PAL 50Hz or NTSC-U

[Geistmensch]

I know there is PAL 60, and despite some games supporting 60Hz. Not all european release PlayStation 2 games support 60hz Natively.
PAL has higher base resolution than NTSC, but is 10hz slower.
European releases are also sometimes multilingual release, or language exclusive releases.

Though not all Playstation 2 games run at stable 60fps, that means maybe it's wiser to opt for some PAL games. Though for consistency I always opt for NTSC-U games despite me living in Greece.

When downloading ISO's which region you prefer and why?

 

[ciro64]

Well, my TVs and consoles are NSTC, but I prefer it either way because higher framerate.

 

[Burzuru]

pal for european games ntsc-u for american games. some euro games get sped up in their american releases because they didn't account for the game speed being tied to frame rate.

 

[secreto7]

NTSC for speed, PAL for when there is exclusive content, language, or just because I like the differences better.

 

[Potapota]

I think this is something better judged on case-by-case basis. I don't see much reason beyond having a 50hz only pal CRT to actually prefer them. Even that is more or less solved by just going to the nearest dumpster and picking up a 60hz compatible crt.

 

[Amag0k1]

From my experience, back in the 80s, 90s, early 2000s, a lot of the refresh rates where tied to power input i believe, and the tech to do anything beyond the standard came at a premium.

It was stated in the material at the time that the standards where tied to input power = refresh rate. so u.k =PAL, 230 (240v) 50hz, USA = NTSC 110 (120v) @ 60hz.


From what i remember (old brain not work so gud) that premium cost was the reason why it was not as popular, with it not becoming main stream i think until the discussions of speed of beat em ups in European countries vs states started to kick off. I remember this a lot back in the arcades too, as they could afford to invest in faster 60hz machines, as there ROI was higher, since it attracted players to put coins in the for privilege of the experience.

I do not think we saw 60hz at home properly till the time of the Sega Saturn, as if you know how to solder, Sega had a simple dip switch method (simple resisters which changed the operations, giving a output depending on which legs of the chip where brought low or to 5v) to change between regions and speed, but the software had to be comparable with the dip switch change.

Sega saturn ref guide i use.

(some sware by a chip as it can provide these inputs and provide better timming having an in built osilator, but that is not always the case, and can end up being more complex to mod.)

Now we live in a full digital age, which much higher frequencies being possible, with some of the highest displays i have seen being at 5000hz.

 

[Nelson2001 Nelson2001]

NTSC-J and NTSC-U they work at 60Hz No problems, while in PAL (Europe and Oceania) they work at 50Hz although the minimum clock frequency for it to operate at 60Hz in the PAL Region is 100MHz or more and there are several games that support PAL60 starting with the Sega Dreamcast (The First Desktop Console to have PAL60 support in the 75% of the Game Catalog), PlayStation 2 (Only a handful of games because the PS2 is not very designed to run games on PAL60 due to the special hardware and software that the Sony console itself has), XBOX, GameCube (Most of the Games), XBOX 360, PlayStation 3, Wii (Same as on the GameCube), etc.

 

[Anim8rDude Anim8rDude]

I like how everybody voted NTSC-U lol. The increased resolution for PAL is a myth! I swear whenever I try booting something PAL on consoles, it never displays properly to begin with, always giving me hiccups one way or another down the line.
I really do bless all the games that use PAL60, it's a nice thing to do. Certainly when most of the region exclusives actually do this!

 

[Fray Guillermo]

I grew up in PAL region so that's what I've played for my whole life, but now any stuff I download I get the NTSC versions because of the framerate (can't be bothered to go looking up if the games have 60hz support and I don't mind playing in english), although it hurts my pride lmao and most NTSC artworks are ass

 

[Geistmensch]

I swear whenever I try booting something PAL on consoles, it never displays properly to begin with, always giving me hiccups one way or another down the line.

As a european I think, that's probably because NTSC-U scales perfectly with 16:9 resolutions.
PAL having higher base resolution absolutely means nothing in emulation because the renderer (D3D, OpenGL and Vulkan) is responsible in rendering graphics in your PC monitor.

I run my PS2 games on a HDTV (means minimum resolution is at least 720p native) and using a prebuilt GBS Control upscaler to run NTSC-U games at 1080p and simply adding a multiplier of x1.5 you get a perfect set resolutions of; base resolution 320p, then 480p, 720p and 1080p.

Where as for PAL it's a mess,..

