Video pixilation

[darthraiders]

I have a GL-1 that did not play anything recorded from another source including other GL-1s. I sent it in to be fixed. It came back fixed and I am able to play other tapes from other cameras. However I can not play anything I recorded before the camera was fixed. The audio is bad and the video is all pixilated. I have Wedding videos and family stuff I would like to recover. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

[edDV]

I have a GL-1 that did not play anything recorded from another source including other GL-1s. I sent it in to be fixed. It came back fixed and I am able to play other tapes from other cameras. However I can not play anything I recorded before the camera was fixed. The audio is bad and the video is all pixilated. I have Wedding videos and family stuff I would like to recover. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

It sounds to me like there was a mechanical tracking problem (misaligned guides, etc.). You were making non standard tapes. The GL-1 will need to be misaligned in the same way again to play these tapes. Talk to Canon or the repair shop about a strategy to recover the tapes and then align the transport back to standard.

Fortunately, this is easier to do for digital compared to analog. Tracking just needs to be good enough to dub the data stream. Analog tapes like Hi8 or VHS need to be perfectly misaligned to get maximum signal to noise.

[darthraiders]

Thanks, I will give it a try.