PAL 50HZ vs NTSC 60HZ
Jul 30, 2011 16:49:26 GMT
Post by Aydan on Jul 30, 2011 16:49:26 GMT
Well I've had the pleasure of owning an NTSC JP Saturn and my original PAL UK Saturn and of course both have their ups and downs regarding the speed the games run at.
Now there are obvious advantages regarding 60HZ speed on a saturn and these are
Games play at full screen with no borders.
Games run full speed rather than the 17.5% slower at 50HZ
Now with 50HZ.
Borders of different sizes (depending on optimisations)
Games run 17.5% slower when not optimised.
Now that's all simple enough but this HZ war goes much further than just full screen and speed because I've noticed many different issues when it comes to NTSC titles.
Most people talk about how we were screwed over in PAL territories when it comes to Saturn but I disagree. Sure there are some games which weren't optimised and ran a little slower but then most of the library of games which are worth owning and where speed even matters are PAL optimised and run at the same speed as the NTSC versions.
Next is the issue of borders. Sure they aren't pretty and I'd rather them not be there but to be honest when I'm playing a game my focus instantly is on just that; the game. Borders seem to just disappear since focusing on the game play takes up my attention.
Now here's where it becomes VERY interesting regarding the 50/60HZ war and that is on performance of games as well as the quality.
Many games in NTSC format have bugs and issues which are NOT present in PAL counterparts. To my understanding this is down to the refresh rates of the HZ between territories. Many different games play better in PAL whether its rendering issues and stable framerates etc. A minor gripe to some but to others it's a serious annoyance. A perfect example of this is Sonic Jam. Massive and very regular frame rate drops throughout the game when playing Sonic 2 yet the PAL version has no framerate issues at all throughout.
Another is NiGHTS into dreams where there is major rendering issues at times where the GUI on screen glitches up and polygons begin tearing and even disparaging. As with Sonic Jam the PAL version of NiGHTS has none of these issues.
There are plenty of other games which showcase how 50HZ is superior such as Panzer Dragoon Saga where audio doesn't lose sync like it does in the NTSC versions.
Finally the last part which isn't so much to do with the HZ comparison but still plays a very interesting role in PAL vs NTSC. Many titles in the US seemed to be rushed and released for the market where as in the PAL areas bugs were fixed and missing content no matter how small was put in place. Sega Rally for example feels very rushed and has one or two MINOR 'bugs' compared to the PAL release, the most obvious being the giant polygon mountain in the Forest track by the hair pin turning at the cliff.
Now what's my point of all this? Well I just figured I'd share some itneresting information with you all. PAL isn't as bad as it seems when you take everything on board. Sure you get some borders no matter how big or small but we had many advantages over NTSC which makes the games play and and look far more presentable.
Either way I hope whoever reads this enjoyed the look into this topic and maybe it'll help someone some how.
Now there are obvious advantages regarding 60HZ speed on a saturn and these are
Games play at full screen with no borders.
Games run full speed rather than the 17.5% slower at 50HZ
Now with 50HZ.
Borders of different sizes (depending on optimisations)
Games run 17.5% slower when not optimised.
Now that's all simple enough but this HZ war goes much further than just full screen and speed because I've noticed many different issues when it comes to NTSC titles.
Most people talk about how we were screwed over in PAL territories when it comes to Saturn but I disagree. Sure there are some games which weren't optimised and ran a little slower but then most of the library of games which are worth owning and where speed even matters are PAL optimised and run at the same speed as the NTSC versions.
Next is the issue of borders. Sure they aren't pretty and I'd rather them not be there but to be honest when I'm playing a game my focus instantly is on just that; the game. Borders seem to just disappear since focusing on the game play takes up my attention.
Now here's where it becomes VERY interesting regarding the 50/60HZ war and that is on performance of games as well as the quality.
Many games in NTSC format have bugs and issues which are NOT present in PAL counterparts. To my understanding this is down to the refresh rates of the HZ between territories. Many different games play better in PAL whether its rendering issues and stable framerates etc. A minor gripe to some but to others it's a serious annoyance. A perfect example of this is Sonic Jam. Massive and very regular frame rate drops throughout the game when playing Sonic 2 yet the PAL version has no framerate issues at all throughout.
Another is NiGHTS into dreams where there is major rendering issues at times where the GUI on screen glitches up and polygons begin tearing and even disparaging. As with Sonic Jam the PAL version of NiGHTS has none of these issues.
There are plenty of other games which showcase how 50HZ is superior such as Panzer Dragoon Saga where audio doesn't lose sync like it does in the NTSC versions.
Finally the last part which isn't so much to do with the HZ comparison but still plays a very interesting role in PAL vs NTSC. Many titles in the US seemed to be rushed and released for the market where as in the PAL areas bugs were fixed and missing content no matter how small was put in place. Sega Rally for example feels very rushed and has one or two MINOR 'bugs' compared to the PAL release, the most obvious being the giant polygon mountain in the Forest track by the hair pin turning at the cliff.
Now what's my point of all this? Well I just figured I'd share some itneresting information with you all. PAL isn't as bad as it seems when you take everything on board. Sure you get some borders no matter how big or small but we had many advantages over NTSC which makes the games play and and look far more presentable.
Either way I hope whoever reads this enjoyed the look into this topic and maybe it'll help someone some how.