PAL and NTSC question

[zv5385ea]

Hello,

i have a question.
Can i play NTSC-Games on my PAL-Xbox??
I have a mod chip in my Xbox.

[kosmiq]

Yes you can. Get an application for the xbox called "Enigmah VideoMode Switchdisc". Before you run it though check if your TV can handle NTSC and PAL. Otherwise you could get black and white picture only or if you are really unlucky plain black.

If you are unsure you can download Enigmah anyways and look at it when booted (hint: burn it to a DVD-r with a dummy file at about 1.5gb and boot it) and you will be presented with "A for NTSC" and "B for PAL" or if it was the reverse... No matter you will see it there anyways.

[zv5385ea]

I have a question how i can look that my TV use NTSC and how make that??

[Joe Forster/STA]

Read the manual of the TV, ask the shop where you bought it or search for its exact type on the manufacturer's web site. (Quite a lot of TV's, sold in Europe, are dual/multi-norm/standard ones which means they can display PAL/SECAM as well as NTSC properly, with colors.)

[sczepo]

Originally Posted by zv5385ea

Hello,

i have a question.
Can i play NTSC-Games on my PAL-Xbox??
I have a mod chip in my Xbox.

Hey Can some one answer this i have enigma but how can i get it to work if im playing games from my HDD on the Xbox or is there another way i can do it. Im Using XBMC could i launch another dash and then the games. Any help would be great.

Regards

ME

[Quall999]

The enigmah video selector changes your xbox region definition, it should be pal/ntsc for everything.

PS: the Enigma dash is not the same as the Enigmah hacker group (which is dead on the x-scene).

[aeoric]

I know you guys are probably never going to look at a thread
regarding a topic this old again - but worth a try

I'm a UK Xbox owner (PAL) that had an old version of XBMC
on it for many years.

Since I work in the USA, I brought it and my Network HDD
over with the intention of watching movies, TV rips etc on
my HDTV over here as I've heard that the Xbox can upscale
to 720p and 1080i.

I had tried this before (when I had a regular Analogue TV
over here 2yrs ago) and bought a little device to convert
PAL to NTSC - but the best I got was a picture that
cascaded down the screen too fast to interpret (it was in
colour though).

I've ordered the Xbox --> Composite cable which should
be arriving soon that may allow me to watch HD quality
(sortof) output.

I attempted to load an updated (bleeding edge as they
called it) copy of XBMC onto the Xbox last night (which
appears to have worked as I can see the new screens).

It is the latest T3CH version.

However I'm still getting the cascading picture on my
NTSC HDTV.

I've FTP'd the Enigmah image to E/APPS/ but as I can't
make out what the screen is displaying - I have no idea
what keypresses will get me to the correct menus and
options to launch it

As I understand it - I can also copy this image to a CD,
but I hear people have trouble with the Xbox reading
both CD-R and CDRW.

I have a softmodded (not chipped) Xbox - will the
Enigmah Video Selector work on a softmodded box ?

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to which format
CD I should use, or tips on creating it (someone said
something about putting it on a DVD and either putting
a 1.5Gb file before or after it - wasn't clear).

Or if someone has the image on their Xbox and uses
the T3CH version of the XBMX, could they tell me a
list of button-presses to get to the image so I can
launch it (remember I can't make out the picture on
the screen - it's cascading too fast).

Can someone suggest any other way to do this ?

Or - if anyone has a Sony XBR4 HDTV, could they
let me know if there is a setting available for it to
accept PAL (I will still need to use NTSC to get HD
but at least I'll be able to read what's on the screen
in order to do it).

Thanks in advance,

Aeoric

[Quall999]

Well, please tell me if I left any of your questions unanswered. That was a long post.

1. The xbox will only output in HD under NTSC. In order for the xbox to output in 480p, 720p, or 1080i, you will need to switch to NTSC. Even then, you must also own the advanced video HD cable to output component. And you may need to patch each game's xbe to use 480p+ since it is technically not supported by most games.

2. Changing video modes cannot be done in XBMC. XBMC will output whatever the xbox is set to. The only video format settings are for changing the skin formatting. The video switching was removed because people kept clicking it, not knowing what it was, and then complaining that it had screwed their xbox.

3. As for button combinations. When the Enigmah software loads, Press (A) for Pal, and (B) to change to NTSC.

5. How are you burning the image? When writing to a disk, are you writing it like any ole' file, or are you doing an image burn? If you send it to your xbox, then you need to extract the image first and send the files. Evox has an FTP. Also, use cd-rw's.
I do not know how old your build is, but look here:
http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=List_of_Built_In_Functions

You can launch the video mode selector from FTP. Your FTP client should have a "Send raw ftp command" somewhere.

you want to send this raw command:
XBMC.RunXBE(f:\apps\enigmah\default.xbe)

obviously you will need to change the path to point to your folder.

