I have a few corrections and clarifications: 0) I updated the video with a few more links on where to buy the Kawari (both domestic and international) 1) The PCB design files have not been uploaded yet to github. The firmware and other supporting software is open source but the PCBs are not open hardware (yet). 2) There are some limits re: using on-board oscillators. Some specialty cartridges that use the dot clock pin on the cartridge port won't work unless you move the clock src jumper to 'motherboard' position. The Kawari site has more information about this.
The fact that this supports NTSC 50 is really cool. However, if you can get in touch with the developer, I think it'd be just as cool if you could suggest they add a setting for PAL-M/PAL 60.
Hi Adrian... Would it not be fair to suggest that the problems with NTSC and PAL was down to lazy programmers not bothering to release suitable versions at the time or insert routines to detect what platform the games or software was running on? In addition... using FPGA substitutes either the VIC-II Kawari or the ultimate 2+ for example do not have voltage protection against power spikes and can be very easy to damage over normal components.. Would be great if you could do a video on this possibility.. FPGA is great but are very prone to voltage damage....
@@rfxtuber I have a lot of C64 books, but none of them discusses that problem. I would like to know how to make sure programs work both with NTSC and PAL.
@@NuntiusLegis Agreed.. Beyond using cracked versions with intros when loading C64 software/games ect seldom have any detection or selection of NTSC or PAL.. Not sure if there is any software or cartridge related tools that could be used for this detection even after all these years!!!!
A game changer indeed, this does stuff that I've wanted in a C64 ever since I first _got_ a C64! Ordered by the time the video ended, thanks for the great demonstration :)
I kinda sad the Vic20 doesn't get as much love. Not really much for modern replacement chips as far as I can tell compared to the c64. This is still an amazing new part though
@@definitelycasualpcs8789Vic 20 was really too weak out of the box, tiny bit of ram, so few displayable columns, not as much software support, etc. 64 was everything vic-20 was, and more.
@@maxxdahl6062 true but the Vic has a following, and there really not as much support as the c64.... The c64 has a newer sid, now a Vic 2 modern chip etc...
@@definitelycasualpcs8789 Even with all it's faults, I'd still really like to get a vic-20 at some point. But if you're into old school commodore 8 bit machines, the 64 is really the one that anyone would need.
@@maxxdahl6062 I have 2 vics (ones got a dead video chip...) and a c64... I use them both about the same to play games and stuff.... Altho yea the c64 Is a lot better.
Randy Rossi is awesome. He has made the BMC64 that runs a bare metal Commodore 64 on a Raspberry Pi. It's even possible to hook up real C64 joysticks and keyboards to it through the GPIO pins on the Pi. I have my C128DCR keyboard hooked up like that. I made a plastic box with a DB25 connector for the keyboard and 2 DE9s for the joysticks and 'it freaking works!'
I rather prefer that option than inserting expensive closed FPGAs all over the original 64; I get it (eventually) EVERY chip in the original 64 from the early 80s will fail but I kinda see these FPGA "solutions" as an expensive option the seller tries to push in by way of including "features" like that pal-ntsc change on the fly, hi-res output, etc. I'd rather go with (if it exists) with a fully open source programmable cheap option like a raspberyy pi zero or pico emulating the VIC-II in that socket.
@@alerey4363 the messed up part is, that raspi prices went thru the roof a while ago ... at some places, a pi zero 2 is almost as expensive as the whole "small board" version of this FPGA thing, while a pi 4 is at least as expensive as the "large board" version ... and a raspberry is not any less "closed" hardware than an FPGA ...
Adrian, as a kid I remember some of the older kids talking about all the VIC II versions and it was so funny because I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about; however, I do remember that my buddy's C64 didn't do as well running BC's Quest for Tires and Hardball as my machine did. It may have had something to do with this chip as his was one of the first machines that came out! Great video and keep up the good work!
I think there were some very early versions that had some issues with some specific games. You guys must have found some of those -- or something was slightly wrong with his VIC-II chip :-)
Hi Adrian, I never thought that there would be so much support, interest, new products, and interest in the 64 families given the number of years it has been since it was since the 64 was in its heyday. More power to you.
As always Adrian, great informative video. In Australia (PAL) we tend to have TVs and video devices (VCR/DVR) that handle both NTSC and PAL, and also some for PAL-60. But specific vintage monitors like the 1084 are definitely PAL bound.
Working on my C64 at the moment on my channel. Love that so much is being created still for these machines. Projects are coming out all the time. Keep up the great work and keeping these old machines going 😊
My breadbin (326298 rev) NTSC C64 that I got from my older cousin who used it in its heyday was supposed to be this quiet little machine being brought back occasionally to run the random game from time to time. Thanks to videos like these and from random expertise all around the internet, just in 2023, I got a replacement power supply from Keelog, a BackBit cartridge to almost never mess with 5.25" disks anymore and now this, to open up large world of PAL wonders of the demoscene. RABBIT HOLE!
@24:57 ...fun fact: I personally used and preferred the "PAL 60" mode on any game console that supports it here in germany. I used this special mode since the 90's on CRTs and still on modern flat panel displays nowadays.
Awesome video, Adrian. And an excellent introduction to a very cool addition to the C64 goodie bag. I just placed an order for the Mini! Cannot wait to get it and try out NTSC 50 mode on my 1702 monitor. Thank you!
I picked one of these up. This is exactly what i was looking for to get native pal games/apps/demos working on ny ntsc hardware. This is such a brilliant idea!
I was finally able to get the big board version of this. It's friggin' amazing. Randy is also incredible. He helped me with an issue I was having with mine.
i am so glad you spent your time with the creator of these new chips its one thing to make something modern like this but its an even better result when the results are identical to the original in every way.
It's super satisfying hearing someone finally say in a video that "50Hz and 60Hz has nothing to do with PAL or NTSC", something I must've said hundreds of times at this point. 99% of the CRT TVs you'll ever find here in Sweden can sync the whole 50-60Hz range no problem, dozens of CRTs, being part of a local CRT FB group, doing repairs, being in a discord server with tons of european CRT users. Most people in the US has such a misconception of what TVs here are capable off. The only reason 50Hz was used in older game consoles was simply because of that 1%, people using TVs from the 70s and the like, ones with manual vhold pots rather than auto syncing. A minority by the 90s. Anyway, if you're using RGB then PAL or NTSC no longer matters. Then it becomes RGBs + refreshrate. If you aren't using RGB then it does matter since you'll get no colors in a lot of cases, most big TVs will decode NTSC, some older 80s TVs will not decode proper NTSC but NTSC 4.43 (meant for use with import tapes for region free players, cheaper to implement than 3.58), later that decade TVs just started supporting real NTSC 3.58 as well. Either case, if your TV is on the smaller side or not as feature rich, at a minimum you'll do RGB in the vast majority of sets.
Great vid! And Randi is a boss. Love his BMC64 bare metal Commodore emulator release for the Pi. Really like that NTSC 50 option too. Almost makes me want to get another C64 to try it out... (too many projects on the list tho right now... but it looks really great!)
I love this product. The HDMI output is perfect and I've not seen a problem so far switching between PAL and NTSC. I get the best of all worlds. it's a bit expensive, but totally worth it. I'm using it in an EVO64 and Ultimate 1541 II+ cartridge. It's really the best of all worlds at once.
Im confused. Is there an Minimig on the FPGA? Im on A1200 with real moto CPU axel 68030. Also have two ULTIMATE 64 fPGA c64s. I saw the workbench scroll by.
