Is my new AVT-8710 DOA? (screenshots/clips of error) - Page 5

newby · #81 06-10-2011, 06:16 AM

Post the serial number and try another unit if you are not in a rush or still have some patience left... there is a list of dvd recorders that can do the same thing for far less than the CBT1000. If you have a TON of tapes and can justify the cost then go for it. If you are like me and have just enough tapes to make using a professional about the same or more then DIY then get something else.

Im not sure if anyone has actually done this yet but here is my personal analyses:

Total # of tapes: 92 (so far)
Total cost of new gear purchased (vcr, BVP-4, ATI-600, cables, premium membership to this site): $425
Archival media: $0.74/disc
TOTAL COST PER TAPE: $5.49

Just something to think about.

rappy · #82 06-10-2011, 06:38 AM

s/n 2238406012831

Sorry but I do not have my digi cam but here is some of the info:

Ic6 - LTB101 v2.1 S1011
Ic1 - NX?
Ic3 & 4 - AVERLOGIC. -AL440B-24-PBF
MS943
0950

Sorry but that's I can come up with. I guess poor lighting huh?

lordsmurf · #83 06-11-2011, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newby

TOTAL COST PER TAPE: $5.49
Just something to think about.

Excellent suggestion.

Quote:

Do I replace it or just go with the data video TBC 1000?

If you run into a bad AVT-8710, then just get a TBC-1000 instead. It will be easier at this exact moment. The TBC-1000 is the obvious second choice to an AVT-8710, although it comes at about double the cost (street price ~$450). If you're lucky, sometimes the TBC-1000 can be had for about 150% cost of the AVT-8710, in the $300 range.

Site Staff is currently in the process of trying to "round up" as many known-working TBCs as is possible, with the intention of reselling them here on the marketplace forum at a reasonable price. It may be July before we'll have them available for sale, however.

rappy · #84 06-18-2011, 06:57 AM

While I patiently wait for my replacement AVT-8710, has anyone received a good working unit from B & H lately?

-- merged --

Well, after a long day at work anticipating the delivery of the replacement AVT8710 to arrive, I was not very confident. So I come home, and there is the box. I stared at it for a second thinking....I wondered if I ordered the TBC 1000 tonight when would it arrived, and I can take my time returning the 8710. So I open the box.....hummmm I hope they didn't send be a return unit? But wait, it looked different.....the plug looked weird..........why are there so many attachments? One for Europe, one for Australia and one for NA. Hummmmm. I think this is good news, did they realize they had some junk out there, and this was a quick fix?????????? I then turn it over to look at the S/N - 2238406015665. Is that good? Not too close to my old unit???????? So I Plug it in......turn it on........hit play........Yes!!!!!!!!! NO DOUBLE IMIAGES! It works! The menu screen is a clean image! The video God's were on my side!!!!!

Not sure if you can call B&H to have them look at the unit before shipping? But they DO have good units!

Ps - both units I ordered were both the black shell

lordsmurf · #85 06-22-2011, 08:13 PM

That's excellent news.
Be sure to test it thoroughly. (Hoping it wasn't a false alarm -- but always nice to be thorough!)

rappy · #86 06-22-2011, 08:28 PM

Test???? What's that? What is the best way to test it? Find a tape that is jittery? And compare?

lordsmurf · #87 06-22-2011, 08:32 PM

No, nothing so complex.
Play tapes, then go back to the JVC menu every few seconds. See if it can be "tripped up" in some way.

If not, then it's good.

rappy · #88 06-22-2011, 08:46 PM

Will do. But so far, it looks good. I have played 3 separate tapes, going back and forth between menu and tape. So far so good. Nothing like the first unit, but I will continue.

On a side note, not sure if this is the appropriate thread, but I am looking for a thread that had the optimum setting for the JVC hr-s9900u. I cannot find it, and I cannot remember if it was on this site or another "popular" video help site (not sure if I can mention it here?)

Thanks,

Rappy

lordsmurf · #89 06-22-2011, 08:59 PM

Quote:

On a side note, not sure if this is the appropriate thread, but I am looking for a thread that had the optimum setting for the JVC hr-s9900u. I cannot find it, and I cannot remember if it was on this site or another "popular" video help site (not sure if I can mention it here?)

Here or another site, it was very likely one of my posts you read.

And this site is always the best place to find me anyway. This is best addresses in a new post, since it's not really about the AVT-8710 at this point. This article on video playback hardware may be the one you're thinking of. Or you can always try to search the digitalFAQ.com forum for posts that have been made by Site Staff in the past. I know I've replied to posts here in the past, with specific questions on JVC S-VHS VCR settings.

rappy · #90 06-22-2011, 09:09 PM

Thanks LS. that helps a lot! I will they to keep all of my different questions separate.

