Troubleshooting for PAL and NTSC Xbox 360 Games

Some Xbox 360 games, such as Dead or Alive 4 or The Outfit, simply won't start, although your console is in perfect working condition, the disc(s) is/are not scratched, and your TV is working well too. However, some TV sets won't support the video output of the console. That's why this behavior occurs when you try to play an Xbox 360 game while the console is set to PAL 50 Hz.

For Standard definition TVs

To set your Xbox 360 console to PAL 60 Hz, follow these steps:
Turn on the Xbox 360 console.
In the Xbox Dashboard, select System, and then press the A button.
Select Console Settings, and then press the A button.
Select Display, and then press the A button.
Select PAL settings, and then press the A button.
Select PAL-60, and then press the A button.
When you are prompted to keep these new settings, confirm the settings, and then press the A button.

Note: Some older TVs do not support PAL 60 Hz. If you are not sure whether your TV supports PAL 60 Hz, contact the manufacturer of your TV.

For High definition TVs

To set your Xbox 360 console to PAL 60 Hz, follow these steps:
Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
Find the HDTV switch on the AV Connector, and then set the switch to TV.
Turn on the Xbox 360 console.
In the Xbox Dashboard, select System, and then press the A button.
Select Console Settings, and then press the A button.
Select Display, and then press the A button.
Select PAL settings, and then press the A button.
Select PAL-60, and then press the A button.
When you are prompted to keep these new settings, confirm the settings, and then press the A button.
Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
Set the HDTV switch on the AV Connector to HDTV.

For VGA cables

To set your Xbox 360 console to PAL 60 Hz, follow these steps:
Use an Xbox 360 Composite AV Cable or an Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable. To do this, follow these steps:
Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
Remove the VGA cable, and then connect the Xbox 360 Composite AV Cable or the Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable that came with your Xbox 360 system.
Connect the console to the TV, and then make sure that you set the HDTV switch on the AV connector to TV.
Configure the console to use PAL 60 Hz. To do this, follow these steps:
Turn on the Xbox 360 console.
In the Xbox Dashboard, select System, and then press the A button.
Select Console Settings, and then press the A button.
Select Display, and then press the A button.
Select PAL settings, and then press the A button.
Select PAL-60, and then press the A button.
When you are prompted to keep these new settings, confirm the settings, and then press the A button.
When you are prompted to keep these new settings, confirm the settings, and then press the A button.
Connect the VGA cable again to play the game.

Some users simply didn't see the setting for changing their PAL50/60 settings. Given that most of you connect to the TV set using a High Definition setting, to see the PAL settings, you'll need to switch your TV settings to standard definition.

For High definition TVs

To set your Xbox 360 console to PAL 60 Hz, follow these steps:
Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
Find the HDTV switch on the AV Connector, and then set the switch to TV.
Turn on the Xbox 360 console.
In the Xbox Dashboard, select System, and then press the A button.
Select Console Settings, and then press the A button.
Select Display, and then press the A button.
Select PAL settings, and then press the A button.
Select PAL-60, and then press the A button.
When you are prompted to keep these new settings, confirm the settings, and then press the A button.
Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
Set the HDTV switch on the AV Connector to HDTV.

For VGA cables

To set your Xbox 360 console to PAL 60 Hz, follow these steps:
Use an Xbox 360 Composite AV Cable or an Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable. To do this, follow these steps:
Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
Remove the VGA cable, and then connect the Xbox 360 Composite AV Cable or the Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable that came with your Xbox 360 system.
Connect the console to the TV, and then make sure that you set the HDTV switch on the AV connector to TV.
Configure the console to use PAL 60 Hz. To do this, follow these steps:
Turn on the Xbox 360 console.
In the Xbox Dashboard, select System, and then press the A button.
Select Console Settings, and then press the A button.
Select Display, and then press the A button.
Select PAL settings, and then press the A button.
Select PAL-60, and then press the A button.
When you are prompted to keep these new settings, confirm the settings, and then press the A button.
When you are prompted to keep these new settings, confirm the settings, and then press the A button.
Connect the VGA cable again to play the game.

Just like current generation consoles, a console designed for North America (NTSC) won't work on Europe (PAL) for the simple reason that games are region locked. So if you get an US Xbox 360, you'll have to purchase NTSC games because those titles sold in Europe won't work on your North American Xbox 360.