Is there a way to force a PAL Dreamcast into 60Hz mode?

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:19 pm

I currently only have a Euro Dreamcast at my disposal (my Japanese DC is stored somewhere in my parents' house in another city).

Most imports work in 60Hz with CDX, but Mars Matrix (I own the Japanese version; I tried both a downloaded CD-R backup and my original GD-Rom) has huge black borders on my Euro DC. Is there a way to "force" a game into 60Hz mode?

Maybe a patch I could apply to the CD-R version? Or another boot-loader for the original?

D · Post by D » Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:24 pm

Buy PAL MM
Or try other boorloaders, there are even free downloadable ones, try searching the forum, not too long ago this was mentioned.
Someone provide alot of links:
I think this is one of 'em.

http://www.consolevision.com/members/fa ... orts.shtml

Perhaps these boorloaders actually force MM into 60 HZ.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:26 pm

Thanks but there is no PAL Mars Matrix, afaik. And besides, I want 60Hz, damnit

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:54 pm

PS. Thanks a lot for this link! My PAL DC did reset for no reason several times during the past few days, and I tried the repair guide (cleaning and slightly bending the 6 pins inside the power supply) and i think that did the trick. No more resets

elvis · Post by **elvis** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 11:46 pm

There are a few games that will force themselves to 50Hz on PAL consoles not matter what you do, and MM is one of those.

Your only option is to use an NTSC console, or use a VGA box (or hack your own cable) and run in RGB mode on a 60Hz monitor (or possibly SCART TV).

dark penguin · Post by **dark penguin** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:18 am

Huge black borders? I thought Mars Matrix had those as its default screen mode(well, not huge, but they were there when I tried it on my TV). In any event, you can go into options and adjust the image to fit your screen by tweaking the dimensions.

I should mention I have a US Dreamcast.

elvis · Post by **elvis** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:18 am

Some games have small borders on NTSC systems, which is just the choice of resolution by the developer. These are typically only a centimeter (half-inch) at worst for most folks.

2D games always have large (2-3cm, or an inch or more) borders on PAL systems for a very simple reason:

Games are designed for NTSC release primarily. NTSC is made up of 525 lines, 486 of which are visible (the rest carry sync information, teletext, etc). PAL is made up of 625 lines, 576 which are visible. So when games go through a NTSC->PAL conversion, rather than re-draw all of the graphics at a different resolution, the missing 90 lines are filled with black borders, and the image is squashed out of 4:3 orientation to something else.

In the standard-def world, PAL is actually far superior for watching PAL encoded movies as the resolution is noticably higher (especially for large CRT TVs). Due to the largest game makers in the world being Japanese and American (both NTSC zones), it sucks for PAL gamers as all of their games are designed to run at 60Hz, and stretched, and instead run at a slower 50Hz with big ugly back borders due to the conversion process.

3D games aren't so bad for the black borders as often the game is rendered realtime internally at a higher resolution, and output through a conversion DAC to make a TV-friendly mode. 2D games unfortunately use pre-drawn sprites which cannot go through a stretching process (at least not on old consoles - some new consoles can draw all 2D sprites to a 3D plane, and then stretch it out if there is internal power to spare).

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 9:45 am

I've been looking around the net and haven't found a way to force a PAL DC into 60Hz. I'm pretty sure it should be possible to do so with a boot disk - after all it's the software which controls the Hertz setting. Unfortunately no-one seems to have come up with such a thing.

As far as Mars Matrix is concerned, the options are quite helpful; while you can't set it to 60hz (and black borders remain) you can at least make the picture look non-squashed.

I'm currently playing Border Down which is also running in 50Hz mode on the PAL DC. Argh. Time to get my Jap DC.

Diabollokus · Post by **Diabollokus** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:15 pm

What about the DC-X boot disc? import player? surely it had a 60HZ option?

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:10 pm

yes, DC-X is the way to force a Pal Dreamcast into 60hz mode.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:41 am

I actually found a free 60hz boot disk.

http://dreamlist.free.fr/soft/cdboot60Hz.zip

It's a modified version of the Utopia boot disc v1.1 which also contains a composite fix. It's an CloneCD image but you will need to burn it with Alcohol120%.

This works with non-backup GDRs (tried it with Mars Matrix) and with CDR backups which have no auto-loader.

Diabollokus · Post by **Diabollokus** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:42 pm

That the one with the reindeer?

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 1:36 pm

Yes, this is the one with the reindeer, BUT it is modified. On the title screen it says "with built-in 60hz and composite fix". The standard Utopia loader 1.1 and 1.2 both do NOT include this fix. (I tried booting Mars Matrix with 1.2 before and it played in 50Hz on my PAL machine).