Jap PC Engine

[SpyHunter]

Will a Japanese PC Engine work on my US TV?

[Natty Bumppo]

Yeah - both are NTSC format.

[SpyHunter]

Cool, thanks.

[MrSparkle]

to quote the wikipedia article on ntsc-j

"It is based on 'regular' NTSC, but is slightly different. The black level and blanking level of the NTSC-J signal are identical (at 0 IRE), as they are in PAL, another video standard, while in American NTSC, black level is slightly higher (7.5 IRE) than blanking level. Because of the way this appears in the waveform, the higher black level is also called pedestal. Since the difference is quite small, a slight change of the brightness setting is all that is required to enjoy the "other" variant of NTSC on any set as it is supposed to be."

now the one thing your going to have to keep in mind is that your japanese electronics run on 100 volt not 120 so youll need a step down transformer.

[c0ldb33r]

now the one thing your going to have to keep in mind is that your japanese electronics run on 100 volt not 120 so youll need a step down transformer.

Radioshack is your friend

[smork]

Eh, you don't even really need the step down transformer. US voltage ain't gonna kill a PC Engine.

Do remember the original PC Engine used RF output as well....

[InsaneDavid]

Eh, you don't even really need the step down transformer. US voltage ain't gonna kill a PC Engine.

Yeah, although for console and power supply longevity reasons you might not want to leave it plugged in for long periods of non-use. Then again, that should really be true for all electronics.

[James8BitStar]

I have a Japanese PC-Engine with the CDROM addon and I've never had a problem with it.

[Ascending Wordsmith]

I have a Core Grafx II and haven't had a single problem with it.

[Osaka]

It will work just fine on your American TV, just keep one thing in mind. the Japanese systems ran on Japanese channel 1 and 2, which are on I believe a different frequency then channels 1 and 2 on an American TV. Usually the channel that will work with the PC engine is channel 90-something (mine is channel 96).

[DarthKur]

to quote the wikipedia article on ntsc-j

now the one thing your going to have to keep in mind is that your japanese electronics run on 100 volt not 120 so youll need a step down transformer.

Yeah, although for console and power supply longevity reasons you might not want to leave it plugged in for long periods of non-use. Then again, that should really be true for all electronics.

A Japanese system will overheat using straight U.S. voltage. If you want you system to last you for any significant time than the expense of a step down converter is well worth it.