Sony Camcorders-The Green Stripe Explained

[Alwyn]

Those of us who digitise Video8, Hi8 and DV from Sony camcorders have come across the dreaded green stripe down the right side of the frame (most pronounced with red video). There has been some conjecture about what type of camcorder causes it.

I've just done a test with a Hi8 camcorder, the TRV-66E, where I recorded a video onto tape and then captured it using S-Video and a GV-USB2. I can confirm that this setup produces a green stripe. I then took a video of the camcorder's flip-out screen and compared the two. There is marked overscan on the flipout screen, hence the green line is not seen.

GV-USB2 digitisation on the left, phone video of flipout screen on the right:


[Attachment 93789 - Click to enlarge]

Here's a snap of the Hi8 capture (GV-USB2) showing the stripe:


[Attachment 93792 - Click to enlarge]

It is clear that we're getting far more picture when capturing compared to looking at the screen.

I conclude that the green stripe is on every Sony camcorder recording, regardless of model (V8, Hi8 or D8). Further, from what I can see, there's no difference between a Hi8 camcorder and a Digital 8 camcorder when playing a tape. I suggest people don't bust their gut trying to find a Hi8 camcorder, just use a D8 if that's all you can find. And D8s are probably in better condition given they are younger.

As far as dealing with the green stripe, you can either crop the whole frame, blank it with a black border or use AVIsynth to reduce it's effect (with many thanks to @jagabo for the code):

ConvertToYUY2(interlaced=true)U = UtoY() # separate U channel
V = VtoY() # separate V channel
V = Crop(V,0,0,-16,-0) #remove discoloured portion and black border
extra=Crop(V,342,0,2,-0).PointResize(12,V.height)
V=StackHorizontal(V,extra).AddBorders(0,0,4,0,$808080) # add the extra, pad to 720 with grey
YtoUV(U, V, last) # mix the separate U and V with the original Y

AVISynth fix example:

[Attachment 93791 - Click to enlarge]

[Sharc]

From my bookmarks:
Here is jagabo's original post with an explanation as to what may cause this artifact:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/354425-Hi8-capture-using-Digital8-camcorder-Edge-c...es#post2227582

an here another approach proposed by jagabo:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/420904-Help-removing-diagonal-lines-across-Video8-...ce#post2800952

[VWestlife]

Maybe it's just a PAL thing? I've never noticed that phenomenon in any of my NTSC Video8 or Hi8 captures. And the only edge discoloration I've noticed in NTSC Digital8 footage is the on early models like the DCR-TRV103, which have a thin blue (not green) stripe along the left (not right) edge when recording in 16:9 mode -- see test footage beginning at 12:23 (play in "theater mode" or full screen, as YouTube's default view crops the image slightly):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUAV51TFSck