I'll see you at VCF West! I'll be speaking in the morning on Saturday, but I will absolutely be watching the other sessions as well! You are my people!
Great wideo and I really appreciate your effort to explain everything :) even your fast speaking is not an issue I appreciate that sacrifice to inform community. Best regards from Poland :)
You are completely right PAL-M uses 60Hz and PAL-N has 50Hz (there are others). The number of lines depends on the power frequency so even B&W TVs change the number of lines. People tend to misunderstand that.
Great project, thanks to all who made this happen. I kept checking back on the website and finally got to purchase one, should be delivered any day now 😁👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻.
Always excellent videos, thank you. I hope I'm not going to start a flame war here - as someone who didn't have one BITD, now I do I can't help notice how 'muddy' the standard colours are on the C=64. Being able to change them on the Kawari has certainly got my interest. On a less divisive subject the Acorn BBC series of computers have a similar GFX chip replacement that adds lots of extra modes and palletised colours! The latter especially allows the Beeb to do things undreamt of by it's designers... that the Kawari can do the same should open similar possibilities.
Wow, so very cool! I love my 1702s, so really glad to see something like this make them continue to be used with some of the newer PAL releases with this kind of mod/add-on.
Awesome 👏 video Adrian Black. I am super excited of installing one of these on my EVO64 (wonder if it’ll work)… Lots of explanation about differences of PAL & NTSC hardware and the NTSC-50 hack is cool for NTSC Regions. You’ve talked alot about the Mini Kiwari-II, however, I would like to also of seen the digital output quality of the RGB/mini HDMI port demonstrating on modern LCD/LED/OLED TV’s we have nowadays. (Felt it was skipped on this). That way to decide whether of buying the mini or larger version is an informative choice… Anyway! Maybe a quick follow up video to it perhaps? Anyway, keep up the great work. Your videos are always amazing 🤩
Cool product. Maybe you can ask Randy to add "(NTSC)" or "(PAL)" after the VIC-II chip model. No need to have people to look up which chips are which standard or force memorization. This is akin to silk screening things on the PCB like switch/jumper settings, component model number or component values and I don't think it would take much for him to implement, so why not?
You sure are a good consultant on these hardware projects and an excellent presenter of their features.🙂 Interesting to see PAL come up in the present but I guess with the heavy EU origins to the C64 scene that's going to happen. That's neat about NTSC having some 50Hz support, consolidated region screen support would be nice.
Hey Adrien, I’m somewhat new to the Commodore 64 scene, I’m looking to build my own system soon. New question: I bought the MOS 16-bit variant of the 6510 CPU to experiment with. Can I put the 16-bit variant CPU into the Commodore 64C board and expect it to work? Or would I only see garbage instead on the screen? Thanks for your great content!
I bought a Panasonic TV in the 90s, Australia. Wasn't aiming for anything special but it did pretty much everything bar SECAM. PAL 50/60, NTSC 50/60 including with the colour at 4.43MHz.
It's amazing how it's not uncommon for TVs internationally to be like that, but in North America and Japan, finding a TV that does anything but NTSC is extremely rare.
Great video, I am an Atari 8-bit computer hobbyist but found this very informative. Quick question the RetroTink does it only have a SCART output, or does it also have an HDMI output. Which one would you buy if you had an 800XL, 600XL or 130XE? I found the RetroTink website but don't know which version would be advantageous for which situation?
Seems so very much awesome. One thing I missed though, and don't want to hunt through the video for: Did this work both ways, i.e. can this be put into a PAL system to switch it between PAL & NTSC modes, and to modify its colours?
Especially the NTSC50 mode (which of course instantly caught my eye 😄) is really cool. I met the creator of Sam''s Journey (Chester Kollschen) on a retro convention here and talked to him about the necessity to have the REU for the NTSC version of the game, but with this chip you can now just play the PAL version 👍
have you ever tried to run Sam's Journey Cartridge (only available on PAL) on an NTSC machine??? well, I did!!! It works almost perfectly, just minor glitches and some slowdown from time to time, but it's completely playable!!! I bought SJ (cartridge version) but I play SJ as a cartridge image as well with my KungFuFlash, and the game plays flawless
A little correction: PAL TV's: CRT's most likely will not display a NTSC signal, BUT at least display it without colors. I tested this in the 90s and most PAL CRT's and they WILL show an NTSC grayscale image. Even some of the most earliest TFT TV's can fully display NTSC though. I also use a special monitor to show NTSC in color on a CRT. With any Apple II the colors are vibrant and the picture is clearer than I expected.
From 1998 on, multiformat TVs were almost unavoidable if you bought anything that wasn't absolute cheapest junk. I think all Sony sets were multiformat. Generally VCRs were multiformat too, the issue was that it was never advertised it just showed up. Some you had to go hunting through the service manual, but a few years later it was just standard. At least with quality Japanese/Asian brands. I assume it was cheaper to build TVs that worked in Japan and PAL/SECAM countries.
@@OscarSommerbo THAT is a weird argument. I DID ask Japanese friends to record Animu from the TV's on tape for me. Since they were cheapstakes, the used 120mins tapes and recorded everything in NTSC LP. Originally I had to watch them in a Japanology institute in the library but very early on, like early 2000s, 50€players appeared that played them better. I bought one but I actually never tried one of these to convert NTSC color to PAL....I Still may have one of those LG ones from 2004 so I could try that out...(They play the tapes in PAL 60Hz though)
Most CRT TVs sold in Europe from the 90s on should be able to display a 60hz color signal over Scart/RGB or Component but they don't do it over composite. In practice, they support PAL60 rather than NTSC proper. At least that's my understanding.
@@amerigocosta7452Many crt sets sold in Europe from the late 90s do indeed support NTSC on the composite input (note, not over rf). Sony Trinitrons are a good example. They also handle PAL-M which is basically NTSC system M but PAL colour encoding.
I think it's probably a question of time. This is an open source project. So someone who has the desire and the skills could extend the abilities even more.... When there is a will there is a way...
@@initial_kd I kinda see it as adding value to CPU architecture levels. The ViCII is for an 8 bit CPU (6502/6510). The Kawari is pushing the 8 bit envelope, what can we do now in 2023 that we could only dream about in 1984? The same is happening in the 16 bit realm (Amiga 68000) withe the PiStorm. Plug one little board into a lowly A500 and you get performance rivaling or exceeding that of an A4000. The same with modern laptops. Do I “need” a 64 bit multi core cpu with accelerated gpu, 64 gigabytes of ram and 3 terabytes of ssd? Nope. But I enjoy watching it all work together.
I've said it before, but the 64 can be surprisingly fragile. My kid sister once pulled a game cartridge with the power on, and I found out later it did damage the VIC-II. It only ruined one bit in one register, but that was the horizontal smooth scroll register. It was several years before I got around to replacing it, but anything that had horizontal smooth scroll (Ghostbusters, Hot Wheels, etc.) was unplayable, as whenever the smooth scroll advanced to that one position, the screen was garbage. The 6567s were still generally available then as I think I paid somewhere around $20 for mine? It's nice to see that a proper replacement is now available.
Yeah everything is tightly coupled and the cart slot isn't buffered on the C64, so it's totally possible to damage things by plugging or unplugging while it's running. Commodore sold all the parts back in the day (For any shop to fix machines) so the replacements were plentiful, but it definitely seems like now things are drying up and prices are skyrocketing.
