distored dv footage playback

[buckenmeyer]

I plugged my dv camera into my vcr and started recording footage just to have a backup tape stored. The footage is being displayed with distortion and blockiness (not compression blockiness-just distorted type stuff). I also noticed the same thing when transfering through firewire on my computer and even on lcd screen on the camera itself.

Why is the tape not playing back smooth video? I've seen it on 2 different brands of tapes, which I've only recorded on once.

The camera is one of the cheapest on the market - Samsung VP-D80

[sitlet]

it could be many things. most likely your record or play heads need cleaning. it could also be the tapes. maybe they are old, or a bad batch of tapes.

[buckenmeyer]

The camera is new and the tapes are new. Aside from the playback problems, I just took a closer look at the video at full screen on my 21" monitor and I see the quality is pretty poor, there is a lot of blockiness (compression type) in the background and around the edge of shapes. Is this crappy image normal for entry level digital cameras?

[tweedledee]

What does it look like in the camera screen? Try another tape, make sure you have the settings correct. Experiment a little,and take the camera back if it's not working.

[sitlet]

yeah a new camera with new tapes shouldnt be doing this. if its pretty new and in the warranty, i would take it back. maybe take a blank tape to a store and try it out in the same camera in the store to see if something similar happens.

btw, are you using LP or SP mode? sometimes LP mode will get blocky on you with cheaper cameras. but, it still shouldnt do it that often.

[buckenmeyer]

Ok thanks. about the compression type blockiness in the recorded video, is that normal or should it look as clear as a normal analog video camera?

[buckenmeyer]

Hello again,

I encoded to mpeg2 for dvd some of the clips (with canopus) from the dv footage that appeared crappy (blocky) on my computer screen as the original avi's passed through the firewire. Now they look great as mpgs with no block noise.. does that make any sense?

[buckenmeyer]

I've discovered that there was no quality problems with the original dvd footage, it was windows media player that was displaying the blockiness.