Menu flicker on PAL Display

[hackgrid]

Description

I use a 64drive 1.0
The menu does flicker and is uneasy on the eyes on a PAL N64 console.
Would be great if PAL support could be added, so it is more pleasant for PAL users :-)

Thank you very much for your hard work and supporting the 64drive!

How to solve the problem

No response

Describe alternatives you've considered

No response

Additional context

No response

[riggles1]

Flickering doesn't make sense, 50Hz noticeably flickers, not 60Hz. Explain your setup (TV etc) and I can help you figure out what's wrong. The menu does not flicker on a PAL N64. There was no technical reason to suffer through 50Hz on the N64 back in 1996 and even less in 2023.

Please make it optional in that case, PAL N64 systems can do 60Hz (59.6Hz) without modifications, 59.9Hz with a DFO mod.

99% of CRT's sold since the early 80s in Europe had 60Hz support due to strict EU requirements, RGB and 50-60Hz sync range. There's no need for 50Hz especially today! Even if your TV can't decode NTSC colors (some TVs can't do it in color) you can circumvent the black and white composite picture issue by RGB modding the N64 since RGB is free of color-encoding and is neither PAL or NTSC.
(oh beyond that PAL N64 doesn't even do NTSC encoding, they do it as 60Hz in PAL color encoding still, or "PAL60")

The default should be 60Hz, and a hidden config should let you switch it to 50Hz.

Us European N64 owners want our N64flashcartmenues to be in 60Hz. (Really hope nothing gets changed, a lot of people don't realize our TVs do 60Hz as well)

[Polprzewodnikowy]

If you can post a video that would be great. I don't really know what you describe as flickering. Menu is running in interlaced mode and due to how this mode works image might "flicker" in certain situations. But this doesn't line up - original 64drive menu also runs at 480i mode so it should also flicker.
Menu creates configuration file at menu/config.ini. Try changing pal60=0 option to pal60=1 to run menu in 60 Hz mode instead of default 50 Hz mode. And please report if this changes anything.

[hackgrid]

Thanks for your fast replies! :-)

So you have already PAL support, sorry, I thought maybe you don't considered PAL yet...

My PAL N64 is directly connected to my "Sony PVM 20M4E", via composite cables.

It looks like the white lines are jittering (moving up/down).
But maybe this appears to me only this way, because until now I never saw white thin lines on a black-only background before on my N64.

The 64drive menu does not have this effect.

Videos:

Original, pal60=0
https://github.com/Polprzewodnikowy/N64FlashcartMenu/assets/54060/024c93d1-e79a-47a8-93c6-41a0d0a9e00c

Changed, pal60=1 (you can't see on video, but still the same "flickering" to my eyes - but it fills the whole screen, which is much nicer :-) )
https://github.com/Polprzewodnikowy/N64FlashcartMenu/assets/54060/1ae8f025-8c7c-4b4a-9789-9d4071a40393

So thank your for telling me that! :-)

BTW, can you launch the original 64drive menu from this universal menu, or vice-versa?
So you can use both at the same time, without changing sdcards? :)

[TharathielCB]

I made two videos with this flickering on a SC64. Captured with an OSSC and a HDMI grabber

Pal60=1
https://github.com/Polprzewodnikowy/N64FlashcartMenu/assets/99963785/93062319-e8c0-4493-b597-ece61bafa378

Pal60=0
https://github.com/Polprzewodnikowy/N64FlashcartMenu/assets/99963785/cbf9a922-2285-4faa-83f7-d11354afa344

It looks like a problem with an interlaced Signal and its deinterlacing

[hackgrid]

@TharathielCB thanks for looking into that! :-)

[TharathielCB]

It seems to be the deinterlacer. If I deactivate BOB deinterlacing on the OSSC the image stabilize.

2023-12-23.13-56-26.mp4

[TharathielCB]

Possible Solution: Change the Menu to progressive instead of interlaced.
On ED64+ the Menu is progressive aswell.