Here's what we hope will be the first of many articles exploring the world of video and its relationship to your Bally.
As you already know, the Bally arcade is a dynamic game system and easy to use microcomputer. What you may not realize are its full capabilities and its potential as a video/graphics pallet-titling system. A good working knowledge of BASIC, and a bit of artistic flair, can turn your home video tapes into interesting and professional looking shows. You also have the added blessing of owning one of the few computers that puts out a true NTSC signal. This is why the colors and definitions that you get from your Bally are so vibrant and crisp!
What this means to you at home is that you can hook up your Bally to your videocassette recorder and get a clean, vibrant image that can be recorded and copied without falling completely apart. I bought and sold a few computers before the Bally. One, costing $600, gave me an image that was pure "trash;" the next one was the apple of my eye until I found out I needed to spend hundreds of dollars to do what I can now do with my Bally at the push of a few buttons.
All you have to do is hook up the Bally RF-out directly to your VCR RF-input and tune it to channel 3 or 4 (as you do on your TV). You'll find that time spent fine-tuning the image will help increase clarity. For a real jump in quality, go back to volume 1, issue #5 (June 1980) of the BASIC EXPRESS [then called CURSOR] for the schematics for the audio/video direct box. This takes the signal, splits it into its component parts, and feeds it into your VCR audio-in and video-in jacks. The results are superb and the investment is small. Other options are the new "Viper" with its expanded memory and multicolor displays, and (still in the works) a new box that will replace the old RF modulator and give an even more distinct image.
Some projects you may enjoy doing are putting together some of your favorite graphics programs on videotape. Then, by way of the audio dub function, add some of your favorite music to it. With some imagination you can even put together your own intermission segment complete with countdown and fireworks to herald the start of the next feature on tape.