PS1 Advice needed on PS1/CRT setup

[jellyfrog]

Hi all,

I'd like to play some old PS1 favourites of mine that I haven't played for years, and I'm really interested in the idea of playing them on an actual PS1 (or possibly PS One) in combination with a genuine CRT television.

After doing some initial reading, it seems as though the best options for a PS1 console might be either the SCPH-750x, the SCPH-900x or possibly a PS One.

I'm based in the UK, and so growing up I will have only ever owned PAL versions of the PS1 and games. However, I've read that NTSC consoles (and respective games) run with a higher smoother framerate (around 30FPS) vs around 25FPS for PAL? If this is the case, I've been wondering whether I could perhaps purchase an NTSC console and games. This would presumably depend on whether there are CRTs available in the UK that can cope with NTSC / 60Hz? (I read somewhere that some later-released UK CRTs, made by Sony I think, can do both PAL and NTSC).

If I did manage to find a UK CRT like the above, and bought an NTSC PS1, I guess there'd still be an issue around the power supply for the console? Presumably the voltage / amps or whatever would be totally wrong, as well as the power cord / plug? (As you can tell, I have extremely limited electrical knowledge). I vaguely remember reading you can use something to deal with this issue, but there was a lot of electrical jargon so I don't recall exactly what I read...

As you can see, I have a lot of questions and not a lot of knowledge or experience, so I'm hoping some nice folk here can help me out a bit.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

- jellyfrog (Leah)

 

[Berion]

PAL games = 50Hz, NTSC = 60Hz.

Not all CRTs support PAL/NTSC/SECAM. Such information is in manual but... who kept manuals for CRT TVs? ;]

Yes, different PSU is used across regions if I remember correct. You need a converter.

 

[jellyfrog]

PAL games = 50Hz, NTSC = 60Hz.

Not all CRTs support PAL/NTSC/SECAM. Such information is in manual but... who kept manuals for CRT TVs? ;]

Yes, different PSU is used across regions if I remember correct. You need a converter.

Yeah. I wonder what the availability of UK NTSC-capable CRTs (i.e. manufactured for UK power input with UK 3-pin plug) that are half-decent and in good working condition is like...

I guess you mean the console PSU? And cool, I guess a converter for the consoles power supply is a fairly simple addition to get an UK NTSC PS1 gaming experience But that's if everything else I've mentioned is actually possible and the CRTs / consoles are actually available (and affordable haha).

Thanks for your response!

 

[mimi]

PAL have better colors. And games feel fine, its not like sega mega drive, when game were really slowed down.
PS2 75000 series dont have ps1 hardware anymore, so ps1 games are emulated. 70000 series and below does have hardware support for ps1 games.
Avoid 100Hz tvs. And composite cable will be good, since many games rely on dithering and RGB scart cable will show ugly dithering patters and will not show trick effects correctly.


https://twitter.com/CRTpixels

 

[jellyfrog]

PAL have better colors. And games feel fine, its not like sega mega drive, when game were really slowed down.
PS2 75000 series dont have ps1 hardware anymore, so ps1 games are emulated. 70000 series and below does have hardware support for ps1 games.
Avoid 100Hz tvs. And composite cable will be good, since many games rely on dithering and RGB scart cable will show ugly dithering patters and will not show trick effects correctly.

Hi, thanks for the response. I think you may have misread my post though, as I am interested in PS1s, whereas you seem to be talking about PS2s? Unless you're stating that you think 70000-series-or-below-PS2s are a better idea than PS1s?

 

[mimi]

Hi, thanks for the response. I think you may have misread my post though, as I am interested in PS1s, whereas you seem to be talking about PS2s? Unless you're stating that you think 70000-series-or-below-PS2s are a better idea than PS1s?

Yeah, i misread it.
7500x is the best. I think you can settle up with ps1 alone. PS2 is more versatile, but has that stupid power brick, unless you go fat. And you can mod ps2 with only memory card to run ps1 backups (mechapwn), there are some game incompatibilities, but for very obscure games.

 

[MottZilla]

Your CRT TV does not need to support NTSC if you use a SCART RGB cable. You just need the TV to be capable of 60hz vertical refresh rate. I don't know if those aren't very common in the UK but I suspect that the later model CRTs it was much more common than older ones.

Using a PS2 is not a bad option if you can sort out what you need for your specific setup. The ideal setup these days would be to get either the X-Station or PSIO to avoid needing to burn CD-Rs. If you want to run games at 60hz you could look into a console mod or just go with a NTSC unit.

To use a NTSC unit in the UK you just need a decent step down transformer to convert the 230 volts AC down to 120 volts AC. For just powering the console it won't need to be a very big transformer. But these devices are pretty common and often used by international travelers. Just double check everything as feeding 200+ volts into a NTSC console will kill the power supply and *might* damage other components.

I disagree with mimi, I would avoid using Composite video. I highly recommend using RGB if possible. However, if Composite looks fine to you then I'd recommend not worrying about RGB. Composite video on an analog CRT still beats using any digital TV/monitor in my opinion.