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    PAL Vs NTSC - Which is better?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General Discussion and Gaming
    palntsc
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    • BuZzB
      BuZz administrators @Retro
      last edited by BuZz

      @Retro

      https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Nintendo-Entertainment-System/

      If you want to use PAL roms, make sure they contain (E) or (Europe) in the filename, or else they may be run at the wrong speed.

      There may be core options to switch also depending on emulator.

      If your screen refresh is 60hz, use NTSC roms for best experience.

      There's lots of info in the docs. If only people read them :-)

      To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

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      • B
        barbudreadmon @Retro
        last edited by

        @Retro said in PAL Vs NTSC - Which is better?:

        @Stiffler I see. Is there a way to adjust this setting for the NES emulator in RetroPie?

        Usually, the emulator will pick the right refresh rate after detecting game's region. Maybe you are somehow forcing 60Hz in retroarch settings ?

        FBNeo developer - github - forum

        IanDaemonI 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • IanDaemonI
          IanDaemon @barbudreadmon
          last edited by

          @barbudreadmon So you're saying that each ROM should be displayed correctly (if they have a mixed set) unless they're forcing things. Cool.

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          • B
            barbudreadmon @IanDaemon
            last edited by

            @IanDaemon That's how it works in the emulators i'm contributing to, i can't vouch for other emulators but at the very least i can say FBNeo will render the few pal nes games it supports at 50Hz, except if you forced something in retroarch.

            FBNeo developer - github - forum

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            • R
              Retro @BuZz
              last edited by

              @BuZz I tried that before coming here - it had no effect.

              If the emulator usually detects region, then it may have simply been an issue with the ROM itself.

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              • dankcushionsD
                dankcushions Global Moderator @Retro
                last edited by

                @Retro said in PAL Vs NTSC - Which is better?:

                I'm just wondering which of these two release regions are better because I had trouble getting what I believe is a European version of Super Marios Bros on NES to work at the correct speed - the music was way too fast.

                what was the name of the file? the name of the file often instructs the emulator what region it is, so i suspect it is not named correctly, and trying to run a 50hz pal game at 60hz.

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                  barbudreadmon @dankcushions
                  last edited by

                  @dankcushions said in PAL Vs NTSC - Which is better?:

                  the name of the file often instructs the emulator what region it is

                  Even though i don't know any, there might be emulators doing that on nes where headers aren't 100% reliable, however i think the more reliable nes emulators prefer using a game database with crcs (could still fail with an unknown dump).

                  FBNeo developer - github - forum

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                  • R
                    Retro @dankcushions
                    last edited by

                    @dankcushions It was "Super Mario Bros Game" however like I said before I did experiment with putting different letters in there to replace "Game" however it had no effect.

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                    mituM dankcushionsD 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • mituM
                      mitu Global Moderator @Retro
                      last edited by

                      @Retro Some emulators don't rely only on the name, for instance Nestopia uses the file's hash to determine which game it runs. What emulator are you using ?

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                      • R
                        Retro @mitu
                        last edited by

                        @mitu lr-quicknes

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                        • dankcushionsD
                          dankcushions Global Moderator @Retro
                          last edited by

                          @Retro said in PAL Vs NTSC - Which is better?:

                          @dankcushions It was "Super Mario Bros Game" however like I said before I did experiment with putting different letters in there to replace "Game" however it had no effect.

                          that sounds like a very suss file name but ok.

                          but in any case, looks like quicknes doesn't support PAL properly: https://github.com/libretro/QuickNES_Core/issues/52

                          i guess my advice would be to not use PAL (there's very rarely a reason to use it over NTSC, which is generally full speed, no borders, and so on). other NES emulators should handle PAL properly, but you're presumably using quicknes because you're on a RPI1.

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                            Retro @dankcushions
                            last edited by

                            @dankcushions Yeah, the ROM I used was one I just had lying around from years ago when I first got into emulators. The emulator I used back then worked with the game fine, so it's probably just an issue with QuickNES as you've referenced. I've decided to use NTSC in the future. Cheers!

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