a framemeister. Your flatscreen has to support 240p.

a good way to tell is to plug in a composite video source like an unmodified nes to the green jack on the component inputs. IF you get a black and white picture, Your good and your tv Does support 240p.
if you dont get that then the tv doesnt support it.

[ApolloBoy]

Looks like there might be a nice RGB solution for the Atari 5200 and 8-bit computers soon: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/258702 ... a-in-cpld/

[tjstogy]

I wonder why more people haven't done this mod, no one ever talks about it... maybe it's due to such simplistic sprites and such. Regardless I have a jr waiting to get modded... just waiting for Tim to release the proper mod with the flex cable (ehem, Tim....!)

[leonk]

I wonder why more people haven't done this mod, no one ever talks about it... maybe it's due to such simplistic sprites and such. Regardless I have a jr waiting to get modded... just waiting for Tim to release the proper mod with the flex cable (ehem, Tim....!)

I've done many of them (not as much as NSRGB, but enough to have seen almost 1 of every crazy color and type released here). What I can tell you based on a recent podcast he was on, the Jr mod will never come out.

On a personal note, I prefer to do the 4 switch consoles over the 6 switch consoles (even though the 6 is supposedly better) simply because it's quicker and I have more space to route wires around. MY GOD .. the 6 button PCB is in the heaviest, craziest RF shield I've ever seen!!! WTF!? All that's missing is for it to be made of solid lead!!!

The controller exp features is a gimmick that I've never installed. No one ever gave me a controller to mod, and lets face it.. it's a cool selling feature that gets old after 30 seconds.

[ApolloBoy]

I wonder why more people haven't done this mod, no one ever talks about it...

I think a lot of that is because the 2600 isn't as popular as say the NES or any of the 16-bit consoles, and plus a lot of 2600 fans I've seen either consider the existing S-video mods to be "good enough" and/or don't have an RGB setup at all.

MY GOD .. the 6 button PCB is in the heaviest, craziest RF shield I've ever seen!!! WTF!? All that's missing is for it to be made of solid lead!!!

You think that's bad, wait until you see what's inside the Atari 800.

[leonk]

that's nuts!! Is RF interference that big a problem with these consoles, or is this a case of over engineering!?

Tip: replace the 2200uF main cap. just do it.

[ApolloBoy]

that's nuts!! Is RF interference that big a problem with these consoles, or is this a case of over engineering!?

IIRC FCC regulations in the late 70s were tougher for anything that connected to a TV, so the 2600 and both the 400 and 800 have their motherboards entombed in thick shielding as a result.

[CkRtech]

Love the Atari 800. Took my first one apart this past week and cleaned it up. The metal is heavy metal and is totally awesome.

[ApolloBoy]

Unfortunately it looks like the upcoming GTIARGB board won't be able to fit in a 400 or 800, it'll only work on an XL or XE series computer.

[philexile]

I've done many of them (not as much as NSRGB, but enough to have seen almost 1 of every crazy color and type released here). What I can tell you based on a recent podcast he was on, the Jr mod will never come out.

What podcast was Tim on?

[ApolloBoy]

I've done many of them (not as much as NSRGB, but enough to have seen almost 1 of every crazy color and type released here). What I can tell you based on a recent podcast he was on, the Jr mod will never come out.

What podcast was Tim on?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpoEJ1mJx5Q

[mvsfan]

It does seem like theres not much interest in this mod based on the amount of questions about it in this thread. I guess its because the 2600 isnt really a graphics machine and the existing s-video mods look fine for 2600.

with that said, I am thinking about buying one of these kits. i think its cool with all the extra stuff like remote pause select and reset and the different palettes, in addition to rgb. that goes a long way for me towards making it a great purchase.

getting up to hit reset every time the game is over sucks.

I have a sears video arcade II im going to try and put it into.

[leonk]

I think there's a flaw with existing s-video mod:

1) Like NES, 2600 is composite internally. So S-video mod is really composite quality at best
2) S-Video is a dead standard. RGB will live forever; just transcoder will change as need be

This mod is identical to the NESRGB:

"Atari graphics chip) and stores the data which meant to be written to the TIA palette registers. The TIA is fed with dummy colours instead. The various luma outputs from the TIA, in addition to the colour data stored is then used to create a RGB version of the original video signal. Essentially, the board creates the RGB video signal by bypassing the colour generation logic in the TIA. The video timing is unchanged."