5:57 Reminds me of when I played an album that I'd heard a million times on my own, slightly too fast turntable, on my dad's slightly too slow record player, and the whole time something sounded off about the songs
That can be a sign of perfect pitch, for a long time detecting speed discrepancies in hifi components was one of the only accessible signs for people who weren't involved in music. Now we have other means like games consoles and bad frame rate conversions for DVDs..! (Of course the _real_ test is whether you notice it when comparing new material, not just stuff you've listened to a ton of times.)
@@kaitlyn__L when I travel to Europe every 24fps thing is sped up to 25fps and the audio all sounds too fast. It's super annoying when watching old TV shows I know well like Star Trek, Seinfeld or Simpsons...
@@adriansdigitalbasement yes! I always hated that even when I’d never seen the NTSC releases of TV shows. European shows shot on film used to be filmed at 25fps to match broadcast, but increasingly they’re also filmed at 24 and broadcast 4% fast… like, why? It ruins movies too. No one around me would understand when I complained that people talked too fast versus the cinema.
Presumably, if you're okay with permanently replacing your VIC chip, you can recoup some of the cost of the new FPGA version by selling it on ebay. On the other hand, you might want to keep the original chip around if you want to maximize the value of your C64 if and when the day comes you want to sell it, especially since the VIC chip will have been less heavily used in the interim.
I personally wouldn't attempt to sell the old chip on ebay, just too many things can go wrong and you'd likely be out your extra chip. (either false claims of it not working, mishandled, or even things as simple as failing during shipping).
I had the feeling you was on hurry recording this video. 🤔 This time I (not English native) had to reduce playback speed to be able to folllow.😂 Sounds a bit strange , but thanks YT for this feature. Or perhaps you was so excited. 😉
You know what the C64 community needs is an all open source and modern remake of the original C64 with a ton of quality of life improvements and make it widely available. It would be cool to be able to buy a modern C64 remake that's compatible with all original hardware accessories but also had extras like HDMI output and extra features like region switching etc etc. This way you coudl buy one new modern C64 that can not only do it all but won't randomly die because it sat in a closet for too long. plus imagine the popularity of C64 homebrew with what would arguably be a better C64? Hardware mods could even go crazy. imagine realtime ray tracing on a c64 or HD video playback.
Thanks so much for the great vid, Adrian. You are apparently a time shrinker. You can turn 34 minutes into an apparent 10 minutes. "Wait, the video is over already?" :)
A good test of this may be Wizball by Sensible Software. It uses the extra scanlines afforded to it by the 50Hz mode to keep score, lives etc. out of the field of play, even most emulators "trim" it as overscan by default. It can also have many(I'd say upwards of 12 at times) sprites on screen which can cause slowdown, and could be a test for how it handles stressful situations. Disk would be faster, but first time you play it, even if just using a tape emulator instead of the real thing, load it off tape in real time. The loading music really adds to it, and it is absent from the disk version.
Not all "PAL" are 50 Hz. The letter (M, B, N) is even more important than the "PAL", "NTSC" names. Confusion arises because B is for 625 lines/50Hz and uses always PAL chroma, however M and N are 525/60 Hz and 625/50 Hz respectively, but both of them can use NTSC or PAL chroma subcarrier. For example, USA uses NTSC-M and Brazil uses PAL-M, both have 525 lines, 60 Hz. Argentina uses PAL-N with 625 lines and 50 Hz. However N and M have something in common: The chroma subcarrier has the same frecuency (different than B). So you could rename NTSC-50 as "NTSC-N"😁. If it works in NTSC-M TVs maybe it works in PAL-N TVs as well. I live in Argentina so I humble offer myself to try in a PAL-N TV!! 🤣 Awesome project anyway!!
Talking about Randy's Projects. I've tried BMC64 using a VGA666 board for the Pi, having a 15KHZ RGB output both for "PAL" and "NTSC" machines emulation. The image quality is awesome. No jailbars, and better than S-video. Also, pixel perfect thanks to the super-resolution technique.
Coming from NTSC land since 1984, yes, it IS frustrating. Finally broke down and spent money for a PAL machine just to be able to enjoy newer games and demos. Most PAL market folks seemed to have a "deal with it" attitude in my personal experiences (yours may vary). But that's the way of the world lol.
I don't know if anyone already mentioned, but in Brazil we used the PAL-M, which is PAL color with NTSC M luma, i.e., 60Hz frames. That made converting NTSC to PAL-M kind of easy, and allowed us to import stuff from the US and use here
Great video, and great news. What about those, like myself, who don't want to hoard CRTs, and just can't give up storage/workspace for them. I'd like to see what the DVI-D output has to offer. Thank you for sharing that awesome information.
In PAL Territories only later, 2000s TVs and only higher end ones are NTSC capable. My Orion 34cm TV doesn't support NTSC -- however almost all CRTs from at least the 90s support RGB, so you can use NTSC Systems which support RGB 15kHz Outputs.
Interesting! Yeah I don't really have much experience with that compatibility. I just always assumed it was much more common, at least TVs that could display 3.54 NTSC color. A few others pointed out the TVs support 60hz but don't display the color.
@@adriansdigitalbasement Correct. No TV that I have that still works has any issues with displaying a stable 60Hz picture via any input, its just black and white via either Composite or RF (S-Video is VERY uncommon here for lower end TV Sets, again, higher end units do have that). But on the other hand, even low end TV Sets have an RGB SCART compatible input that works in color with 60Hz :)
Adrian: Mexico, Canada and Japan were NTSC countries. For Japan the frequencies of the channels are different but you only care about that using RF out, not composite output. There is another tiny difference with the black level. This is obsolete info now in the TV digital age...
Hey Adrian you ovbiously don't have to do this but for your next video can you upload in 4K? at 1080p the bitrate on TH-cam is simply not good enough to show stuff like jailbars. at 9:06 in the video they are kinda visible on the red screen but on the grey from earlier it's almost impossible to make out the jailbars you claim are obvious to see. I'm sure they're actually there but I just can't see the example well. Even if you record the videos at 1080p if you export in 4K and upload in 4K the youtube compression will be better.
Fun fact: The reason NTSC is 60Hz while PAL is 50Hz is because ancient television sets relied heavily on the mains power frequency(and phase) to synchronize everything.
Slight pedantry: in the age of electronic TV the power line was used to synchronize the transmitter, never the television receiver set. But more importantly, having the scan rate close to the power line frequency makes interference less noticeable. This isn't just an issue with ancient TVs, in fact my 1970s TV has more distortion (due to filter hum) than my 1940s TV has.
@@eDoc2020 honestly I had always wondered this, since the whole point of the blanking interval is to recover the clock, so it being purely on the transmitter side makes a lot of sense.
@@kaitlyn__L I would say that the point of the blanking intervals is to prevent extra lines from appearing onscreen during retrace. It takes time for the beam to jump from one edge of the screen to another. The real giveaway that receivers don't use the power line for sync is that not everybody's power is in phase. Your neighbor could be connected to another phase of the three-phase system, and there's no adjustment needed for that. Not to mention color broadcasts are .06Hz slower than nominal frequency on this side of the pond yet are still compatible with older BW receivers.
