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.

 

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 ?

 

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 ?

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

did ya try with a burned disc?

 

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

 

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.