Line at the top of the frame
 

I've noticed recently - don't know how I didn't spot it sooner - that there's a weird line on top of the frame. It seems to be the top line of pixels... It doesn't show up on a regular TV. It is viewable in the editing software. What's up with this? Glitch? Should I call the service guys?

Thanks.

~~Dave

You don't mention what kind of camera you have (this forum covers the whole PD and VX series).

I would want to confirm that the line actually exists and isn't some artifact of your software/computer/monitor setup. Look at some footage on another computer or with a professional monitor that shows the entire frame (underscan) if possible.

But beyond that, I wouldn't worry a whole lot about it, since regular TV's won't show anywhere near the first scan line. If you're editing the footage to be viewed on a computer (web, etc) it might be more of an issue, but it could be easily compensated by cropping the first line or two out of the image.

clarification
 

It's a PD-170.

I don't think it's the computer. I looked at footage shot on a different camera but input with the PD-170 and it's totally fine. Is this a common thing?

It is normal. That is why you need to mask video that will be shown on devices that display the full image, such as LCD projectors. You would never see it on a CRT display but you will on a LCD display.

I always put a 5-10 pixel mask over images for just this reason.

how do you do that? i'm cutting on the latest version of Premiere Pro. How can I mask the footage off?

I'm a Canopus user so I cannot answer the question. I can mask in Edius or in After Effects. Probably a good question for the editing forum.