@@eDoc2020 yeah, there’s lots of reasons for the blanking intervals. Didn’t mean to imply just one. Clock recovery is definitely part of it though! If the beam drifts timing by the end of one field it will be snapped back into shape by the next one. As a child I’ve seen some pretty strange temporary rolling on my grandmother’s 70s B&W set which would always get sorted out within one or two fields. (We didn’t have backward compatibility here, mind, so she had to buy something 625-line compatible - just still B&W for cost). She could never see it, just as she could never see her fluorescent lights flickering like I did. I’d be like “there! It jumped for a fraction of a second!” and she’d be like “ok whatever you say”. Edit: I guess it could be argued whether it’s really recovering any clock for any actual purpose, or if the clock is just incidentally recreated by the field timing. But that’s what I meant haha
@@kaitlyn__L It's possible to have sync pulses without blanking which is where I was coming from. Actually the sync period is in the middle of the blanking period. As for the vertical system in a receiver, the analog circuits I am familiar with require that the local oscillator is actually a bit slower than the broadcast. If the oscillator is exactly "correct" the image stays in place and does not move into the proper position. If it's a bit slow it moves up until it locks into place at the top, and if it's too slow it quickly rolls up. If it's fast on the other hand, it rolls down. You can see this all by playing with the vertical hold control. If there's some noise on the broadcast the TV might lose a few sync pulses or sync too early. This could also be from power supply fluctuations, bad connections, or other things I'm not thinking of. One of my mother's little old 80s TVs has started having the occasional vertical jitter and I haven't figured it out yet. Side note, TV horizontal oscillators tend to have PLLs which lock on much more solidly.
As always, great content. :) As stated, the clock circuitry, as in the 2 input clock signals, are not needed. However, I'm assuming this replacement generates the Phi ø output clock signal just fine. However, I wish there was replacement VIC IIe ( 8564) for the C128. It would be awesome to have the 40 column/graphics active while in the 2 MHz mode.
The mini HDMI option is so handy! It should give a cleaner output. The given feature of tweaking your own palette is amazing, I always found the c=64 being a bit dull and undersaturated
I know exactly what you mean about the c=64 palette - yet I love its colours. There have been fights between C=64 and some other 8-bit micro palettes with much brighter and "sharper" colours, but I often find many of those "too much". I can't help it, but the ZX Spectrum palette for example looks ugly to me, but some consider it so much better... MSX has a different really nice palette, it might look as good or better in some cases than the C=64 one, but when I've been making an 8-bit retro icon theme for Android, one that's done fully on C=64 palette (and multicolour mode 2:1 pixel aspect ratio) I've noticed that auto-converting more photographic or real color-detailed icons (I use that as starting point with many icons, then edit details by hand) using checkerboard or ordered 2x2 dithering the C=64 palette can achieve some really good looking conversions. When I try the EGA 16-color or ZX Spectrum palette, the results are rarely even close to as good. But it's just my opinion. I think the undersaturated nature of it actually has to do with why it looks so good to me if that even makes sense :D
The NTSC/50 and PAL/60 options are great. I have Perifractic's VIC-II², but if you don't have a dual-format monitor, you still have a problem. Mine uses a line-blending PAL filter which looks terrible with 240p, so even though I can display PAL, I'd rather use NTSC/50 anyway.
I don't have a 64 so I don't have a use now, but a feature I think would be useful is a line doubler on the maxi version so a VGA monitor could be used.
Possibility to change and cycle the palette is a big plus. Something I was missing so much back in 90s on my C64C. Especially that greyish yellow color. I hated that so much. C64 should have gone the same (similar) route as Atari 800 with this....
@@Okurka. It is possible that he couldn't. Maybe he was too young and depended on whatever his parents were able and/or willing to get him, or maybe that's the best he could get himself (C-64 did sell into the 90's, while A500 had been around for years already). Lot's of reasons that can explain this - even if he had the means to go and buy one it could still be that he had no knowledge enough to know what was there available in the first place. You can't know where he lived, what kind of information he had access to, what was his economical situation and was he old enough to purchase it with his own money (even if it was saved from allowance - which could vary anywhere from equivalent of 1€ to 100's of euros per weex depending on his parents and their economical class, etc.etc.etc.). One can never assume there wasn't a good reason why someone couldn't have gotten something better than outdated tech, not without knowing a lot more about the person.
Is there a version of the Kawari that can be used on the Commodore 128, or any plans for one? Completely eliminating my 128's horrible jailbars with an integrated HDMI output... *_*swoons*_* 😍That's what I'd REALLY like. (Can't really afford a RetroTink Pro...)
As I understand it is "just" a VIC2 chip, not VIC2-E that is used in the 128. But since it is open source someone could probably spend a few years making an E variant, but you are still stuck with the VDC.
Yeah the VIC-II E is just the VIC-II with some extra stuff tacked on. (No improvements graphically, but other functions of the system are integrated into it.) I'm not sure if one is planned at this time... but it would be good as I have a few 128s with dying VIC-II E chips -- they have all this interference and noise in the image.
Sorry Adrian, I do NOT want to worry you with revolutionary idea's. PAL = 50 Hz and NTSC = 60 cycles per second. Because NTSC has 20 percent more interrupts per minute the main processor is a not able to make all the calculations in a 1/60 of a second, but if . . . . half the time all interrupts would be ignored, then the main processor has more time free then the could managed going easy and relaxed. There are a few ways of doing this, with an extra flip-flop in the computer half of the interrupts could be left without doing something, or since the Commodore uses the frequency of the power-supply to generate the interrupts, changing the power from 60 cycles per second into 30 cycles per second can be done with extra electronics. Then the US Commodore 64 computer will outperform the rest of the world! If you think this sounds good, they you start working on it, the i will wave the Star Spangled Banner. USA USA!
I have a few corrections and clarifications:
0) I updated the video with a few more links on where to buy the Kawari (both domestic and international)
1) The PCB design files have not been uploaded yet to github. The firmware and other supporting software is open source but the PCBs are not open hardware (yet).
2) There are some limits re: using on-board oscillators. Some specialty cartridges that use the dot clock pin on the cartridge port won't work unless you move the clock src jumper to 'motherboard' position. The Kawari site has more information about this.
The fact that this supports NTSC 50 is really cool. However, if you can get in touch with the developer, I think it'd be just as cool if you could suggest they add a setting for PAL-M/PAL 60.
Hi Adrian... Would it not be fair to suggest that the problems with NTSC and PAL was down to lazy programmers not bothering to release suitable versions at the time or insert routines to detect what platform the games or software was running on? In addition... using FPGA substitutes either the VIC-II Kawari or the ultimate 2+ for example do not have voltage protection against power spikes and can be very easy to damage over normal components.. Would be great if you could do a video on this possibility.. FPGA is great but are very prone to voltage damage....
Any chance of a episode of converting a C64 to PAL?
@@rfxtuber I have a lot of C64 books, but none of them discusses that problem. I would like to know how to make sure programs work both with NTSC and PAL.
@@NuntiusLegis Agreed.. Beyond using cracked versions with intros when loading C64 software/games ect seldom have any detection or selection of NTSC or PAL.. Not sure if there is any software or cartridge related tools that could be used for this detection even after all these years!!!!
A game changer indeed, this does stuff that I've wanted in a C64 ever since I first _got_ a C64! Ordered by the time the video ended, thanks for the great demonstration :)
I call the Kawari the "Kawari-II" in this video, but it's really called the "VIC-II Kawari"
I kinda sad the Vic20 doesn't get as much love. Not really much for modern replacement chips as far as I can tell compared to the c64.
This is still an amazing new part though
@@definitelycasualpcs8789Vic 20 was really too weak out of the box, tiny bit of ram, so few displayable columns, not as much software support, etc. 64 was everything vic-20 was, and more.
@@maxxdahl6062 true but the Vic has a following, and there really not as much support as the c64....
The c64 has a newer sid, now a Vic 2 modern chip etc...
@@definitelycasualpcs8789 Even with all it's faults, I'd still really like to get a vic-20 at some point. But if you're into old school commodore 8 bit machines, the 64 is really the one that anyone would need.