Ok. So I am still not sure if the new unit is working or not. When it is not in capture mode (see my other thread) the menu screen looks good. When I am able to capture (icon to the far left above pause/play button) and I have the VCR blue screen (video not playing) or the menu settings screen- the screen is blurry. Not like the first unit (double images) but very noticeable. Tried taking screen shots, but it will not capture the error - sorry.

Lord Smurf/admin- I sent an email regarding some work on an important video (long story). Not sure who it goes out to, but I am willing to send someone the unit to test, and use their far superior expertise to verify if it is a good unit or not?

Let me know if you'd be interested or not.

lopaka1998 · #91 07-21-2011, 02:44 AM

Interesting. Just got my first AVT-8710 in today. Same weird jvc problem. Seems like it sees the blue screen as no video and keeps outputting the last two fields. Other than that though it seems to work. All the adjustment settings do work, and I've taken time to calibrate it closely to my tapes, so the color / contrast / brightness are about the same as before going into the tbc. Real pain but the output isn't exactly equal to the input in terms of color and contrast.

No noticeable other issues thus far. Appears to be doing its job as far as I can tell. One tape I have had a sharp vertical jump at one point in the tape. It was still there - but instead of moving upward about an inch, it moved up only about a quarter of an inch. So I think it's working - but who knows for sure. I've also got on of those "new" serial numbers like rappy posted. I still notice some slight jitter but it is very slight... But this may be due to the composite cable... The s-video cable is coming in tomorrow, and I'll then be able to say for certain.
Should I concern myself about this blue screen death thing? Sure it's a bit of a pain to configure the vcr, but if it works otherwise.....

newby · #92 07-21-2011, 06:37 AM

The best way to tell would be to throw a really bad tape at it and see if the image freezes or ghosts like the examples we have uploaded. B&H has changed the photo and raised the price of this unit since my original purchase... interpret those actions however you like. until there are some definitive answers from the mfg or an admin I'm considering this unit 'un necessary'

rappy · #93 07-21-2011, 08:06 AM

I actually am sending my second unit back. kpmedia was nice enough to "test it" for me and wasn't convinced it was working properly so I purchased the TBC -1000. Yeah it's twice the price but I figured I just wanted to be sure I had a proper unit and I want to do this project once and do it right!

NJRoadfan · #94 07-21-2011, 08:23 AM

Its interesting reading the reviews. It appears that newer AVT-8710s attempt to freeze the last good frame when encounters a dropout, but fails to refresh the frame buffer after that. My unit NEVER does any sort of freeze framing, if it hits a blank or really bad tracking section of tape, it goes to color bars.

lordsmurf · #95 07-21-2011, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJRoadfan

fails to refresh the frame buffer

This is exactly what is happening. I took several video capture comparisons before sending it back for rappy's RMA.
Those will be posted when I get a bit more free time in the next week or two.

I can confirm that bad AVT-8710 TBC models exist.

lopaka1998 · #96 07-21-2011, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newby

The best way to tell would be to throw a really bad tape at it and see if the image freezes or ghosts like the examples we have uploaded. B&H has changed the photo and raised the price of this unit since my original purchase... interpret those actions however you like. until there are some definitive answers from the mfg or an admin I'm considering this unit 'un necessary'

That's the problem - I have no really bad tapes. All of mine are good. Some better than others - but no noticeable tracking issues. Some though have jitter. At least I think it is jitter - straight lines move slightly left and right).

I have really two questions on this thing. My main question is whether it should technically remove all minor horizontal jitter (particularly at the left and right side of the video) so that basically none exists. I don't unfortunately have a baseline for this unit so at current it is a shot in the dark as of exactly how it should behave. All of my tapes are in good condition, but there are some ep tapes that have slight horizontal jitter after leaving the jvc vcr, and that doesn't seem to be corrected by the tbc. I have heard that they correct jitter as a side effect of the time base correction. So either 1) This unit doesn't get rid of all jitter (as intended) , 2) this unit is defective. 3) Since I am new to this, maybe I am missing something (which is a definite possibility).

So the real question is: does it remove basically 100% of jitter, or should I expect some to remain on the output?

One thing you can do to stress the tbc is turn off the jvc tbc and then turn on manual tracking (turn off auto calibration). Then adjust the tape to the point it does have frames drop. I think this functionality in my unit may be working because it did freeze the frame for a few seconds until it was so bad that I got color bars until the tracking went back enough to give a usable signal.

As for calibrating it to output colors correctly, the closest I've gotten is: color: +5, contrast -2, brightness -1. The pluses and minuses represent quick button presses (plus or minus) for each setting I've adjusted). It's not perfect, but close. I'm still working on getting a better setting. If anyone has better default neutral configuration, I'd love to hear it...

lordsmurf · #97 07-23-2011, 11:49 PM

Quote:

straight lines move slightly left and right

This horizontal jitter.

