2026-03-12 21:14 UTC
TIL that the NES "blacker than black" palette entry 0d is not just blacker than black, but imitates a sync pulse that can cause TVs and scalers/capture devices to lose sync.
What's more, The Immortal on NES used it to gain 1 more shade of grey. I've yet to be able to run it.
Replies (6)
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@emilyyoung@tech.lgbt 2026-03-12 21:16
A video linked on the NESdev wiki illustrates what it should actually look like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMFoci7S2hs
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@moira@mastodon.murkworks.net 2026-03-12 21:22
@emilyyoung@tech.lgbt ...o no nintendo why
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@jesse@social.jelliefrontier.net 2026-03-12 21:27
@emilyyoung@tech.lgbt Can’t get any darker than turning the cathode ray off.
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@ADPupper@rubber.social 2026-03-12 21:34
Huh, very interesting to see, wonder why they designed that colour that way
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@gsuberland@chaos.social 2026-03-12 22:14
@emilyyoung@tech.lgbt oh, that makes sense. I guess it's dropping too close to 0.285V, and if the receiver's comparator reference is a bit too high then it thinks it's a reference blank rather than a reference black?
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@yetzt@social.yetzt.me 2026-03-12 22:30
@emilyyoung@tech.lgbt that's such a neat hack. love it.