NTSC_video wiki page

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forkram
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:04 pm
Location: Wisconsin

NTSC_video wiki page

Post by forkram »

Hello NesDev team
I've been studying the NTSC_video wiki page heavily the past view days and I have some formatting suggestions that might help future readers.
I also have some questions that I'll try to keep in context of formatting versus questions about the topic.
I'm more than willing to help update this page if you agree with the suggestions and would grant access.

An overall suggestion is to label tables & images and reference them accordingly. (My engineering background coming out :| )

In the opening paragraph there is this sentence,
"NTSC Master clock is 21.47727273 MHz and each PPU pixel lasts four clocks"
Would it be helpful to say the reference the master clock specifically add the period (length in time)?
"NTSC Master clock is 21.47727273 MHz and each PPU pixel lasts four Master clock cycles (186.24 nano seconds)"
The last sentence in the opening paragraph talks about palette values, but it isn't used until the Brightness Levels section.
Could this be moved to the beginning of the Brightness Levels section? And add a link to the PPU_palettes page?
"$xy" refers to a palette color in the range $00 to $3F (see PPU palettes)
In the Color Phases section:
On NTSC, color $xY uses the wave shown in row Y from the table.
What table is this referring to?
If it is the table right above it, which is row Y? (Here is an example of labeling tables and referencing them)

Still in the Color Phases section:
NTSC color burst (pure shade -U) uses color phase 8 (with voltages listed above)
Which table and where is pure shade -U listed?

In the Color Artifacts section:
Thought it takes 12 clocks of the generator to complete a color cycle, an NTSC pixel is only 8 clocks wide
Is this 12 master clock cycles or 12 PPU clock cycles?
Delete the "t" in Thought
Also, I'm not clear what the "generator" is, but that is probably due to my lack of knowledge up to this point.

In the Color Tint Bits section:
There are three color modulation channels controlled by the top three bits of $2001. Each channel uses one of the color square waves (see above diagram)
Which diagram above? There is a diagram directly below this paragraph, but since it said above, I'm not clear.
I don't know what $2001 is, but that is probably another thing that is due to my inexperience.

Reference section has dead links:
Tutorial 1184: Understanding Analog Video Signals
https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/app- ... vp/id/1184

Analog Video 101
http://www.ni.com/white-paper/4750/en/
lidnariq
Posts: 11432
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:12 am

Re: NTSC_video wiki page

Post by lidnariq »

I've made changes that I hope reflect all the points you've suggested. Please let me know if anything is still less clear than would be good.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what's the right mediawiki way to make a citeable figure or table out of text...
Fiskbit
Posts: 891
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 9:15 pm

Re: NTSC_video wiki page

Post by Fiskbit »

If you would like a wiki account, lidnariq or I are happy to make you one (with the same email address you used for the forums, or a different one if you'd prefer). Just let us know. Account registration used to be open, and the only reason it now goes through us is because of serious problems with spam.
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