@@maxxdahl6062 I have 2 vics (ones got a dead video chip...) and a c64...
I use them both about the same to play games and stuff....
Altho yea the c64 Is a lot better.
Randy Rossi is awesome. He has made the BMC64 that runs a bare metal Commodore 64 on a Raspberry Pi. It's even possible to hook up real C64 joysticks and keyboards to it through the GPIO pins on the Pi. I have my C128DCR keyboard hooked up like that. I made a plastic box with a DB25 connector for the keyboard and 2 DE9s for the joysticks and 'it freaking works!'
I rather prefer that option than inserting expensive closed FPGAs all over the original 64; I get it (eventually) EVERY chip in the original 64 from the early 80s will fail but I kinda see these FPGA "solutions" as an expensive option the seller tries to push in by way of including "features" like that pal-ntsc change on the fly, hi-res output, etc.
I'd rather go with (if it exists) with a fully open source programmable cheap option like a raspberyy pi zero or pico emulating the VIC-II in that socket.
@@alerey4363 the messed up part is, that raspi prices went thru the roof a while ago ... at some places, a pi zero 2 is almost as expensive as the whole "small board" version of this FPGA thing, while a pi 4 is at least as expensive as the "large board" version ... and a raspberry is not any less "closed" hardware than an FPGA ...
Randy Rossi's work with both his VICII replacement and his BMC64 project (which gave life to 2 of my dead C64s) are both amazing.
I am impressed with the community's efforts to keep C64 alive. Good job.
Adrian, as a kid I remember some of the older kids talking about all the VIC II versions and it was so funny because I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about; however, I do remember that my buddy's C64 didn't do as well running BC's Quest for Tires and Hardball as my machine did. It may have had something to do with this chip as his was one of the first machines that came out! Great video and keep up the good work!
I think there were some very early versions that had some issues with some specific games. You guys must have found some of those -- or something was slightly wrong with his VIC-II chip :-)
Hi Adrian, I never thought that there would be so much support, interest, new products, and interest in the 64 families given the number of years it has been since it was since the 64 was in its heyday. More power to you.
As always Adrian, great informative video. In Australia (PAL) we tend to have TVs and video devices (VCR/DVR) that handle both NTSC and PAL, and also some for PAL-60. But specific vintage monitors like the 1084 are definitely PAL bound.
Working on my C64 at the moment on my channel. Love that so much is being created still for these machines. Projects are coming out all the time. Keep up the great work and keeping these old machines going 😊
My breadbin (326298 rev) NTSC C64 that I got from my older cousin who used it in its heyday was supposed to be this quiet little machine being brought back occasionally to run the random game from time to time. Thanks to videos like these and from random expertise all around the internet, just in 2023, I got a replacement power supply from Keelog, a BackBit cartridge to almost never mess with 5.25" disks anymore and now this, to open up large world of PAL wonders of the demoscene. RABBIT HOLE!
@24:57 ...fun fact: I personally used and preferred the "PAL 60" mode on any game console that supports it here in germany. I used this special mode since the 90's on CRTs and still on modern flat panel displays nowadays.
Awesome video, Adrian. And an excellent introduction to a very cool addition to the C64 goodie bag. I just placed an order for the Mini! Cannot wait to get it and try out NTSC 50 mode on my 1702 monitor. Thank you!
The Kawari is the sort of product I don't need but want anyway.
I picked one of these up. This is exactly what i was looking for to get native pal games/apps/demos working on ny ntsc hardware. This is such a brilliant idea!
I was finally able to get the big board version of this. It's friggin' amazing. Randy is also incredible. He helped me with an issue I was having with mine.
i am so glad you spent your time with the creator of these new chips its one thing to make something modern like this but its an even better result when the results are identical to the original in every way.
It's super satisfying hearing someone finally say in a video that "50Hz and 60Hz has nothing to do with PAL or NTSC", something I must've said hundreds of times at this point.
99% of the CRT TVs you'll ever find here in Sweden can sync the whole 50-60Hz range no problem, dozens of CRTs, being part of a local CRT FB group, doing repairs, being in a discord server with tons of european CRT users. Most people in the US has such a misconception of what TVs here are capable off. The only reason 50Hz was used in older game consoles was simply because of that 1%, people using TVs from the 70s and the like, ones with manual vhold pots rather than auto syncing. A minority by the 90s.
Anyway, if you're using RGB then PAL or NTSC no longer matters. Then it becomes RGBs + refreshrate.
If you aren't using RGB then it does matter since you'll get no colors in a lot of cases, most big TVs will decode NTSC, some older 80s TVs will not decode proper NTSC but NTSC 4.43 (meant for use with import tapes for region free players, cheaper to implement than 3.58), later that decade TVs just started supporting real NTSC 3.58 as well.
Either case, if your TV is on the smaller side or not as feature rich, at a minimum you'll do RGB in the vast majority of sets.
Great vid! And Randi is a boss.
Love his BMC64 bare metal Commodore emulator release for the Pi.
Really like that NTSC 50 option too. Almost makes me want to get another C64 to try it out...
(too many projects on the list tho right now... but it looks really great!)
I love this product. The HDMI output is perfect and I've not seen a problem so far switching between PAL and NTSC. I get the best of all worlds. it's a bit expensive, but totally worth it. I'm using it in an EVO64 and Ultimate 1541 II+ cartridge. It's really the best of all worlds at once.
amazing how far these c64 projects have gone
It really is. This has to be some kind of golden age for vintage computer enhancement/life support projects.
Im confused. Is there an Minimig on the FPGA? Im on A1200 with real moto CPU axel 68030. Also have two ULTIMATE 64 fPGA c64s. I saw the workbench scroll by.
Lol. The flyppy music demos "drive music" blew the speaker on one of my Ultimimate 64s while running the matrix demo. Not joking!
Yes. I havent even ran the Wonderland 14 demo yet. I wonder why... probably because of VGA dected, no Wonder demo on the Amiga.
The biggest game changer was when the SDcard based drives came out (like the SD2IEC), followed by a slew of other cool peripherals and cartridges.
I have no idea what Adrian is talking about but I still love his enthusiasm. LOL!
I'll see you at VCF West! I'll be speaking in the morning on Saturday, but I will absolutely be watching the other sessions as well! You are my people!
Great wideo and I really appreciate your effort to explain everything :) even your fast speaking is not an issue I appreciate that sacrifice to inform community. Best regards from Poland :)
This is indeed very cool! Nice to have a modern replacement - and open source too! Kudos to the developer!
You are completely right PAL-M uses 60Hz and PAL-N has 50Hz (there are others). The number of lines depends on the power frequency so even B&W TVs change the number of lines. People tend to misunderstand that.
Great video! I bought one (large) a while back and your video inspired me to try it out!
Randy is a mad genius!
Great project, thanks to all who made this happen. I kept checking back on the website and finally got to purchase one, should be delivered any day now 😁👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻.
Always excellent videos, thank you. I hope I'm not going to start a flame war here - as someone who didn't have one BITD, now I do I can't help notice how 'muddy' the standard colours are on the C=64. Being able to change them on the Kawari has certainly got my interest.
On a less divisive subject the Acorn BBC series of computers have a similar GFX chip replacement that adds lots of extra modes and palletised colours! The latter especially allows the Beeb to do things undreamt of by it's designers... that the Kawari can do the same should open similar possibilities.
Very nice throural video. I was unsure about that replacement until now. Thank you:)
Great info, as usual. When you get a chance, you should give the Vicenary's Victor replacement for the VIC-20 the same treatment!
