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retro system improvements

e14 Contributor

so, i'm a retro gaming enthusiast, and i have a major issue now that i've upgraded to an HDTV.  my old games look like garbage!  i'm wondering if we could get you to do a show about improving the signal output of our favorite old systems (2600, nes, snes, genesis, n64, etc...), so that they can output in at least 480p if not in hd.  i'm pretty sure that each system would need to be modded in a different way to achieve this goal, so it might make for a nice episode in detailing each console.  currently, your only option to play nes games in higher res is with a wii, and the game is distorted due to the signal being stretched to fit widescreen tv's.  i find this to be a travesty, and am hoping to be able to, one day, play my original ducktales cart without the incredibly muddy looking graphics.

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  • 1. it would be help if you would explain what you mean by "garbage" and "muddy" on the graphics. Giving us details might help us to maybe help you.

     

    2. Yes you can mod the output on the hardware but there is still the software. All this software was written nearly 30 years ago and never written with the thought of HDTV in mind.  There might be nothing to do to make it look better.

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    well, i'm not an expert about the hardware/software issues, but here's what i've been able to find in research.  the output of the machine is less than standard def, whether that's related to hardware in the machine or cart or a mixture of both, i'm not sure.  i think that it's just a problem of nes hardware only, but there's some testing that would need to be done.  either way, the result when hooked to an hd tv is a blurry image, due to the way the tv upscales the image (again, this is from my limited research).  this blurriness is bad enough to make text illegible, for example.

     

    i realize the inherent issues with the design of the nes, but i wouldn't have suggested it if i hadn't read about it's possibility online.  in fact, that's where i found out that the zapper actually requires an interlaced signal as a part of it's programming, making it highly unlikely that you'll be able to make it work with an hd tv.

     

    i guess i initially made this post because i thought a guy like ben would be able to open up a nes and see what he was up against with a project such as this.  the guy made taking apart a 360 look like child's play.  if it's simply not possible, that's fine.  i would really like to know the hows and why's, but an answer of "it's not possible" is something i expected as a possible outcome.  i'm really hoping that this is something that will be considered as a project, because i think there are more retro enthusiasts out there that would die for a pro scan nes.  i know i would.  i am also a veteran, so this could be seen as a project to help me with, um, the stress of being a non combat vet?   ;-)

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  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    well, i'm not an expert about the hardware/software issues, but here's what i've been able to find in research.  the output of the machine is less than standard def, whether that's related to hardware in the machine or cart or a mixture of both, i'm not sure.  i think that it's just a problem of nes hardware only, but there's some testing that would need to be done.  either way, the result when hooked to an hd tv is a blurry image, due to the way the tv upscales the image (again, this is from my limited research).  this blurriness is bad enough to make text illegible, for example.

     

    i realize the inherent issues with the design of the nes, but i wouldn't have suggested it if i hadn't read about it's possibility online.  in fact, that's where i found out that the zapper actually requires an interlaced signal as a part of it's programming, making it highly unlikely that you'll be able to make it work with an hd tv.

     

    i guess i initially made this post because i thought a guy like ben would be able to open up a nes and see what he was up against with a project such as this.  the guy made taking apart a 360 look like child's play.  if it's simply not possible, that's fine.  i would really like to know the hows and why's, but an answer of "it's not possible" is something i expected as a possible outcome.  i'm really hoping that this is something that will be considered as a project, because i think there are more retro enthusiasts out there that would die for a pro scan nes.  i know i would.  i am also a veteran, so this could be seen as a project to help me with, um, the stress of being a non combat vet?   ;-)

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