Corrupted hd100 footage - What is up?

[K. Forman]

I have 10 of them, and almost afraid to run another one. Since they think I have bad CCDs, it really doesn't make sense to waste a fresh tape.

[Dennis Stevens]

Tried another JVC proHD tape and a Panasonic tape. Both have the same problem, in fact, the Panasonic tape had the red frame...

I've attached two captured frames. bad1 is a good frame, then bad2, as you see is just bright red, and it lasts for 6 frames.

[K. Forman]

That is what happens to me, only mine lasts 9 frames. I was told it was an issue with the CCDs, and they're sending out a fresh cam.

[Jonathan Nelson]

Wow, I wonder if I have the red problem. I have not seen any pure red frames but I was looking threw some footage and found a single frame with a line of red going threw the bottom. I looked everywhere and checked other projects for this red line but couldn't find anything. Hopefully, this was a rare incident.

[Carl Hicks]

All,


JVC is anxious to help any customer with their technical issues. In order to help, we often need to talk to you by phone. Since many of you do your work out in the field, (as do I and my colleagues) and do not keep regular office hours, it is often challenging to get you in touch with the right people who can help you with a solution. Please keep these points in mind that will help facilitate help for your issue:

1. Contacting your reseller for support should be your first step. Often, the reseller can provide an answer, or can contact their JVC Pro Rep who can then assist you directly, or put you in toucg with the Regional Sales Engineer for your area.

2. The Pro Customer Care Center Tech support phone number is 1-800-582-5825. This line is manned from 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time. For those of you in other time zones please do the appropriate conversion. And yes, some times it might not be answered as quickly during a heavy call period, or during lunchtime. Overall, our phone log tracking system shows that most calls are answered in just a few minutes.

3. If your issue is not resolved with the above call, then send me a private e-mail from this forum, with your full name, address, daytime phone number and times that you can be called, e-mail address, description of problem, and serial number. I will route your info to someone in support or engineering that can contact you to assist.

The key point here is that if you have an issue, please take the steps needed to get your reseller and possibly JVC involved in finding a solution. Sometimes, it's necessary to take a step beyond just posting the problem on a forum.

Regards, Carl

P.S. The above phone number and e-mail instructions apply only to U.S. customers.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Carl Hicks

The key point here is that if you have an issue, please take the steps needed to get your reseller and possibly JVC involved in finding a solution. Sometimes, it's necessary to take a step beyond just posting the problem on a forum.

Indeed it is Carl. But I think the problem is that people have become so accustomed to bad customer service in all types of industry, that they come to the internet first these days to see if they are alone or part of a bigger problem.

I started doing that back in 2001 when I learned that our 2001 year model vehicle had a flaw which created binding and popping from the steering column. Of course the dealer tried to say, "We've never heard of this problem." When I handed him the printout of the internet thread with many posts from all over the country describing the exact same issue, he had to do some fast backpeddling. He just didn't want to fix our vehicle under warranty which is sad.

So once again Carl, I want to commend you and your company for maintaining a strong presence here. Even with these issues, your customers feel they are being taken care of after the sale and that's rare these days.

-gb-

[Jonathan Nelson]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

Indeed it is Carl. But I think the problem is that people have become so accustomed to bad customer service in all types of industry, that they come to the internet first these days to see if they are alone or part of a bigger problem.

I started doing that back in 2001 when I learned that our 2001 year model vehicle had a flaw which created binding and popping from the steering column. Of course the dealer tried to say, "We've never heard of this problem." When I handed him the printout of the internet thread with many posts from all over the country describing the exact same issue, he had to do some fast backpeddling. He just didn't want to fix our vehicle under warranty which is sad.

So once again Carl, I want to commend you and your company for maintaining a strong presence here. Even with these issues, your customers feel they are being taken care of after the sale and that's rare these days.

-gb-

I feel the same way. The first thing I do when I have a problem is search the Internet and look threw these boards. If I don't get the answer I am looking for, then I post. These threads have been lifesavers for me, and they have always worked for me in the past. Why should I not post?

