Digital Hi-8 only plays in recorder that it was recorded it??

[whit0214]

I am trying to convert old family videos to DVDs which are in Hi-8 tape format. I have a Hi-8 recorder but the tapes that were recorded in my parent's Hi-8 recorder won't play in mine (even though they are the same format and tapes). In the past they played in the one they were recorded in, but that camera is no longer working and I am unable to convert these videos to DVD. The model they had is a Sony Digital 8 (DCR-TR7000) and mine is also a Sony Digital Hi-8 recorder. Any ideas???? My camera plays all of the videos it has recorded, so I know it's not my camera that is not working properly. Thanks for any input!

[magillagorilla]

Do your parents still have the recorder? Borrow it.

Tape, analog or digital, can still suffer from the same types of damage. Physical damage to the tapes could be the problem. I know in analog, I try to play the tapes back on the device that recorded them (in the rare event I still have the device). The recording deck may have some small nuance in the transport which produces anomalies when played back on another machine. The motor speed may be a bit off, the azimuth of the tape/head may be a millimeter off from spec.

Unless the tape is severly damaged, or the time code is shot, it should work in another deck. You can pick up some used ones really cheap. I didn't use Hi8 but I used MiniDV (same logical format). I had a batch of tapes that would not play on a Canon camcorder but did play back flawlessly on a borrowed Sony camcorder.

[edDV]

I am trying to convert old family videos to DVDs which are in Hi-8 tape format. I have a Hi-8 recorder but the tapes that were recorded in my parent's Hi-8 recorder won't play in mine (even though they are the same format and tapes). In the past they played in the one they were recorded in, but that camera is no longer working and I am unable to convert these videos to DVD. The model they had is a Sony Digital 8 (DCR-TR7000) and mine is also a Sony Digital Hi-8 recorder. Any ideas???? My camera plays all of the videos it has recorded, so I know it's not my camera that is not working properly. Thanks for any input!

Hi8 is an analog format recorded to Hi8 tape. Your recorder a seems to be analog Hi8.

No such thing as Digital Hi8. There was digital PCM audio in high priced Hi8 units but not digital video.

Digital8 used DV format digital recording. The tapes used were Hi8 (double speed) or MiniDV*.

The DCR-TR7000 recorded DV format to Hi8 tapes (62 min to "2hr" tapes) but it should also play analog Hi8 tapes including conversion to DV format over IEEE-1394 Firewire.

Tell us the exact model number of your player. I suspect it is analog only.


*plus other pro tape formats.