I'm never going to use a C64 or a Kawari. But always fun to watch you Adrian. Your presenting is excellent.
Example program: "Hello there! Hello there!" Me: "General Kenobi!"
Excellent video showcasing an amazing product.
Wow, so very cool! I love my 1702s, so really glad to see something like this make them continue to be used with some of the newer PAL releases with this kind of mod/add-on.
Awesome 👏 video Adrian Black. I am super excited of installing one of these on my EVO64 (wonder if it’ll work)… Lots of explanation about differences of PAL & NTSC hardware and the NTSC-50 hack is cool for NTSC Regions. You’ve talked alot about the Mini Kiwari-II, however, I would like to also of seen the digital output quality of the RGB/mini HDMI port demonstrating on modern LCD/LED/OLED TV’s we have nowadays. (Felt it was skipped on this). That way to decide whether of buying the mini or larger version is an informative choice… Anyway! Maybe a quick follow up video to it perhaps? Anyway, keep up the great work. Your videos are always amazing 🤩
Cool product. Maybe you can ask Randy to add "(NTSC)" or "(PAL)" after the VIC-II chip model. No need to have people to look up which chips are which standard or force memorization. This is akin to silk screening things on the PCB like switch/jumper settings, component model number or component values and I don't think it would take much for him to implement, so why not?
Amazing product!!! Nothing much more to say other than thanks for sharing
Funny, I ordered one of these the other day, the most exciting thing for me is the multiply/divide registers :)
Yeah I barely talked about that other than the little overlay at the end ... It certainly offers a pretty nice speedup for those functions.
@@adriansdigitalbasement Was thinking a patched kernel might be good, but the kawari doesnt do FP (yet!) so the conversion would kill it I think.
Great video Adrian. It would be cool to see more about using it with the RF modulator replacement as well as the RGB/DVI output of the large board.
Can't wait for one to be done for Agnus in the Amiga
Lets hope Randy can work his magic on the VIC-20!
I think there is another similar project already for the VIC-20. (Not from Randy -- and I hadn't looked at it yet)
What an awesome project!!
You sure are a good consultant on these hardware projects and an excellent presenter of their features.🙂 Interesting to see PAL come up in the present but I guess with the heavy EU origins to the C64 scene that's going to happen. That's neat about NTSC having some 50Hz support, consolidated region screen support would be nice.
That demo works perfectly on my Mega65 with the C64 V5 core.
I was about to ask if you could redefine the colours between lines but then you showed the demos. Pretty cool product!
Hey Adrien, I’m somewhat new to the Commodore 64 scene, I’m looking to build my own system soon.
New question: I bought the MOS 16-bit variant of the 6510 CPU to experiment with.
Can I put the 16-bit variant CPU into the Commodore 64C board and expect it to work? Or would I only see garbage instead on the screen? Thanks for your great content!
Always nice when FPGA replacements go this far into improving systems.
Awesome project. Reminds me, I still haven't tried your old Kawari. I guess it's time to bring out some Commodores again :)
Yeah! That is one of the very old pre-release ones -- I'm not 100% sure how compatible it is with the tools made for the release version.
@@adriansdigitalbasement I'll find out :) good luck with the new plans for the channel!
I bought a Panasonic TV in the 90s, Australia. Wasn't aiming for anything special but it did pretty much everything bar SECAM. PAL 50/60, NTSC 50/60 including with the colour at 4.43MHz.
It's amazing how it's not uncommon for TVs internationally to be like that, but in North America and Japan, finding a TV that does anything but NTSC is extremely rare.
In my next life I want to be reborn in around 1975-1980 ... what a cool time to grow up.
Excellent video, great little project. Now I can fix the couple of C64s I have hiding in the back of the cupboard
Great video, I am an Atari 8-bit computer hobbyist but found this very informative. Quick question the RetroTink does it only have a SCART output, or does it also have an HDMI output. Which one would you buy if you had an 800XL, 600XL or 130XE? I found the RetroTink website but don't know which version would be advantageous for which situation?
Seems so very much awesome.
One thing I missed though, and don't want to hunt through the video for: Did this work both ways, i.e. can this be put into a PAL system to switch it between PAL & NTSC modes, and to modify its colours?
Especially the NTSC50 mode (which of course instantly caught my eye 😄) is really cool.
I met the creator of Sam''s Journey (Chester Kollschen) on a retro convention here and talked to him about the necessity to have the REU for the NTSC version of the game, but with this chip you can now just play the PAL version 👍
That's right the REU can do DMA transfers which allow for more optimization but it's just not needed with the PAL version. Good stuff!
have you ever tried to run Sam's Journey Cartridge (only available on PAL) on an NTSC machine??? well, I did!!! It works almost perfectly, just minor glitches and some slowdown from time to time, but it's completely playable!!! I bought SJ (cartridge version) but I play SJ as a cartridge image as well with my KungFuFlash, and the game plays flawless
A little correction: PAL TV's: CRT's most likely will not display a NTSC signal, BUT at least display it without colors. I tested this in the 90s and most PAL CRT's and they WILL show an NTSC grayscale image. Even some of the most earliest TFT TV's can fully display NTSC though. I also use a special monitor to show NTSC in color on a CRT. With any Apple II the colors are vibrant and the picture is clearer than I expected.
From 1998 on, multiformat TVs were almost unavoidable if you bought anything that wasn't absolute cheapest junk. I think all Sony sets were multiformat. Generally VCRs were multiformat too, the issue was that it was never advertised it just showed up. Some you had to go hunting through the service manual, but a few years later it was just standard. At least with quality Japanese/Asian brands. I assume it was cheaper to build TVs that worked in Japan and PAL/SECAM countries.
@@OscarSommerbo THAT is a weird argument. I DID ask Japanese friends to record Animu from the TV's on tape for me. Since they were cheapstakes, the used 120mins tapes and recorded everything in NTSC LP. Originally I had to watch them in a Japanology institute in the library but very early on, like early 2000s, 50€players appeared that played them better. I bought one but I actually never tried one of these to convert NTSC color to PAL....I Still may have one of those LG ones from 2004 so I could try that out...(They play the tapes in PAL 60Hz though)
Most CRT TVs sold in Europe from the 90s on should be able to display a 60hz color signal over Scart/RGB or Component but they don't do it over composite. In practice, they support PAL60 rather than NTSC proper. At least that's my understanding.
@@amerigocosta7452Many crt sets sold in Europe from the late 90s do indeed support NTSC on the composite input (note, not over rf). Sony Trinitrons are a good example. They also handle PAL-M which is basically NTSC system M but PAL colour encoding.
@@OscarSommerbothey developed single chip tuners that did everything so once these started turning up in TV's they became multi standard by default.
To me the jail bars on a C64 is part of the nostalgic feelings! Helps take me back to the days!
this is cool, i hope there are others.
Awesome. It would be great to eventually add a “VIC-3” option enabling enhanced graphics features (e.g. hi-color modes, extra sprites, blitter, …)
I think it's probably a question of time. This is an open source project. So someone who has the desire and the skills could extend the abilities even more.... When there is a will there is a way...
@@initial_kd I kinda see it as adding value to CPU architecture levels. The ViCII is for an 8 bit CPU (6502/6510). The Kawari is pushing the 8 bit envelope, what can we do now in 2023 that we could only dream about in 1984?
The same is happening in the 16 bit realm (Amiga 68000) withe the PiStorm. Plug one little board into a lowly A500 and you get performance rivaling or exceeding that of an A4000.
The same with modern laptops. Do I “need” a 64 bit multi core cpu with accelerated gpu, 64 gigabytes of ram and 3 terabytes of ssd? Nope.
