DVCAM decks and compatibility
 

I am having a recurring problem with DVCAM tapes not working on other DVCAM decks.

I supply DVCAM PAL recordings to a Freesat TV station in the UK. I use virgin Sony DVCAM tape stock on a DSR-25 deck. I do a spot check of my recording and that is always OK, the broadcaster does a spot check on their deck and it's OK. When it goes to Ascent Media for ingest, occasionally, they come back saying the video & audio is corrupted. So what is happening here? Are their decks so tight they don't accept anything less than pristine recordings? I imagine they use these decks day in and day out, so it's not like they are brand new. Must have 100's of hours on them.

Any ideas?

The whole point of DVCAM was to make it more robust, so the only explanation as far as I can see is that either your 25 or their playback machines are out of tolerance and need adjustment.

You could ask Ascent Media to send you a test recording and see how that replays your end. Or send some of your recordings to others with DVCAM playback facilities to ask for their opinions.

tom.