Playback problems with Panasonic AG 1970 VCR

[jamietlalman]

I'm having problems with playback on a Panasonic AG 1970 VCR. Here is a little background before I describe the problem.

I wanted to restore my old home movies to DVD. I did research here and elsewhere and found a AG 1970 on eBay. I bought it and found that it didn't work. It powers on, makes some noise, then immediately shuts off. I'm not sure what the problem is with it.

I then bought another AG 1970 on eBay and decided the first AG 1970 could always be used for parts. The second AG 1970 worked pretty well but needed cleaned. I manually cleaned the heads following instructions I found and picture was good. I completed my project and converted many VHS tapes to DVD.

The AG 1970 sat unused for several months (still hooked up to my computer). I'm now trying to get the VCR to work for my daughter to watch movies and it's having some display issues. I've cleaned it well again, but it didn't affect the picture. I don't believe it's dirty, so maybe it's an electronics issue? I've tried several Disney VHS tapes. I'm outputting video via RF to the TV. I also saw the same issue when outputting SVIDEO through my Canopus ADVC110.

Can someone point me in the right direction of what this might be and if I might be able to pull a part from the first AG 1970. And/or possibly what's wrong with the first AG 1970 that powers down.

See pictures below of display issue.

[hech54]

I've tried several Disney VHS tapes.

Maybe you are seeing a demonstration of "Macrovision as viewed through a Panasonic AG 1970 VCR"?

[jamietlalman]

Obviously, I'm not up to speed with 1980's copyright protection, but I'm only trying to play the movie, not copy it. It does sound like Macrovision though, but I never thought of that as the cause. I'll test with some non commercial tapes and see what happens. What's my options to simply playback commercial VHS tapes on the AG 1970 if it is Macrovision causing the issues?

[jamietlalman]

I tried two non-commercial tapes and both had similar playback issues.

[hech54]

I tried two non-commercial tapes and both had similar playback issues.

Ouch. That's not good.

[Hoser Rob]

AFAIR macrovision worked by reducing a sync component of the signal slightly. That way with the inevitable slight loss when you copy the picture loses sync and looks like your screen shot.

Unfortunately when vcr's get old and worn out they also lose gain and can no longer play macrovision tapes properly. This looks like a classic case to me.

[hech54]

AFAIR macrovision worked by reducing a sync component of the signal slightly. That way with the inevitable slight loss when you copy the picture loses sync and looks like your screen shot.

Unfortunately when vcr's get old and worn out they also lose gain and can no longer play macrovision tapes properly. This looks like a classic case to me.

Except for this:

I tried two non-commercial tapes and both had similar playback issues.

[mammo1789]

It looks like "electronic" problem instead of mechanical problem, maybe some blown capacitors on the output board? in which case you will have to open the case to inspect it and change them (which is not very easy if you are not familiar with solder and "stuff")