PS1/2 PS1 - Screen is only black & white, why ?

[XyracX]

Hello guys, I found my brothers PlayStation 1 in the garage, was laying around and unused for about 5 years or so. The PS1 was shelved dust free in a bag all the time.

After I connected it to my LCD TV, the screen was only in black & white. So I thought, it must be a problem with the TV and tried 3 other TV's, one of them was and old cathode ray tube. But same result. Also tried to connect it through a HD upscale Box and connect it with an HDMI to my LCD. Same result.

I use the composite video cable for the connection. So I thought, the problem must be here, and bought 2 other of them. They were also used, and the seller said, that 1 of them is fully functional, or even 2. So can not say 100% that they are not defective, too, but same result with the other 2 composite cables.

Also opened the PS1 and cleaned it a little from dust and stuff. Without any improvement. It is a PAL console and I tried it with original PAL CD's but all of them are colorless. In the inside, there are some black cables soldered, that don't look like legit from factory. Maybe a Modchip or something is in it. Doesn't unscrew it completely so, can not confirm it 100%, but can it be that the Mod is setting the PS1 in NTSC and then it is black & white ?

Also, are there any Settings or something, when you start the PS1 without any CD ? Don't found any, only for the memory cards and the music player.

Thanks for your help !

EDIT : Picture added, also tried it with an SCART Adapter. Same result.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

It does sound like it could be an NTSC console, which is sort of weird I suppose if you just found it sitting in your garage.

Could you perhaps get a picture of the soldered piece? That'd be the surefire way to see if it's a modchip or no.

If you can't, you can also try burning an NTSC game and seeing if it'll boot on your PS1. If it boots, you know you have a chipped PS1 for sure, and if it doesn't you could at least try the swap trick and if it's in color you know it's an NTSC console.

 

[XyracX]

Thanks for the answer, the sticker on the bottom says "PAL", I'm sure that it is a PAL console. My brother said, that when he used it, long time ago, there were no black & white problems at all.
Even the Bootscreen / The starting Logo is in black & white and some kind of dotted, like in the screenshot in my first post.

So maybe the cable got defective during all the time and the two another cables I bought are defective, too, or something in the PS1 got defective. What makes more sense ?

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Ah, looking at it from a screen that isn't my phone, yeah there's something a bit strange there.

It's possible that the output itself is going bad, since you tried it with SCART and a composite cable and got the same result. I can't think of any other reason it'd happen beyond the NTSC/PAL reason, but since you're sure it's PAL

I suppose you could see if you can find an S-video cable as well, just to try that as well, but other than that I'm at a loss.

 

[XyracX]

I just tried to put the composite into a SCART Adapter (from xbox 360), but it was the same cable. So maybe all 3 cables are broken. I try to get a real SCART cable, but they are expensive.

Is the PS2 cable the same one as for the PS1 ?

 

[Deleted User]

I just tried to put the composite into a SCART Adapter (from xbox 360), but it was the same cable. So maybe all 3 cables are broken. I try to get a real SCART cable, but they are expensive.

It's more likely something in the PS1 is broken than all three cables.

 

[XyracX]

It's more likely something in the PS1 is broken than all three cables.

Yes I know... but the other two cables were not new, and the seller said, that he is sure, that one of them is working, or even maybe both. They came not in a very good condition also. Maybe the composite cables got a weak point or something. But you are right, the chance that the problem is in the PS1 itself is higher.

 

[Lumstar]

I just tried to put the composite into a SCART Adapter (from xbox 360), but it was the same cable. So maybe all 3 cables are broken. I try to get a real SCART cable, but they are expensive.

Is the PS2 cable the same one as for the PS1 ?

I believe every PS1, PS2, and PS3, NTSC or PAL alike, can use the same cable for composite, s-video, or RGB (15khz).
Try looking for a generic cable advertised as RGB SCART.

PS2 made the video plug more convoluted by adding component and sync-on-green VGA.

