NES Graphics Explained

In this episode I break down the basics of how graphics work on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:03 PPU Overview
3:36 CRTs Explained
6:32 Pattern Tables & Palettes
10:32 Nametables & Attribute Tables
13:13 Object Attribute Memory
15:12 Final Example: Megaman
16:43 Conclusion

[NesHacker]

*UPDATES*
- The PAL / NTSC Section is somewhat lacking and a bit inaccurate. See the many liked comments below for more details.
- Many games were specifically coded for PAL, mostly to fix music timing (thanks @Strobo)
- Pattern tables contain 4KB of data not 64KB of data. I forgot to divide by 8 when calculating (thanks @HughGenuts)

[christeague]

I've been in the NES dev community since 1997, have written several emulators and know quite a bit about the system. This channel is legit - good info clearly presented. We'll done!

[embergamedev]

Making my first NES game, after a week of study and watching your videos, i have managed to draw a heart sprite to the screen. I already had respect for devs of the time, but experiencing it first hand is really starting to put it all into perspective, just how incredible these developers were.

[xsplashdashx]

I'm not a programmer, coder, or designer at all, but I LOVED this video and learning how my childhood favorites were made and worked. Thank you!

[rodrigogirao]

5:15 The map is correct, but the description is wrong. You see, strictly, PAL and NTSC refer only to the color encodings, not the whole systems. After all, analog TV is a monochrome signal first, plus a color subcarrier. So it's more proper to say the US used System M (525-line, 60i) with NTSC color on top, and most of Europe used System B (625-line, 50i) with PAL color on top.
And then Brazil used this funky thing called PAL-M, which was System M with PAL color.

[VoidHalo]

I'm really glad (and grateful) that you took the time and energy to produce this video, despite the fact that there are already many videos (among other documents) about the same topic. I know some creators have the attitude that you shouldn't do videos on things other channels have already covered. At least sometimes they do. But I'm glad that wasn't the case with this video. I never believed in that philosophy because even if I've seen other videos on NES graphics before, which I have, it's such a complicated and comprehensive subject that there's no way a 20, 30 or even 40 minute video could give you the full picture (sorry for the pun). Even if they did, there's no way a person could memorize everything in it. So it's always great to have multiple resources to consult on the same subject so you can get the same story told from a different perspective, so to speak. Plus that really helps with understanding the material intuitively, as well. If there's something technical in a video or document I don't understand, it always helps a lot to be able to have it explained differently.

tl;dr you have an amazing channel that's not afraid to take chances by covering topics others already have. And it's paid off in spades! Thank you for sharing your passion with us.

[katherinek]

SECAM was partially compatible with PAL, but produced a B&W image when presented with a PAL signal. So these of us growing up in SECAM regions generally were stuck with playing NES (or its clones) without color until multisystem TVs that supported both PAL and SECAM color became common. It wasn't until several years after I first played SMB that I learned that Mario's overalls are red on the NES.

[njbair]

Wow. I've watched just about every video on YouTube that talks about NES architecture, and while I grasped the essentials, this is the first video that got the gears turning in my head that maybe I can try making my own NES games.

[HughGenuts]

The pattern tables don't each have 64 kilobytes of memory. Each pattern table has 256 tiles, each 8x8 pixels; that's 16384 pixels with 2 bit color depth, or 32768 *bits* in one pattern table. That's 4096 bytes, or 4 kilobytes.

[punchabunchabuttons]

What an awesome video for someone with 339 subscribers. On point. Clear. Short. Interesting. Cuts right when my brain is about to overheat. Great job and yes, more please!

[techBuffy]

Im a software pro and this mem tables description makes so much sense to someone who also did some assembly programming on 8085 in College. Having played Nintendo games back in the 90s as a school kid, this is like life going full circles. You played the game as a kid and now you know how that game was made. And now it encourages someone like me to actually fiddle with instruction sets on emulators.. Thanks much

[timbrosius]

I wasn’t searching for this but it was suggested to me and I watched and enjoyed it immensely. I think the algorithm is choosing you. Liked and subscribed, wishing you all the best!

[lily]

I like just hearing people talk about something they're enthusiastic about, even if I don't understand it. Good work!

[BizerkPixel]

There is no way you have 25 subs rn man. Just randomly found your videos when searching about NES graphics and your entire channel is a gold mine of well crafted video explanations. We need more in-depth, well-organized explanations about the NES, and I'm confident you're the guy to do it!

[HardcoreHeely]

The editing on this is so nice! Can’t wait to see your channel blow up :)

[paulspaulding]

Ryan, I rarely comment on videos, but you clearly put a lot of time into this. Very well done!

[joshb.]

Wow, great explanation of NES graphics. Your visuals really did a fine job of backing up your narration.

[roberttezak]

Hey Ryan. Just found your channel and think it’s really cool that you are doing this. I was pretty excited about it honestly. The content is a little outside of my wheelhouse at this point, but you did a great job of breaking it down. My son even thought it was interesting.

[Byefriendo]

Honestly can't believe a channel with this good production quality only has 350 subs. Earned a sub from me :)

[Zhilajoon]

Just discovered this video and was so impressed with the content/animations and the clear explanation. Can't wait to binge the rest of the channel. Keep it up!