But I enjoy watching it all work together.
I've said it before, but the 64 can be surprisingly fragile. My kid sister once pulled a game cartridge with the power on, and I found out later it did damage the VIC-II. It only ruined one bit in one register, but that was the horizontal smooth scroll register. It was several years before I got around to replacing it, but anything that had horizontal smooth scroll (Ghostbusters, Hot Wheels, etc.) was unplayable, as whenever the smooth scroll advanced to that one position, the screen was garbage. The 6567s were still generally available then as I think I paid somewhere around $20 for mine? It's nice to see that a proper replacement is now available.
Yeah everything is tightly coupled and the cart slot isn't buffered on the C64, so it's totally possible to damage things by plugging or unplugging while it's running. Commodore sold all the parts back in the day (For any shop to fix machines) so the replacements were plentiful, but it definitely seems like now things are drying up and prices are skyrocketing.
5:57 Reminds me of when I played an album that I'd heard a million times on my own, slightly too fast turntable, on my dad's slightly too slow record player, and the whole time something sounded off about the songs
Yeah funny how you get used to things, even if they aren't quite right. :-)
That can be a sign of perfect pitch, for a long time detecting speed discrepancies in hifi components was one of the only accessible signs for people who weren't involved in music. Now we have other means like games consoles and bad frame rate conversions for DVDs..! (Of course the _real_ test is whether you notice it when comparing new material, not just stuff you've listened to a ton of times.)
@@kaitlyn__L when I travel to Europe every 24fps thing is sped up to 25fps and the audio all sounds too fast. It's super annoying when watching old TV shows I know well like Star Trek, Seinfeld or Simpsons...
@@adriansdigitalbasement yes! I always hated that even when I’d never seen the NTSC releases of TV shows.
European shows shot on film used to be filmed at 25fps to match broadcast, but increasingly they’re also filmed at 24 and broadcast 4% fast… like, why?
It ruins movies too. No one around me would understand when I complained that people talked too fast versus the cinema.
Presumably, if you're okay with permanently replacing your VIC chip, you can recoup some of the cost of the new FPGA version by selling it on ebay. On the other hand, you might want to keep the original chip around if you want to maximize the value of your C64 if and when the day comes you want to sell it, especially since the VIC chip will have been less heavily used in the interim.
That's true, considering the high cost of the original chips now!
I personally wouldn't attempt to sell the old chip on ebay, just too many things can go wrong and you'd likely be out your extra chip. (either false claims of it not working, mishandled, or even things as simple as failing during shipping).
I had the feeling you was on hurry recording this video. 🤔 This time I (not English native) had to reduce playback speed to be able to folllow.😂 Sounds a bit strange , but thanks YT for this feature. Or perhaps you was so excited. 😉
You know what the C64 community needs is an all open source and modern remake of the original C64 with a ton of quality of life improvements and make it widely available. It would be cool to be able to buy a modern C64 remake that's compatible with all original hardware accessories but also had extras like HDMI output and extra features like region switching etc etc. This way you coudl buy one new modern C64 that can not only do it all but won't randomly die because it sat in a closet for too long. plus imagine the popularity of C64 homebrew with what would arguably be a better C64? Hardware mods could even go crazy. imagine realtime ray tracing on a c64 or HD video playback.
I mean LFT is kind of a legend!
I absolutely love my Kawaris. They take the 64 to another level. :)
Wow, amazing to have the ability to switch!
Very interesting. I would have loved to watch the demo though.
Here ya go: th-cam.com/video/XcAUlEkU05A/w-d-xo.html
Thanks so much for the great vid, Adrian. You are apparently a time shrinker. You can turn 34 minutes into an apparent 10 minutes. "Wait, the video is over already?" :)
Nice
A good test of this may be Wizball by Sensible Software. It uses the extra scanlines afforded to it by the 50Hz mode to keep score, lives etc. out of the field of play, even most emulators "trim" it as overscan by default. It can also have many(I'd say upwards of 12 at times) sprites on screen which can cause slowdown, and could be a test for how it handles stressful situations.
Disk would be faster, but first time you play it, even if just using a tape emulator instead of the real thing, load it off tape in real time. The loading music really adds to it, and it is absent from the disk version.
Awesome! Will you record the talk too? What is it about? Good luck!
Not all "PAL" are 50 Hz. The letter (M, B, N) is even more important than the "PAL", "NTSC" names. Confusion arises because B is for 625 lines/50Hz and uses always PAL chroma, however M and N are 525/60 Hz and 625/50 Hz respectively, but both of them can use NTSC or PAL chroma subcarrier. For example, USA uses NTSC-M and Brazil uses PAL-M, both have 525 lines, 60 Hz. Argentina uses PAL-N with 625 lines and 50 Hz. However N and M have something in common: The chroma subcarrier has the same frecuency (different than B). So you could rename NTSC-50 as "NTSC-N"😁. If it works in NTSC-M TVs maybe it works in PAL-N TVs as well. I live in Argentina so I humble offer myself to try in a PAL-N TV!! 🤣 Awesome project anyway!!
Talking about Randy's Projects. I've tried BMC64 using a VGA666 board for the Pi, having a 15KHZ RGB output both for "PAL" and "NTSC" machines emulation. The image quality is awesome. No jailbars, and better than S-video. Also, pixel perfect thanks to the super-resolution technique.
"Without further Ado..."
1m10s of Ado later "Let's get back to the video"
Looking forward to seeing you at MW.
Coming from NTSC land since 1984, yes, it IS frustrating. Finally broke down and spent money for a PAL machine just to be able to enjoy newer games and demos. Most PAL market folks seemed to have a "deal with it" attitude in my personal experiences (yours may vary). But that's the way of the world lol.
I don't know if anyone already mentioned, but in Brazil we used the PAL-M, which is PAL color with NTSC M luma, i.e., 60Hz frames.
That made converting NTSC to PAL-M kind of easy, and allowed us to import stuff from the US and use here
Man!!! i missed the San Jose VCF.... would have loved to meet ya in Person. Next time bud!
Watching your video on my CRT TV. No visible jailbars ;)
Great video, and great news. What about those, like myself, who don't want to hoard CRTs, and just can't give up storage/workspace for them. I'd like to see what the DVI-D output has to offer. Thank you for sharing that awesome information.
In PAL Territories only later, 2000s TVs and only higher end ones are NTSC capable.
My Orion 34cm TV doesn't support NTSC -- however almost all CRTs from at least the 90s support RGB, so you can use NTSC Systems which support RGB 15kHz Outputs.
Interesting! Yeah I don't really have much experience with that compatibility. I just always assumed it was much more common, at least TVs that could display 3.54 NTSC color. A few others pointed out the TVs support 60hz but don't display the color.
@@adriansdigitalbasement Correct. No TV that I have that still works has any issues with displaying a stable 60Hz picture via any input, its just black and white via either Composite or RF (S-Video is VERY uncommon here for lower end TV Sets, again, higher end units do have that).
But on the other hand, even low end TV Sets have an RGB SCART compatible input that works in color with 60Hz :)
Adrian: Mexico, Canada and Japan were NTSC countries. For Japan the frequencies of the channels are different but you only care about that using RF out, not composite output. There is another tiny difference with the black level. This is obsolete info now in the TV digital age...
Nice video, seems like an awesome board. Would've loved to see how the RGB and HDMI output of the big board is though!