 

[StriderVM]

Interesting...... It seems to be fine, your TV is detecting PAL signal, your PS1 is PAL as well, yet black and white visuals........ Might be the cables.

 

[XyracX]

Have found now one of these, used but full functional. For 6$

Will try this one out, after I receive it and hopefully it will fix all the problems.

 

[Lumstar]

Have found now one of these, used but full functional. For 6$

Will try this one out, after I receive it and hopefully it will fix all the problems.

Hmm that picture shows a Japanese box. Of course the cables look so similar...

 

[XyracX]

Guys, the SCART cable came today and it works like a charm ! Everything is in full color now. So I think all 3 cables are broken, what a bad luck...

 

[Lumstar]

Guys, the SCART cable came today and it works like a charm ! Everything is in full color now. So I think all 3 cables are broken, what a bad luck...

It's normal for RGB to fix the simple problems. RGB doesn't encode color using NTSC or PAL.

We haven't ruled out that, for uncertain reasons, the console is outputting incorrect or incompatible color.

 

[XyracX]

The fact ist, that the console worked with the normal cable in full colors years ago.

 

[migles]

The fact ist, that the console worked with the normal cable in full colors years ago.

did ya try with a burned disc?

 

[XyracX]

did ya try with a burned disc?

No, only with original one. Never used burned discs on that console.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Hello guys, I found my brothers PlayStation 1 in the garage, was laying around and unused for about 5 years or so. The PS1 was shelved dust free in a bag all the time.

After I connected it to my LCD TV, the screen was only in black & white. So I thought, it must be a problem with the TV and tried 3 other TV's, one of them was and old cathode ray tube. But same result. Also tried to connect it through a HD upscale Box and connect it with an HDMI to my LCD. Same result.

I use the composite video cable for the connection. So I thought, the problem must be here, and bought 2 other of them. They were also used, and the seller said, that 1 of them is fully functional, or even 2. So can not say 100% that they are not defective, too, but same result with the other 2 composite cables.

Also opened the PS1 and cleaned it a little from dust and stuff. Without any improvement. It is a PAL console and I tried it with original PAL CD's but all of them are colorless. In the inside, there are some black cables soldered, that don't look like legit from factory. Maybe a Modchip or something is in it. Doesn't unscrew it completely so, can not confirm it 100%, but can it be that the Mod is setting the PS1 in NTSC and then it is black & white ?

Also, are there any Settings or something, when you start the PS1 without any CD ? Don't found any, only for the memory cards and the music player.

Thanks for your help !

EDIT : Picture added, also tried it with an SCART Adapter. Same result.

I used a NTSC PSX on a PAL TV ages ago and the picture looked exactly like that, with the same dotted pattern. So I think your guess that it might be the modchip setting it to NTSC mode could be right. It's the only thing that makes sense. Good that it works with the RGB cable though.
You should find out if there really is a modchip installed. It would be a nice bonus if so

 

[migles]

I used a NTSC PSX on a PAL TV ages ago and the picture looked exactly like that, with the same dotted pattern. So I think your guess that it might be the modchip setting it to NTSC mode could be right. It's the only thing that makes sense. Good that it works with the RGB cable though.
You should find out if there really is a modchip installed. It would be a nice bonus if so

that's what i think, he has a modchip that is not correctly configured or it's glitching or something
modern tv's detect if the signal they are receiving is PAL or NTSC (and don't have that problem anymore) since he tried on several tvs, we can remove the problem being the tv...
and as we can see on his picture the tv is detecting a PAL signal...
the modhip could have a weak connection and all this years (maybe someone throw the box or something) something happened and is forcing the console to display ntsc through pal...

 

[XyracX]

Thanks for all the answers so far. Maybe I will open it later again and post some pictures, so anyone can say, if it is a modchip or not.

EDIT : PS1 has a chip build in. Thats where the trouble come from.