Problem with Playback of mini-DV tapes in a different camcorder than was used to take video

9 Aug 2006 10:29 AM

Slash.Dash

I have a Sony DCR-PC110E (Pal version) which I cannot fault, great
camcorder, but I have a problem with it. The firewire port is broken -
some of the pins have been pushed back on themselves - meaning that I
cannot upload any footage to my PC. I contacted Sony UK about a repair
and they quoted something like £170. I thought this was taking the
p1ss for something so trivial, so I looked around and got a brand new
JVC GR-D33EK for £160. The only reason I got it was that it was the
cheapest decent brand camcorder that I could find with a Firewire port.

So anyway, to the problem. When I record stuff on the Sony, and try to
play it back on the JVC I get some intermitent quality issues. About
every 10 seconds the picture goes all blocky, sometimes the frames get
scrambled around in a weird blocky fashion. This happens regardless of
how I view the picture, whether through the PC via firewire, on a TV
using A/V out or directly on the JVC itself. I always use the same
Sony Premium miniDV tapes and have no problem playing them back on a
friends Sony. Any ideas what the problem is? Better still how do I
fix it?

Thanks

14 Aug 2006 6:03 PM

Gene E. Bloch

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"Slash.Dash" <slash.d***@gmail.com> wrote in
news:1155119374.830011.237900@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

> I have a Sony DCR-PC110E (Pal version) which I cannot fault, great
> camcorder, but I have a problem with it. The firewire port is
> broken - some of the pins have been pushed back on themselves -
> meaning that I cannot upload any footage to my PC. I contacted
> Sony UK about a repair and they quoted something like £170. I
> thought this was taking the p1ss for something so trivial, so I
> looked around and got a brand new JVC GR-D33EK for £160. The only
> reason I got it was that it was the cheapest decent brand
> camcorder that I could find with a Firewire port.
>
> So anyway, to the problem. When I record stuff on the Sony, and
> try to play it back on the JVC I get some intermitent quality
> issues. About every 10 seconds the picture goes all blocky,
> sometimes the frames get scrambled around in a weird blocky
> fashion. This happens regardless of how I view the picture,
> whether through the PC via firewire, on a TV using A/V out or
> directly on the JVC itself. I always use the same Sony Premium
> miniDV tapes and have no problem playing them back on a friends
> Sony. Any ideas what the problem is? Better still how do I fix
> it?
>
> Thanks

My two guesses are:

1. You recorded the tapes in the LP (Long Play) mode on the Sony.

2. The two devices have differing head alignment.

The first quite possibly guarantees that you won't be able to play
the tapes back on any other camcorder.

The second would require that you get the JVC realigned to match the
Sony tapes. Probably about 170 quid :-)

For your sake, let's hope I'm wrong on both guesses.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino) ... letters617blochg3251
(replace the numbers by "at" and "dotcom")