PS2 video centering bug
 

Good Day.

I've started playing my PS2 lately and noticed that it seems to have a problem centering the image on my 4:3 50" RPTV. It leaves about a 1" Gap on the left and bottom of the screen. This was in both Tekken Tag Tourn. and FFX. I assumed this is a known issue since Tekken Tag actually had a menu to center the picture but FFX does not. Does anyone have a site link with more information on this problem or a way to fix it via mod or firmware. I searched google for a bit but came up nil.

Thanks ahead of time.

I take it this only happens with the PS2?

I've never messed with it, but I know a lot of TVs have a "service menu" where you can really get under the hood and tweak things. Of course, that also means that you can really get under the hood and screw things up too.

Assuming that centering issues can even be tweaked in this manner, I wonder if it can be done on an input by input basis. In other words, leave your TV input alone and just change the input that your PS2 uses.

My PS2, PSOne, and Dreamcast all suffer from this ailment; however, my N64, GameCube, and XBox all play fine. I have been told in the past that it has something to do with the type of TV you are using (I have a 32" Sony) as clearly not all owners of these systems have experienced this problem. I have also been told that it may have to do with the manner in which the software is programmed, but I'm not too sure on this one.

Hi,

Thanks for the comments. I calibrate the set in the service menu every so often but this seems to be only a problem with games on the PS2 as DVD playback is fine. Also like mijang my XBox does not suffer from this problem so it could be a problem with the way the video chip renders the image with certain TV's or "possible" the way the software is coded like suggested also. It's not a big deal but is only a concern as far as screen burn-in.

I'm currently using S-video maybe i'll unhook my dvd player and try the Component inputs to see if makes any diffference but I doubt it since it seems to be a compatiblity problem between the PS2 and some TV's.

Let me know how it goes with the component cables, because eventhough my TV does not support them I would be interested to see if it corrects the problem. BTW I have used both composite and s-video and neither corrects the problem on my setup.

Could it be uneven overscan on your set, having nothing to do with the PS2 directly? It doesn't sound like that would be the case, but it might be something to look into...

mijang,
Same exact problem on Component cables and input also.

ctyner,
That's what I thought at first but DVD playback on the PS2 is fine. Not to mention I've calibrated this set's inputs including overscan :(

Maybe i'll call Sony's helpline to see what they say.

I Hope I'm not stating the obvious, but have you tweaked the PS2's screen settings through the browser?

cubanx:

Just wondering if you were able to get an answer from Sony on this issue.

Software issue.

Supposedly it has to due with a games lack of overscan. I'll see if I can find the email. But since I pretty much know the Toshiba Service menu pretty well I centered the PS2 image on a effected game and increased the image size on my video 3 input. So now all 4x3 game PS2 images fill the screen.

So basically if you don't have a TV that you can save different settings per input and know the service menu there's nothing you can do. It still does it on my 20" TV though.

GTA: Vice City seems does not seem to have the problem. Have you tried that game?

*You can destroy a TV if you don't know what your doing in the service menu*

same thing for me... some games have adjustments, but some don't. i just live w/ it.

toshiba tv.

really is not much you can do in this case because it's related to
how the games were designed
because most PS2 games are not in progressive scan, they don't have a locked aspect ratio thus they won't be completely centered on 16:9 RPTV's.
the only thing you can rely on to fix this problem is with the screen adjustment function that certain games have builtin
such as VC
XBOX and GCN both support progressive scan natively, well more
so on the XBOX, which produces progressive scan flawlessly on 99% of the games. On the GCN most of the newer titles are in PS but the option menu also lets you adjust screen position independent of games, so the image can be readjusted if it's off centered