Thank you Carl for your help and I will be sure to remember option #3 when all else fails.

This problem is far from simple and my main goal at this point is to find a way around it. If this means buying $10 tapes or getting a replacement then so be it. I have been shooting for 3 days now since the bad tape event and I have had pretty good results with only a few glitches. I even had one perfect tape! The scary part about this problem is how inconsistent it is.

I am trying some new ProHD tape and I hope that solves my problem. From what other users have said regarding the ProHD tapes, it sounds to me like they should be just as bad or worse then what I am currently using.

I am really interested in knowing how many hd100 users have ZERO tape issues. I would like to hear their workflow and what tape brands they use. For all I know, we could have a bunch of lemons. I would be happy as heck to hear that this has not been a problem for the bulk of hd100 users.

Regardless, I hope that we can soon go back to shooting our hd100s with confidence.

[Daniel Patton]

Also try repacking the tape before use. We found that it helps improve our dropouts and misc. glitching due to tape stock sitting around (and different climate conditions). I'm not claiming that it will eliminate the green / blue screen glitches, but it has all but removed 90% of the occasional crap we ran into, and we have only used MQ tapes from day one.

[John Vincent]

Originally Posted by Daniel Patton

Also try repacking the tape before use. We found that it helps improve our dropouts and misc. glitching due to tape stock sitting around (and different climate conditions). I'm not claiming that it will eliminate the green / blue screen glitches, but it has all but removed 90% of the occasional crap we ran into, and we have only used MQ tapes from day one.

What exactly is repacking the tape? Fastforwarding the entire tape/rewind back to start? Thanks for any advise.

johnevilgeniusentertainment.com

[Daniel Patton]

That's correct John. :)

[Jonathan Nelson]

Originally Posted by Daniel Patton

That's correct John. :)

Would this work with one of those rewinders or do you have to use the camera?

[K. Forman]

A rewinder would be ideal.

[George Strother]

Originally Posted by Keith Forman

In the end, it is being resolved though, without having to make 20 calls, or threaten anybody. That is nice.

My biggest compliments go to Tapeworks Texas, the dealer. After posting my symptoms here, I get a call from Jason, the one who sold me the cam. He wanted to know what was up with the cam, and tried his best to find an answer. The fact that this all coinsided with Carl Hick's vacation didn't make it easier, but he found the right techs, and said they'd switch it out. Another point I am unused to; he said they would send the replacement with a shipping label for mine! No credit card charge, no having to pay to ship it back before getting the replacement... all above and beyond. I wish more folk would take their cue from this!

Keith -

When did you hear that your HD100U would be replaced under the Perfect Experience program?

[Scott Cantrell]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Nelson

Not a bad idea.

I will have to try that soon. These are brand new cameras but I guess it couldn't hurt.

I will have to research the best cleaning tape for this best.

Jonathan, if your camera's are new, and you have been using the same tape without changing manufacturer's (hopefully JVC MDV63PROHD) then you should not have to clean your heads.

If you need to clean your heads, use Pansonic's MDV12CL cleaning tape.

Scott Cantrell
TapeWorks Texas Inc - HDVinfo Sponser

[K. Forman]

Originally Posted by George Strother

Keith -

When did you hear that your HD100U would be replaced under the Perfect Experience program?

Actually, I never heard of that program. My salesman went through all the legwork for me, looked at the posted footage, and contacted the right folks at JVC to determine the issue. The one support person I spoke with told me to send it back to the dealer. The dealer sent the new cam with a prepaid label.

And talk about timing? The new cam just showed up a little bit ago. As I was on my way towards the office to open the box, my pocket starts ringing. It's Scott at Tapeworks, calling to check on the delivery status, even though it wasn't due to arrive until tomorrow. Cross your fingers, toes, legs, whatever else you are able to cross, and knock on wood, or simulated wood grain. I'm charging up and will try it out tonight and tomorrow.