The frames are generated in progressive mode since the GBS Control deinterlaces for HDMI output.

although it hurts my pride lmao and most NTSC artworks are ass

I can relate lmao. Also I don't like the imperial system some games implement like Gran turismo 3 (U)

 

[DanCalibur]

Always NTSC if available and I still catch myself looking for the American version of games for modern consoles or even portables, old habits die hard

 

[Retro Doomer]

Well, old chaps, to be completely honest, I prefer to play games in my native language from time to time without having to translate everything in a split second. However, if I don't care about the language or if the game is only playable in English most games prior to the PS1 fall into this category then I prefer to play NTSC-U versions, especially for shooter and racing games. Unfortunately, if I want to play on my original hardware, I have to buy and play PAL versions because my PS2 isn't modded, and it only plays European games. The same goes for my PS3. I’ve heard that’s the case, so there's no point in buying American PS1 games to play on my European PS3. I really loathe region locks with every fiber of my being.
Bellow I tried to sound more like a British Gentleman for Fun.

---

Ah, my dear fellows, to be perfectly frank, I do prefer to indulge in gaming in my native tongue from time to time, without the need for rapid translation at every turn. That said, if the game in question is only available in English or if I simply do not mind the language I tend to favour the NTSC-U versions, particularly for shooters and racing titles. Regrettably, should I wish to enjoy these on my original hardware, I am compelled to acquire and play PAL editions, as my PlayStation 2 remains unmodified and thus only accepts European games. The same limitation applies to my PlayStation 3. I have heard it said that this is the case, so purchasing American PlayStation 1 titles for use on my European PS3 seems rather futile. I must confess, I have a profound aversion to region locks and all that they entail.

 

[AkiraSO4]

NTSC all day, lol. Especially on non CRT TVs. I remember playing a PAL game on PS1 on an HDTV for the first time and the colors looking downright blurry and ugly. This is why NTSC conversion patches exist.

 

[RashFaustinho]

Originally PAL was overall better, yes you got a slight speed decrease, but the colors were more vivid and in general the picture looked better.

However with the arrival of emulation, and HDTVs, this relationship flipped.

 

[Amag0k1]

Originally PAL was overall better, yes you got a slight speed decrease, but the colors were more vivid and in general the picture looked better.

However with the arrival of emulation, and HDTVs, this relationship flipped.

In my experience, i would question the idea of "slight speed decrease",But for beat-em ups, this was a big problem. You can grab a version of street fighter alpha 1 pal and compare with a USA copy. You will see the difference is painfully slow, and the timing in these fighters make a huge difference in play ability.

For other games like final fantasy 7 and the like, it might not have had a big impact beyond the size of the screen, so i guess unless you played fighters back in the day it might not have been a big deal imho.

But may be my nostalgia is in the way, as i loved fighter!
Was never good at them, but when i played and a friend came over with an NTSC version of Alpha, Tekken or other games like that, it made a massive difference in play.

 

[Deleted member 360084]

If they were programmed originaly to run in 30/60fps there is no any good reason to play in PAL versions. I can only think about one exception - FFX, which included extra content at the time.

 

[MemeAlert]

...is this a rhetorical question? Do you like playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 50hz?

 

[Amag0k1]

...is this a rhetorical question? Do you like playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 50hz?

Relativistic, as while i agree 60hz and up are much better, a lot of people first experienced 50hz and are comfortable with it for sonic. I would argue that it might even improve game play, considering how hard he can be to control on curtain runs, especially if your trying to look for hidden things.

 

[Miles Miles]

60hz is much better because it's a higher framerate and the vast majority of games were made for 60hz in mind

 

[Amag0k1]

60hz is much better because it's a higher framerate and the vast majority of games were made for 60hz in mind

in recent years, sure but back then.... Tell that to ta Saturn game made for pal region that you try and play on a 60hz Saturn. Unless the programmers develop it to change depending on what is detected, you get crashes.

 

[Geistmensch]

I think when people referring to the "slight speed decrease" they're referring mostly from the 8bit era to the 16bit era where 3D acceleration wasn't even a thing yet and games ran mostly full speed.

From PSX and onwards because of 3D accelerated graphics we're so demanding they could not keep up with the maximum refresh rate. As a european for emulation I pick NTSC because of how well it scales with modern 16:9 ratios, and it's easier to upscale with an upscaler.

I also have a good old CRT TV, but for that situation I will always prefer PAL because it was virtually designed for it.

 

[Dannzy]

Whatever works with the intended game speed.

 

[MegaDrive1987]

I was converted back in 1998 as my friend had an NTSC copy of Resident Evil 2 on PS1, I noticed the game ran quicker and asked him why, he then explained it was running in 60Hz. That night i had to go home and play my 50Hz version and it felt sluggish haha. From that day on it's 60Hz only unless the game is a PAL exclusive. I remember burning a copy of his version on my PC.

 

[Deleted member 58254]

I prefer 60Hz no matter what