[aeoric]

Originally Posted by Quall999

Well, please tell me if I left any of your questions unanswered. That was a long post.

I appreciate your prompt reply actually.

Originally Posted by Quall999

1. The xbox will only output in HD under NTSC. In order for the xbox to output in 480p, 720p, or 1080i, you will need to switch to NTSC. Even then, you must also own the advanced video HD cable to output component. And you may need to patch each game's xbe to use 480p+ since it is technically not supported by most games.

Ok - will never need it for gaming (I use a PC for that, not much of a console gamer).

I have the HD cables coming in the post, and you confirm what I'd read - I need to switch it to NTSC for this to work. And here is the crux of the problem.

The box is softmodded (no additional chips have ever been added) - so I can't find any definitive reference as to whether Enigmah will even work on a softmodded box only.

I've downloaded Enigmah (and v.2) from a site - but I can't mount/explore the image using any of the tools you would normally use for this - thus I can't see a default.xbe associated with them.

I've FTP'd them to the Xbox under E/APPS/ as images (not directory structures).

The main problem however - that at this point seems insurmountable is that whatever I do - the screen keeps scrolling/cascading down at a rate that's too fast to interpret/read. I cannot see what options I'm selecting with the controller. Thus I cannot browse or launch anything this way (unless someone with the same (latest) version of T3CH's XBMC were to give me the key-presses needed).

I tried using Nero to write the 'data image' of Enigmah and (as some people suggested) I filled the rest of the disk up with other 'dummy files'.

However - I can't even tell if it's able to read the disc (as the picture is scrolling too fast).

I'm tempted to aquire a CDRW and DVD-R and do the same thing - but I'm faced with the same problem.

I guess I'm looking for a way to change the setting from PAL to NTSC either remotely OR as if I cannot see the screen (a list of key-presses from boot until completion).

Or - if there's a way (like the old autoexec days of yore) that I can get the Xbox to launch into that app (Enigmah) upon boot - then select 'B' - that might work - but I wouldn't know how to implement this.

Regarding Evo-X etc, I have no clue what this is or what dashboard I'm using.

Originally Posted by Quall999

2. Changing video modes cannot be done in XBMC. XBMC will output whatever the xbox is set to. The only video format settings are for changing the skin formatting. The video switching was removed because people kept clicking it, not knowing what it was, and then complaining that it had screwed their xbox.

3. As for button combinations. When the Enigmah software loads, Press (A) for Pal, and (B) to change to NTSC.

If I could see the picture to navigate to launch the program - I could try this.

Originally Posted by Quall999

5. How are you burning the image? When writing to a disk, are you writing it like any ole' file, or are you doing an image burn? If you send it to your xbox, then you need to extract the image first and send the files. Evox has an FTP. Also, use cd-rw's.
I do not know how old your build is, but look here:
http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=List_of_Built_In_Functions

You can launch the video mode selector from FTP. Your FTP client should have a "Send raw ftp command" somewhere.

you want to send this raw command:
XBMC.RunXBE(f:\apps\enigmah\default.xbe)

obviously you will need to change the path to point to your folder.

This might be an option - but I wouldn't know where to begin

As mentioned above - I use the (latest) version of T3CH's XBMC

[Quall999]

If they build from SVN, which seems to be the case, then those commands are probably there.

Get C-Box
Link

Then, extract the xbox iso with it. It will leave you with the default.xbe and other files. Then you can send them via ftp and launch from xbmc. When it loads, press (B).

I do not know if the tool will work with a softmod. I don't see why not. The files loaded off the HDD do not have anything to do with the video mode of the system. I was very busy yesterday, so I did not have time to reply. Hope this helps.

[Matthew Kane]

What exactly do PAL and NTSC mean???? Please somebody explain technically for me!
I have XBOX and PS2 games, and they all have PAL on it???and a couple NTSC.....so wat exactly do they mean?

[Quall999]

It is the format for each region's display standards. The different encodings have separate methods for storing colors, and display at a different frequency. That is the technical description.

The different encodings are used by retail companies to differentiate regions, mostly. A lot of this has to do with trade rights as well. Retailers disallow importing electronics from other regions by locking them into displaying and interpreting only one signal.

If a game or system were to be released in the UK an entire year before the US, then I would not be able to import and play it. The game would not work on my system, and a system would not work on my TV. If the game was cheaper in the UK, I would not be able to play it if I were to import it. Companies are not going to produce different hardware though. Instead, then will produce hardware that can render both modes, and lock it to a region.

How can one tell if an Xbox ISO is PAL or NTSC?

[Joe Forster/STA]

Uhm, you look at the box of the original DVD?

[Quall999]