Mode Changing...
 

I am experiencing an interesting issue/problem:

On a test tape shot entirely in HDV30p at around the 20-minute mark the deck and the camera stop playing the video. The tape keeps rolling but the image from the deck is blue with slight reddish flashes in brief intervals, while the camera LCD goes black with letters "MODE CHANGING..." flashing across the screen. I waited for a while but nothing happened, the message just kept flashing. I don't believe that I changed the recording mode on the tape while shooting, all I might have done is when the tape was stopped I might have changed the mode to HDV 24p just to look but switched it back to 30p before resuming recording. This gap on the tape lasts about 10 minutes and then all is back and normal. I tried to change of the camera in PB mode to 24p but it didn't change anything.

Anyone experienced this? Any suggestions?

Hi Jiri
 

This happened to me on the very first tape I used about 20 mins in there was no footage and just a blue screen. I was a tad concerned as I ffw through tape. I picked up footage again after about 5mins of blue so not everything was lost. It hasn't happened since so I've kind of forgotten about it but it would be awful if it started to happen more often. I guess try another tape and a few tests. Hopefully, it won't happen again.

Regards Greg C

When I was playing with this camera that became a pretty big concern with me, I actually spoke with some JVC folks about it, they didn't seem to worried. Here's something to try out, it seemed to work for me, after it does the "mode changing" thing and finally get's a picture back, see if you can rewind back to just after the blue came up. when I did that I got most of my footage back but it sure is strange.

This is happening to JVC too. It's just a matter of getting Japan to fix it. This is not acceptable at all. Plug in every other DV/HDV camera made and you will not have this problem. There is no vodoo fast forward, rewind, cross your fingers and capture again solution. It's broken pure and simple.

JVC can send you 100 cameras and they will all do the same thing. (At least any coming from production this year). This needs a firmware update.

I had this also on my first tape ever in the camera. JVC told me to use a cleaning tape and to go from there. Since then it seems OK.

Me Too
 

I had this problem: Camera would go into mode changing and go to STOP. Connect HD. Never could capture anything.
I thought my system wasn't up to the task. 1.53 ghz PC.
So...I built a new system with Pentium Dual Core 2.8 ghz. And now, it seems to be working fine. Haven't tried capturing an entire tape though.

Kelly

This is a FACT!

I have the exact firmware version Tim has and it drops out as soon as you try to use your capture software. I'm using Cineform Connect HD.

I have a work-around in another post here, but it is very inconvienent and requires you to ready your playback and pause before plugging in the firewire.

Any verdict?
 

Hi Guys,

Anyone got a verdict on this mode changing blue screen thing. I was shooting 45 minutes of important footage today only to discover that 2 minutes into the tape is blue with mode changing over the top nothing recorded. I've shot ten hours of footage over the last week which I haven't checked yet and I am now concerned. Does anyone out there know what is causing this?

Cheers guys, Greg C

Greg,

there is no resolve yet. I informed my dealer and he suggested running a cleaning tape through the camera twice and switching to 'dry' lubricant tape stock. I did that and shot another project, this time in SD, and so far the problem hasn't happened again. But it wasn't that many tapes to be really sure that it's okay.

Out of curiousity; what exact tapes are you using? It seems that it's either a matter of tape stock compatibility or some software/firmware bug.

In my case the problem happened on a SONY high grade HDV stock PHDVM-63DM, first tape through the camera. I am not suggesting at all that it's the SONY tapes but I admit I got cold feet after the experience and switched to Panasonic just because JVC and my dealer suggest so. Can't afford to risk it...

strange
 

Hi Jiri,

Thanks for the response mate. My tape stock is the standard jvc prohd 63 me I've never used anything else in the camera so I'm reluctant to think that it's a tape issue. It also happened on the very first tape I ever used as I said in my post this was also a prohd jvc tape. The really strange thing is the first one and a half minutes are fine then suddenly blue mode changing for the rest of the tape. It was right in the middle of a steadicam shot so it was not even a case of stopping and starting in another format and I did not even have my hands on the camera so I can't see how I could of knocked anything by accident. It does give cause for concern. I've now got the daunting task of trawling through 10 hours of footage to check it's ok, wish me luck. I'll let you know the outcome.

