List of Sony Handycam Digital8 camcorders with analog/digital passthru

[Brad]

I compiled a list of North American Digital8 camcorders with the analog passthrough feature when I was looking for one. There may be a few more; if you know of one let me know. The key words in the manuals seem to be "signal convert" while in their marketing they use terms like "analog-to-digital pass-through".

Note: This list applies only to North American (NTSC) models. The foreign PAL variants with "E" on the end of the model name (for Europe) differ due to import taxes (thanks Richard_G). Any other variants from other regions of the world may also differ.

Models with Pass-through

2000

• DCR-TRV120, DCR-TRV320 (manual PDF HOTLINK)
• DCR-TRV720, DCR-TRV820 (manual PDF HOTLINK)

2001

• DCR-TRV230, DCR-TRV330, DCR-TRV530 (manual PDF HOTLINK)
• DCR-TRV730, DCR-TRV830 (manual PDF HOTLINK; they share their manual with the 828, which I can't find as a North American model)

2002

1. DCR-TRV240
2. DCR-TRV340
3. DCR-TRV740
4. DCR-TRV840

2003

1. DCR-TRV350

2004

1. DCR-TRV460

2005

1. DCR-TRV480 (no S-Video)

Models WITHOUT pass-through which are sometimes claimed to have it (non-exhaustive)

1. DCR-TRV260
2. DCR-TRV280
3. DCR-TR7000

Note regarding the model numbers

Sony's model numbers worked like this... DCR-TRVabc

a = higher number was more expensive / fancier feature set for that year's range of models
b = this number plus 1998 is the release year

• The first year's models were from 1999, so b=1, so DCR-TRV110, etc.
• The 2005 model year breaks this pattern. It should be the 7th generation, but is numbered as the "8 series".

c = always 0 for the American models?

[SixFiftyThree]

I think PAL camcorders with passthrough are pretty rare, if they exist at all. There is a reason why but I can't remember. I know there's PAL DV walkmans, namely GV-D200E and GV-D800E which can be used for this purpose, and also include TBC and DNR (don't know how effective).

For NTSC, isn't there an issue with black level when using this method though?

[Richard_G]

It's only the high end PAL ones that have passthrough, most of the consumer level camcorders don't. The reason is down to the import tax applied to them. The tax applied to a video recorder is higher than that applied to a camcorder. As a camcorder with passthrough has a video input, it can be used as a video recorder as well as a camcorder. Very few consumers that buy a camcorder will ever use the feature so Sony had it disabled on the PAL models to keep the import tax and hence the retail price down. No point in selling something at a higher price than an equivalent from their competitors with a feature that 99% of customers are never going to use.

[SixFiftyThree]

@Richard_G Thanks for the detailed explanation, that's exactly what I recall reading about. Do you know if those high-end models provide any stabilization features on analog input?

[Richard_G]

No idea. I've got a VX2000E which has passthrough as standard and a DCR-TR8000E with passthrough enabled with an external widget (something you used to be able to buy to enable it on PAL versions that didn't have it as standard). There is no mention of TBC in the manual for either. I've also got a pair of VX1000E camcorders but even they didn't have passthrough.

[JimTheGreek]

I compiled a list of Digital8 camcorders with the analog passthrough feature when I was looking for one. There may be a few more; if you know of one let me know. The key words in the manuals seem to be "signal convert" while in their marketing they use terms like "analog-to-digital pass-through".

This is for NTSC. The PAL variants with "E" on the end of the model name may or may not be the same.

Pass-through

2000
DCR-TRV120
DCR-TRV320 (same manual for both)
DCR-TRV720
DCR-TRV820 (same manual for both)

2001
DCR-TRV230
DCR-TRV330
DCR-TRV530 (same manual for these three)
DCR-TRV730
DCR-TRV830 (same manual for both and the 828, which doesn't seem to exist in NTSC form)

2002
DCR-TRV240
DCR-TRV340
DCR-TRV740
DCR-TRV840

2003
DCR-TRV350

2004
DCR-TRV460

2005
DCR-TRV480 (no S-Video)

No pass-through but sometimes claimed to (non-exhaustive)

DCR-TRV260
DCR-TRV280
DCR-TR7000

You are wrong, DCR-TRV230 doesn't support passthrough....

[Brad]

[...]This is for NTSC. The PAL variants with "E" on the end of the model name may or may not be the same.
Pass-through
[...]

2001
DCR-TRV230

You are wrong, DCR-TRV230 doesn't support passthrough....

Page 74 of the US manual confirms that I'm correct with regard to the NTSC version.

I changed the original post to be more clear. Added color-coding, bolding, and more information (gleaned from the other posts in this thread).

[Deichbruch]

This thread has been a great source of information for me, thank you very much @Brad.

I was in the market for a PAL camcorder with analog/digital pass-through, and based on the information I found here I was able to look through various online manuals fairly quickly and determine which PAL Sony Digital8 camcorders support signal conversion. Here's the non-exhaustive info I compiled and perhaps it helps someone else in the future.

PAL models that support signal conversion:

• DCR-TRV330E
• DCR-TRV345E, 355E, 356E
• DCR-TRV480E (Note: No S-Video port)

PAL models that do not support signal conversion:

• DCR-TRV210E/TRV310E
• DCR-TRV120E/TRV125E/TRV320E
• DCR-TRV230E/TRV235E/TRV325E/TRV430E/TRV530E
• DCR-TRV145E/TRV147E/TRV245E/TRV250E
• DCR-TRV270E/TRV285E

My particular use case is for digitizing content from a connected VHS video recorder through the camcorder's DV/Firewire pass-through, as well as be able to digitize my father's library of old Video8 home video tapes.