Hey Adrian you ovbiously don't have to do this but for your next video can you upload in 4K? at 1080p the bitrate on TH-cam is simply not good enough to show stuff like jailbars. at 9:06 in the video they are kinda visible on the red screen but on the grey from earlier it's almost impossible to make out the jailbars you claim are obvious to see. I'm sure they're actually there but I just can't see the example well. Even if you record the videos at 1080p if you export in 4K and upload in 4K the youtube compression will be better.
Fun fact: The reason NTSC is 60Hz while PAL is 50Hz is because ancient television sets relied heavily on the mains power frequency(and phase) to synchronize everything.
Slight pedantry: in the age of electronic TV the power line was used to synchronize the transmitter, never the television receiver set. But more importantly, having the scan rate close to the power line frequency makes interference less noticeable. This isn't just an issue with ancient TVs, in fact my 1970s TV has more distortion (due to filter hum) than my 1940s TV has.
@@eDoc2020 honestly I had always wondered this, since the whole point of the blanking interval is to recover the clock, so it being purely on the transmitter side makes a lot of sense.
@@kaitlyn__L I would say that the point of the blanking intervals is to prevent extra lines from appearing onscreen during retrace. It takes time for the beam to jump from one edge of the screen to another.
The real giveaway that receivers don't use the power line for sync is that not everybody's power is in phase. Your neighbor could be connected to another phase of the three-phase system, and there's no adjustment needed for that. Not to mention color broadcasts are .06Hz slower than nominal frequency on this side of the pond yet are still compatible with older BW receivers.
@@eDoc2020 yeah, there’s lots of reasons for the blanking intervals. Didn’t mean to imply just one.
Clock recovery is definitely part of it though! If the beam drifts timing by the end of one field it will be snapped back into shape by the next one.
As a child I’ve seen some pretty strange temporary rolling on my grandmother’s 70s B&W set which would always get sorted out within one or two fields. (We didn’t have backward compatibility here, mind, so she had to buy something 625-line compatible - just still B&W for cost).
She could never see it, just as she could never see her fluorescent lights flickering like I did. I’d be like “there! It jumped for a fraction of a second!” and she’d be like “ok whatever you say”.
Edit: I guess it could be argued whether it’s really recovering any clock for any actual purpose, or if the clock is just incidentally recreated by the field timing. But that’s what I meant haha
@@kaitlyn__L It's possible to have sync pulses without blanking which is where I was coming from. Actually the sync period is in the middle of the blanking period. As for the vertical system in a receiver, the analog circuits I am familiar with require that the local oscillator is actually a bit slower than the broadcast. If the oscillator is exactly "correct" the image stays in place and does not move into the proper position. If it's a bit slow it moves up until it locks into place at the top, and if it's too slow it quickly rolls up. If it's fast on the other hand, it rolls down. You can see this all by playing with the vertical hold control.
If there's some noise on the broadcast the TV might lose a few sync pulses or sync too early. This could also be from power supply fluctuations, bad connections, or other things I'm not thinking of. One of my mother's little old 80s TVs has started having the occasional vertical jitter and I haven't figured it out yet.
Side note, TV horizontal oscillators tend to have PLLs which lock on much more solidly.
As always, great content. :) As stated, the clock circuitry, as in the 2 input clock signals, are not needed. However, I'm assuming this replacement generates the Phi ø output clock signal just fine. However, I wish there was replacement VIC IIe ( 8564) for the C128. It would be awesome to have the 40 column/graphics active while in the 2 MHz mode.
The mini HDMI option is so handy! It should give a cleaner output. The given feature of tweaking your own palette is amazing, I always found the c=64 being a bit dull and undersaturated
I know exactly what you mean about the c=64 palette - yet I love its colours. There have been fights between C=64 and some other 8-bit micro palettes with much brighter and "sharper" colours, but I often find many of those "too much". I can't help it, but the ZX Spectrum palette for example looks ugly to me, but some consider it so much better... MSX has a different really nice palette, it might look as good or better in some cases than the C=64 one, but when I've been making an 8-bit retro icon theme for Android, one that's done fully on C=64 palette (and multicolour mode 2:1 pixel aspect ratio) I've noticed that auto-converting more photographic or real color-detailed icons (I use that as starting point with many icons, then edit details by hand) using checkerboard or ordered 2x2 dithering the C=64 palette can achieve some really good looking conversions. When I try the EGA 16-color or ZX Spectrum palette, the results are rarely even close to as good.
But it's just my opinion. I think the undersaturated nature of it actually has to do with why it looks so good to me if that even makes sense :D
Microsoft : drops support for a 10 year old OS
Meanwhile people with a 40 year old C64 :
Great 😊
Thank you!
The NTSC/50 and PAL/60 options are great. I have Perifractic's VIC-II², but if you don't have a dual-format monitor, you still have a problem. Mine uses a line-blending PAL filter which looks terrible with 240p, so even though I can display PAL, I'd rather use NTSC/50 anyway.
👍
you're coming to chicago? that is pretty awesome, might have to go!
I don't have a 64 so I don't have a use now, but a feature I think would be useful is a line doubler on the maxi version so a VGA monitor could be used.
Possibility to change and cycle the palette is a big plus. Something I was missing so much back in 90s on my C64C. Especially that greyish yellow color. I hated that so much. C64 should have gone the same (similar) route as Atari 800 with this....
The 90s? Why didn't you get an Amiga?
@@Okurka. It is possible that he couldn't. Maybe he was too young and depended on whatever his parents were able and/or willing to get him, or maybe that's the best he could get himself (C-64 did sell into the 90's, while A500 had been around for years already). Lot's of reasons that can explain this - even if he had the means to go and buy one it could still be that he had no knowledge enough to know what was there available in the first place.
You can't know where he lived, what kind of information he had access to, what was his economical situation and was he old enough to purchase it with his own money (even if it was saved from allowance - which could vary anywhere from equivalent of 1€ to 100's of euros per weex depending on his parents and their economical class, etc.etc.etc.).
One can never assume there wasn't a good reason why someone couldn't have gotten something better than outdated tech, not without knowing a lot more about the person.
@@robsku1 TL;DR: Speculations and false accusations.
Is there a version of the Kawari that can be used on the Commodore 128, or any plans for one? Completely eliminating my 128's horrible jailbars with an integrated HDMI output... *_*swoons*_* 😍That's what I'd REALLY like. (Can't really afford a RetroTink Pro...)
As I understand it is "just" a VIC2 chip, not VIC2-E that is used in the 128. But since it is open source someone could probably spend a few years making an E variant, but you are still stuck with the VDC.
Yeah the VIC-II E is just the VIC-II with some extra stuff tacked on. (No improvements graphically, but other functions of the system are integrated into it.) I'm not sure if one is planned at this time... but it would be good as I have a few 128s with dying VIC-II E chips -- they have all this interference and noise in the image.
Sorry Adrian, I do NOT want to worry you with revolutionary idea's. PAL = 50 Hz and NTSC = 60 cycles per second. Because NTSC has 20 percent more interrupts per minute the main processor is a not able to make all the calculations in a 1/60 of a second, but if . . . . half the time all interrupts would be ignored, then the main processor has more time free then the could managed going easy and relaxed.
There are a few ways of doing this, with an extra flip-flop in the computer half of the interrupts could be left without doing something, or since the Commodore uses the frequency of the power-supply to generate the interrupts, changing the power from 60 cycles per second into 30 cycles per second can be done with extra electronics. Then the US Commodore 64 computer will outperform the rest of the world! If you think this sounds good, they you start working on it, the i will wave the Star Spangled Banner. USA USA!
This looks great, would dearly love something like this to replace the 8564 VIC IIe