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Bad audio and video on old Digital-8 playback

Help! I just got a firewire adapter and large hard drive so I could transfer all my old videos to computer. I have a Sony DCR-TRV315 NTSC Handycam. I haven't used the camera at all since 2007. I did a small test transfer of a videotape I recorded in 2007 (digital tape using Maxell XR-metal Hi8 tape) and everything worked with no frame dropouts but the audio was corrupt and the video very full of artifacts, wiggles, etc. I tried just looking at the tape in the LCD of the camera during playback there (without computer transfer) and had the same problems there. I tried another tape recorded earlier and it also had similar problems. I ran a Sony head cleaning tape (3 times) and the problems persisted. I then tried using a Maxell tape and recording something today and playing it back, and that looked and sounded fine. So...Any ideas? Are my old tapes bad? Have I waited too long for this project and all the old magnetic signals are messed up? Or some other ideas? I'm open to suggestions. Hate to think my 100+ old tapes are ruined.

Robert
Sat, 07 Apr 2012 19:02:42 +0400

Find someone else with a Digital8 camcorder to test your tapes on. Hopefully they are not your tapes.

Chieh Cheng
Sat, 07 Apr 2012 20:51:45 +0400

Is there a sensible explanation/hypothesis for how the old tapes could be distorted but a new recording be just fine, and yet the problem be the machine and not the tapes? (I hope so!) Appreciate any suggestions. Wish I knew someone with a machine like this, but everyone seems to have mini-DV, not the older Digital-8 format.

Robert
Sun, 08 Apr 2012 06:06:21 +0400

Given the evidence that you provided, I would have to agree with you that the aging tapes are giving up. But given that your precious memories are on those tapes, it might be worthwhile to try a different camcorder. There may be "unknown" factors that we haven't considered. If you want a gleam of hope, here is a far-fetched example:

Maybe over the years, the head of the camcorder has changed position slightly. Therefore, when it reads your old tape, the data is mis-aligned to see your symptom. When it records fresh data, they are aligned perfectly to the new head position.

By the way, 5 years old tape really aren't that old. So I was surprised to hear that you have tape problems. If it is really the tapes, maybe its because they were stored close to magnetic source or stored in a environment that caused tape deterioration. Look at the tape to see if there are any physical sign of deterioration.

Chieh Cheng
Sun, 08 Apr 2012 09:10:00 +0400

Thanks. I don't know enough about the technology but sounds plausible to me! I hope you are right!

Robert
Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:07:58 +0400

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