PSX emulation PAL vs NTSC

[PanjaNL]

I'm using ePSXe for PSX emulation on my rig.
It's running fine with both PAL and NTSC games.

But what's the best way to go PAL or NTSC?

[Warrior]

NTSC if you want the full screen, PAL games have borders and run as a slower speed than NTSC.

[PanjaNL]

Arent they both 4:3 aspect ratio? What resolution do they both play?

[skullpoker]

PAL supports 50Hz screen refresh rate, NTSC supports 60Hz screen refresh rate. Depending on your monitor and VSYNC settings, this causes the slowdown that Gobby referred to.

AFAIK both 4:3 aspect ratio as that was standard for televisions and monitors at the time. And the native resolution was 320x240, due to a common CRT TVs scanlines..

Aside from the Screen refresh rate, the main difference for emulation is that many PAL games require patching before they will run on your emulator due to copy protection, where NTSC games generally play directly from the ISO, BIN or IMG. It's one more step before the first time you play a game. And I'm sure many games have slightly different content due to localization issues, i.e German games will have different violence levels, European and Japanese games probably have more nudity than US versions...

For example, the US version of Soul Blade has Sophitia bathing in a white robe where other versions show her nude, possibly concealed in steam.

[PanjaNL]

Thanks for the replies guys!
I'm using a modern Samsung 46inch HDTV (1080p) which supports 60Hz for sure.

So my best bet is to go with NTSC games than?

[Zorlon]

PAL games run at a slower frame rate than NTSC but both run at the same speed overall unless badly programmed or as above you have V-sync issues

Some PAL versions also have extra contents and or fixes that are not in earlier released NTSC versions

Copy Protection is in both NTSC and PAL releases but there are more PAL games that have protection than NTSC games, those would require either patching/auto patching or the use of a sbi file to make those games work, overall very few games have copy protection built into them though

Display will be the exact same for PAL and NTSC anyway via emulation, you still need to try and keep the frame rate correct though (the FPS settings need to be spot on) running games too fast or too slow can cause nasty issues, including lag, crash outs and sync issues.

As far as best goes it depends on the game and what the difference is between versions of the games, in general I go with NTSC releases myself but there are some PAL version that I like over the NTSC versions due to fixes and extra content, that and there are a few PAL exclusive games out there that are very good games, then again there are also a few NTSC exclusive releases that are not too bad either

End of the day just get what works

[PanjaNL]

Thanks for the explanation! Sounds clear to me.

Is it correct I have black borders top and bottom with NTSC games?
I have tried 2 different games PAL + NTSC and PAL is fullscreen (4:3) and NTSC has black borders...
Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon.