[Robert Turner]

Hi everyone! This is a bit of a long shot.... I've been thinking of starting a YouTube channel reviewing retro games. It'd just be a bit of fun really.

I've been attempting to record footage using a DVD recorder (panasonic dmr-es15), as I already had it, and all the decent capture cards were way out of my price range.

My Nintendo 64, and Sega Mega Drive both work absolutely fine, but my NES is giving me trouble: The screen flickers white every 5 seconds or so.

It does this whichever input on the DVD recorder I use, the NES works fine plugged straight into the TV, and I've tried using an RCA cable and a SCART (both using composite video), both are the same.

I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas?

 

[Super Eye]

This sounds like (FPS) a frame per second or frame rate problem. I take it You’re at 25/50 FPS PAL country. And seems to me that your TV can automatically handle different frame rates but your DVDr can’t. You may need to set the frame rate manually.

Sorry I’m in a hurry and that’s all I could write for now.

 

[Robert Turner]

Thanks for the advice, I'll have a look at the settings on my DVDR. I reckon it could be something to do with the resolution the NES uses, I think it's something unusual and non-standard. It's just annoying, because the video in between the flickers if floorless.

 

[Super Eye]

Sorry I don’t know much about NES or any game system for that matter but I was thinking that the NES may have a manual frame rate setting or maybe 50Hz or 60Hz or auto setting and that setting may have to be set manually to match your DVD recorder. I don’t know what country you live in or if your DVDR is set for 50hz pal or 60hz NTSC.

Again I don’t know much about game consoles but since no one else replied I though this may be worth a try. My advise is to go to a game console forum and ask there.

 

[7558037]

Since it plays OK direct to TV but gets wonky through a recorder, it sounds like copy protection (CP), for which you'll need a CP filter.

 

[jjeff]

I agree, it sounds like some sort of frame rate issue where a TV can display it fine but a DVDR may be acting too quickly to something not quite right. You could try pushing the DISPLAY button on your ES-15 and try turning the line-in NR on if you have it off, you could also try messing with the PROGRESSIVE on or off and try changing the TRANSFER to video or film. Those last two settings may be only for playback but they were all I could find when I was looking for a setting for TBC which the ES-15 is supposed to have.
As a last ditch effort I'd try putting something like a VCR in-line with the composite output of your game. That is game line output, VCR line input, VCR line output to ES-15 and see if that filters out any abnormalities. A video filter used for removing Macrovision may also work but I'm not sure if you'd have such a filer or how common they are in your area.

Sounds like Wajo is also leaning towards the filter option, probably a cheaper VHS type filter might work although the more expensive DVD filter would probably work as well. If you had a old VCR laying around I'd probably try that first.

 

[Robert Turner]

Yes Supereye, I'm in the UK, so all the gear is PAL50. I tried using NTSC on the DVDR, which oddly got rid of the flashing, but also got rid of the colour and messed up the position of the picture.

Since it plays OK direct to TV but gets wonky through a recorder, it sounds like copy protection (CP), for which you'll need a CP filter.

I'd read about that, but couldn't find any for sale, are there any PAL ones you'd recommend?

I agree, it sounds like some sort of frame rate issue where a TV can display it fine but a DVDR may be acting too quickly to something not quite right. You could try pushing the DISPLAY button on your ES-15 and try turning the line-in NR on if you have it off, you could also try messing with the PROGRESSIVE on or off and try changing the TRANSFER to video or film. Those last two settings may be only for playback but they were all I could find when I was looking for a setting for TBC which the ES-15 is supposed to have.
As a last ditch effort I'd try putting something like a VCR in-line with the composite output of your game. That is game line output, VCR line input, VCR line output to ES-15 and see if that filters out any abnormalities. A video filter used for removing Macrovision may also work but I'm not sure if you'd have such a filer or how common they are in your area.

Sounds like Wajo is also leaning towards the filter option, probably a cheaper VHS type filter might work although the more expensive DVD filter would probably work as well. If you had a old VCR laying around I'd probably try that first.

Thanks, I tried all the settings, except for "Transfer", how do I go about setting this? I might try the trick with a VCR, I reckon I could pick one up for peanuts...

 

[7558037]

Since it plays OK direct to TV but gets wonky through a recorder, it sounds like copy protection (CP), for which you'll need a CP filter.

I'd read about that, but couldn't find any for sale, are there any PAL ones you'd recommend?

Here are some, and most if not all have an NTSC/PAL switch (check for this in any you find there).