HD1 bug improvements and serial numbers?
 

People have been wanting to post the serial numbers of their cameras for ages, and I am interested if any of the previous problems have been fixed up in the new batches (i.e. fixes for bugs, auto focus and exposure stepping etc).

So, what is your serial number, and have you noticed any improvements?


Thanks

Wayne.

Serial numbers for my two (yes two) HD1's
 

The one does not work has a serial number of
03910069

The one which does work has a serial number of,
02910629

I have SN 02911026, which has been trouble free.

Seems interesting, higher number has a problem, how to read these numbers.

Where is everybody else? Even if Sanyo fixes a problem they are likely just going to change it at manufacture and not tell anybody.

Nobody notice that things like auto stepping in focus or exposure works better?

02910395, just the diagonal bug. Recieved from France by Pixmania 5-april-2006.

01910***

Have had no problems apart from the jaggies.

Black Screen / Lens issue
 

I just sent my HD1 to the local Sanyo Customer Care Clinic (Studio City, CA) When I started it up the other day, in REC mode, the LCD was black. I read that if you tap the lens it will start working, so I did that and it worked for one usage, then the next day the screen was black again and would not come back on. So, I called Sanyo Customer Service and they said it wa a problem with this model and the service center can repair it.

My serial number starts with 039xxx, series. I can't remember the last part of the number (I wrote it down, but I can't find the paper now).

FYI, I bought this camera from B & H Photo/Video. I use them usually, but their returns only allow 7 days for video and 14 for Photo and I'm at about 20 days or I would have thought about returning this model...but I do like this camera. I hope sanyo fixes this issue and adds some more support via firmware updates.

tup

039105** works great so far, travles in my backpack so its shaken around a good bit everyday.


Bo

www.bophoto.com/HDV

02911XXX no problems, has bounced around a lot and taken >2000 pics/vids. Bought in Feb.

Who knows, maybe there is a sticky mechanical item in the lens causing it, and having it in the backpack stops it from sticking?

Black screen of..
This is supposed to be lens, so can we guess what it is, Iris, ND filter, or some sort of short/overload/switch causing the picture to be closed down. People say that LCD is black, but there should still be menu if it is purely mechanical lens problem. Undoubtedly, in a years time, after warranty, somebody will pull apart a non functioning camera to see if they can get it working.

Serial number:
Serial numbers, as I noted before, the size of the number doesn't seem to match how new it is, how do you read these numbers, is their some internal structure? They haven't sold over three million, so it is not straight forward. They all have 91 in them, likely to be a field. The two digits in the front could be a month. the remaining digits might be a production number for the month. So:

[01][91][0001]
[Month][Model/Year code/?][production number for the month]

Anybody got a better guess?

I have one of SN 0391....

No jaggy found on the OLED screen (zoom to 2000%), and component output with a 720p TV.

The jaggies exist with software playback only.

Are you absolutely certain that playback to the TV does not have the messed up jaggy blocks in the diagonal direction they usually exist?

This is good news, it means that the internal software on the camera would be playing back the footage correctly, which means external software could be written to correct the bug in the footage. But you should check the TV first to be certain.

A lot of these TV's did not display HD as they should, some have resolution a bit lower, and some advertise a 720p HD input but down res that to a Wide SD resolution. This would hide the jaggies.

Here is a check list:

Check camera output and TV input, that it is set to 720p mode. Check the pixel resolution of the screen is actually 720p in the specs. Check that the component input you are using supports true 720p HD, and that 720p is not only available on HDMI socket, or something else like that.

Perhaps someone has a short native format clip in which the jaggies are very apparent? If they could send this clip to John, he can load the video onto his cam and look for the problem where it has already been identified. This would ensure sample quality and could clarify our chances of resolving the issue in software.

A second suggestion is that John upload a sample that should have jaggies (but doesn't) for us to review. Perhaps he has a different firmware. Anyone found a means of verifying firmware version on the cam? I've tried all sorts of button combos and have gotten some new screens, but nothing indicating the firmware version. I'm considering the possibility that Sanyo won't update distributed cameras due to instability in the firmware update process. If it is the update process that is of concern, and not the bug itself, there could be multiple firmware revisions already floating around. Programming a new master chip is much simpler than updating hundreds or thousands of cams.

A note on downsampling... when I take my videos and downsample to SDV, the jaggies are not apparent. As Wayne presents, there are TVs that do this; it would mask but not resolve the issue. I saw the result of downsampling when I pumped the image through my old DVD drive instead of direct to my TV, so it helps to confirm the signal path is direct as well.

I am sure that my TV can display true 720p signal, it is a 45" 1280x720 LCD projection TV. Although the HD1 can't zoom with component output, I can see clearly every pixel, and the still picture is almost the same with the camera's OLED screen (zoom up to 2000%).

And I've checked many clips which have high contrast "/" and "\" lines, the quality of them are same. But I can find easily the jaggies of "\" lines on the computer LCD screen even at 100% zoom.

Sounds pretty cut 'n dry. I can't confirm that here, as I use a projector instead of TV for presentation, and my bulb recently blew. Be a few days before I get a replacement.

If John's observation is correct, the following process may work...
1. Play the video on the cam and feed to a HD video capture device (computer capture card, HD camera with video inputs, or HD DVD recorder).
2. Record the video, zoom on a trouble area if possible
3. Check the final capture for Jaggies

We would be compressing a second time, so it wouldn't be a good long term solution. What it would do however, is clarify our paths to correcting the issue.

Still think we need to find a way to determine the camera's firmware revision.