Regards Greg C

P.S. How regularly do you use a cleaning tape?

I am not really used to using cleaning tape at all because my previous camera was SONY DSR-500, which I owned for 3 years and I never needed to use it. The general suggestion is to use it when there is a problem, otherwise it's too abrasive for the heads and it shortens their life. Perhaps it's different with this camera...? I don't know. I only used it once, after discovering the problem.

This past weekend I shot some footage with my new camera and the same thing happened to me. 1st tape (JVC PROHD) about three or four minutes in.
I was freakin' out. I ran a head cleaner through and shot a few more tests and haven't seen it happen again. I have a real shoot coming up this week and I hope I don't get bit by this.

Call to JVC
 

Okay then, this sounds like a systemic problem. Hence, I believe that JVC should come in to this discussion and inform us about what they are doing about this matter. As we all know, the possibility of this problem happening on a shoot for a client, particularly if the shot is un-repeatable, means us risking our reputation and loosing clients.

Yeah. This is definitely a problem with some cameras and not tape based. It is most likely firmware based.

I suggest that those who are having the problem keep a detailed log of the conditions when it occurs and maybe we can help JVC build a case file and solve this issue. Write down everything: recording mode, tape stock brand and model, firmware version numbers, operating temperature, moisture conditions, dealer region, etc.

I had a similar problem recently that occured only once, but I thought my camera needed repair. One other person had the exact same symptoms and we sent our information to JVC tech and within a week they had an answer for me. My problem, which I believe was specific to my firmware version (blue screen or pixelated still frame only, with TC, no sound, mid-way through tape) was caused by me pressing REC after loading a scene file and not waiting for the message "COMPLETE!"
I would have never thought of that, but they identified it pretty quickly, and then I breathed a sigh of relief that my camera was not totally screwed and (in my case) it was just me stumbling upon a firmware bug.

So anyway, lets be proactive and collect as much info as possible this week as to the conditions surrounding the problem and then I'll direct the technician I've dealt with in the past to this thread. Maybe JVC already has a case file open.

Details:
 

Good idea Tim.

What happened in my case is that I was recording on the same tape (brand new SONY PHDVM-63DM) continuously over a period of a few days in HDV 30p mode. I didn’t change frame rate or scene files for recording to tape but I was changing it in between just to see. All shooting was done outside in daytime, dry climate, temeratures between 0 and +10 Celsius, mostly sunny, no rain or snow. Filters mostly between 1 & 2 ND, preset 5600K.

When playing the tape back in camera, on the problem spot, which is at around the 20-minute mark, the image just goes to black, while all display indicators stay and TC keeps running and the message “Mode changing...” flashes. In total, there is about 10 minutes of missing video and audio, afterwards, the images, sound and TC are fine to the end of the tape.

When played back on the HD50 deck, the image goes to blue and at 3-4 sec intervals there are very brief flashes or reddish bar in the upper half of the screen. The bar is horizontal and about 1/5 of the height of the screen. If I keep fast forwarding with picture, when it hits the next area about 10 minutes later, it freezes on a frame. If I fast forward without picture, and try to play at around the 10 minute area past the disappearance, it creates this colour pattern (like knitted sweater) and gets frozen in that. Only if I go well beyond the problem spot it starts playing the rest of the tape properly.

My firmware is:
SYS CPU C1590 V0202
CAM CPU C1591 V0202
VRT CPU C1594 V0114
ENC CPU C1187 V0105
*
PACKAGE C1615 V0201
FPGA2 C1595 V0201
FPGA3 C1596 V0101
FPGA4 C1597 V0104

The S/N of the camera is: 15031654