Hi8 -- DV -- AVI pass-thru capture problem (Sony DCR-HC90)

[Wonderpond]

I am using a Sony DCR-HC90 to capture / convert some old Hi8 tapes to AVI on my computer and for some reason there is a small band of fuzziness at the bottom of the video.

I am using a Hi8 Sony camcorder (TRV67) as the player. The Hi8 Sony is connected via regular analog cable to the HC90 DV unit. The DV unit is connected via firewire to the computer. When capturing regular DV's from the HC90 there are absolutely no quality issues. I have used windows movie maker, Sony Vegas, and Adobe Premier Elements all without any problems and the capture quality is great.

When I try to capture via the pass-thru I keep getting the fuzzy band no matter which software I use. The fuzzy band does not appear on the LCD of the DV unit during capture so somehow the distortion/problem is occuring between the Sony and my computer.

I have checked all connections and there seems to be nothing wrong there.

Any ideas?

Thanks a bunch.

[edDV]

I am using a Sony DCR-HC90 to capture / convert some old Hi8 tapes to AVI on my computer and for some reason there is a small band of fuzziness at the bottom of the video.

I am using a Hi8 Sony camcorder (TRV67) as the player. The Hi8 Sony is connected via regular analog cable to the HC90 DV unit. The DV unit is connected via firewire to the computer. When capturing regular DV's from the HC90 there are absolutely no quality issues. I have used windows movie maker, Sony Vegas, and Adobe Premier Elements all without any problems and the capture quality is great.

When I try to capture via the pass-thru I keep getting the fuzzy band no matter which software I use. The fuzzy band does not appear on the LCD of the DV unit during capture so somehow the distortion/problem is occuring between the Sony and my computer.

I have checked all connections and there seems to be nothing wrong there.

Any ideas?

Thanks a bunch.

It's probably a tracking issue on the Hi8 playback. Do you see it if the Hi8 is played to a TV? You may need to unlock the TV vertical hold to see it.

[Wonderpond]

The thin fuzzy band is not visible when connected to the TV.
It is also not visible in either LCD (the Hi8 unit or the DV unit) when setup for pass-thru capturing. Strange...

[thecoalman]

If you can't see it on the TV it's the overscan area, it's normal. It can appear anywhere around the edges of VHS footage. It can also appear on footage captured from a TVBroadcast. Here's an example:

[edDV]

FYI: this is a Hi8 camcorder tape playback on a Digital8 camcorder. The noise bar is not there for TV captures or Digiital8 playback.

[Wonderpond]

Wow! I am both glad and happy to see the replies here. I am happy because it appears there is not a problem per se with how I have things set up. I am not happy because it also appears there is no way to use this pass-thru to truly archive my old Hi8 tapes.

How would you guys recommend getting a high-quality archive (w/o the fuzzy bar)?

Thanks.

[edDV]

Wow! I am both glad and happy to see the replies here. I am happy because it appears there is not a problem per se with how I have things set up. I am not happy because it also appears there is no way to use this pass-thru to truly archive my old Hi8 tapes.

How would you guys recommend getting a high-quality archive (w/o the fuzzy bar)?

Thanks.

I think you missed the point. That is what comes off tape. In the good old days, all the edge stuff was masked by TV overscan. It still is but if you view the "underscan" view that engineers used to look at on your computer, you see the edge stuff. Note that you can also see my UV filter cropping the corners on this 14 yr old tape made on my Sony CCD-V5000. It looks fine on my HDTV monitor.

Masking it out has other disadvantages. For "archive" you get the file as it is warts and all. It will continue to play fine on a TV because for analog inputs, they continue to overscan.

[Wonderpond]

I think I get it now. So in other words I can still archive on my computer. On my computer I will see the fuzzy warts because I am looking at the raw data. On my computer and in the AVI file there will be the warts, however, when I burn to DVD I wont see them since the TV overscan is masking it? Correct?

[edDV]

I think I get it now. So in other words I can still archive on my computer. On my computer I will see the fuzzy warts because I am looking at the raw data. On my computer and in the AVI file there will be the warts, however, when I burn to DVD I wont see them since the TV overscan is masking it? Correct?

Essentially, yes. DVD players connected analog to a HDTV will mask a little. It all depends on the TV design but if they "let it all hang out", they get complaints through customer service. VHS, 8mm, Hi8 all have edge issues. Masking without scaling is an option for computer playback. Those who mask and stretch the video are lowering quality through the scaling process.

PS: I just checked: PowerDVD does not mask.