[mvsfan]

yeah i guess your right. S-video is basically nonexistant on new tvs, even with manufacturers that still include all the other analog options, like sanyo.

Sanyos go like this. Component check. RF check. composite check. vga check. Hdmi check. S-video - nope.

[CkRtech]

I think there's a flaw with existing s-video mod:

1) Like NES, 2600 is composite internally. So S-video mod is really composite quality at best

The TIA chip provides separated luna and chroma. These can be used with a buffer and some resistors to produce usable s-video. So it has "native" s-video so to speak.

[ApolloBoy]

The same goes for all the other Atari consoles save the Jaguar; the 2600, 5200, 7800 and 8-bit computers output digital luma signals (which go through a crude DAC made up of resistors to produce a combined analog luma output) and an analog chroma signal.

[tjstogy]

Anyone know what the palettes are when palette switching with the 2600 RGB?

[viletim]

I wonder why more people haven't done this mod, no one ever talks about it... maybe it's due to such simplistic sprites and such. Regardless I have a jr waiting to get modded... just waiting for Tim to release the proper mod with the flex cable (ehem, Tim....!)

The Jr flex cables have been made and work well. I only need to finish off the install guide. Expect a release in the new few days.

Anyone know what the palettes are when palette switching with the 2600 RGB?

One is from the Stella emulator, one is from Nabuko78 on Atariage, the other is from Trebor also on Atariage.

[ApolloBoy]

Game-tech.us just posted on AtariAge that he's gonna try to help handle distribution and preorders for the upcoming GTIARGB!

[viletim]

The 2600 Jr. version of this mod is available now.

[tjstogy]

Sweet! Thank you Tim

[citrus3000psi]

The 2600 Jr. version of this mod is available now.

Do you have any interest in developing a 7800 mod?

[leonk]

Thanks Tim!

[ApolloBoy]

The 2600 Jr. version of this mod is available now.

Do you have any interest in developing a 7800 mod?

I think that's up for next year IIRC. That'd be real nice since I recently bought an original 1984 7800 that's waiting to be modded.

[skooter]

I just installed the 2600RGB mod and I noticed there is some noise moving around the screen.

Is this expected or did I do something wrong?

Framemeister introducing it maybe?

[skooter]

Just found the issue. It was the power supply.

I was using a power supply from Retrobit I got from eStarland
http://www.skooterblog.com/2014/10/03/e ... tari-2600/

I replaced it with a genuine one I got from Best Electronics:
http://www.skooterblog.com/2014/11/19/b ... tari-2600/

And now the noise is gone.

[leonk]

I've done many 2600rgb installs in many different atari consoles.

Anyone noticed on PVM that pic many times is not perfectly in the middle?

[FBX]

I've done many 2600rgb installs in many different atari consoles.

Anyone noticed on PVM that pic many times is not perfectly in the middle?

I noticed this when doing profiles for 2600RGB. The dozen or so games I tried were on the extreme right side of the signal, such that you have a ton of overscan on the left side of the image, and almost none on the right side. I used the Framemeister's Visual_Set and ZOOM functions to correct the centering and reduced the visible overscan areas.

[viletim]

I've done many 2600rgb installs in many different atari consoles.

Anyone noticed on PVM that pic many times is not perfectly in the middle?

I noticed this when doing profiles for 2600RGB. The dozen or so games I tried were on the extreme right side of the signal, such that you have a ton of overscan on the left side of the image, and almost none on the right side. I used the Framemeister's Visual_Set and ZOOM functions to correct the centering and reduced the visible overscan areas.

That's just the way the games/console is. Here's a quote from the Stella (Atari 2600 Eumulator) FAQ.

In some games, the image seems to be off-center, usually pushed to the right.

Most (all?) of the time, this is caused by accurate emulation of the video processor in a real console. In other words, the same thing would happen on a real TV. Since Stella is all about emulating a real console as closely as possible, this is not a bug, and won't be 'fixed'. Technically, it is known as HMOVE blanking, the specifics of which you can find documented in the Stella Programmer's Guide.