Quote:

My main question is whether it should technically remove all minor horizontal jitter (particularly at the left and right side of the video) so that basically none exists. I don't unfortunately have a baseline for this unit so at current it is a shot in the dark as of exactly how it should behave.

This defect is correctable with an internal TBC, not an external TBC like the AVT-8710 or TBC-1000. That's a somewhat more advanced timing error not addresses by the external units, which focus more on the frame synchronization aspect. This is why both types of TBCs are suggested.

Quote:

All of my tapes are in good condition, but there are some ep tapes that have slight horizontal jitter

A tape in good condition generally would not exhibit that problem. So your tapes may be a bit more damaged (or badly recorded, as the most likely scenario) than you're thinking. But that's okay, it can be fixed, and this site will teach you how.

Quote:

after leaving the jvc vcr, and that doesn't seem to be corrected by the tbc

You'll want to implement the same strategy used for "tearing". Search the forum, it's been documented in detail in several threads. (If you have trouble finding the info, after doing a search, let me know.)

Quote:

So the real question is: does it remove basically 100% of jitter, or should I expect some to remain on the output?

Some stray lines will always slip through, especially on really awful tapes. The goal of restoring video is to make it better, not make it perfect. That said, I do think there are some more potential fixes for your situation, using hardware suggesting for correction of tearing (specific DVD recorders on passthrough, D-VHS VCRs, etc).

Quote:

As for calibrating it to output colors correctly, the closest I've gotten is: color: +5, contrast -2, brightness -1. The pluses and minuses represent quick button presses (plus or minus) for each setting I've adjusted). It's not perfect, but close. I'm still working on getting a better setting. If anyone has better default neutral configuration, I'd love to hear it...

Interesting. I've never noticed a color problem with an AVT-8710. I wonder if your unit is in some way "bad" or if there's a flaw in your calibration method.

franklesniak · #98 02-08-2012, 09:32 PM

Hey Everyone,

I'm new to the site. Been reading various posts in preparation for a VCR capture project. Unfortunately I missed this thread until today

I ordered a AVT-8710 a little over a month ago and am unfortunately past my return period with B&H.

I connected the AVT-8710 to my JVC S9600U and noticed the ghosting problem with the menu. However it seemed that playback of a tape worked OK, so I didn't think much of the JVC menu issue at the time. And granted, I only tested one tape for about 10 minutes of playback onto a TV... at the time I was looking to just test the basics - I'm just getting into this and I don't have all my equipment ready to start capturing, after all

Anyway, after reading this thread twice, my interpretation is that OLDER AVT-8710 units did not exhibit the problem with the JVC menu. Newer AVT-8710s, completely defective or questionably-defective, are having problems with the JVC menu. If my interpretation is correct, this puts me into the later category where my AVT-8710 is either completely defective or questionably-defective.

So my follow-up questions are:

Does the JVC menu issue = a completely defective AVT-8710?
If the JVC menu issue does not imply that my AVT-8710 is completely defective, then what do I need to do to ensure that my AVT-8710 is going to reliably playback VHS? I saw some suggestions about stress-testing the AVT-8710 with bad input... but it sounded like the overall conclusion was that JVC menu issue = bad unit.
I don't want to half-donkey this project. Given that I can't return the TBC to B&H at this point... should I just eat the cost and buy a TBC-1000?

kpmedia · #99 02-08-2012, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franklesniak

Does the JVC menu issue = a completely defective AVT-8710?

As much as I dislike being the bearer of bad news -- especially when it means the loss of $$$ -- this is indeed the case. You have an expensive paper weight. While it may work, it is wholly unreliable and cannot be trusted to do a quality job on video transfers.

Quote:

but it sounded like the overall conclusion was that JVC menu issue = bad unit.

Pretty much.

Quote:

I don't want to half-donkey this project. Given that I can't return the TBC to B&H at this point... should I just eat the cost and buy a TBC-1000?

Make a case with B&H that they sold you an overpriced paperweight, from a device that was known to have defects as far back as June 2011. I would not just give up and roll over. They've basically profited from a flawed device, and they're not 100% off the hook as far as I'm concerned. This was brought to their attention by numerous people throughout 2011, so "it's not our fault" will not be an acceptable answer.

I'd fight. Tell them you're quite willing to upgrade (PAY MORE!) for the known-flawless AVT-8710. Even if they want to hit you with a 15% restocking fee -- which is ridiculous -- I'd still cave on a $30 loss vs a $200 loss.

franklesniak · #**100** 02-08-2012, 10:54 PM

Thanks kpmedia. I didn't think about trying to work the "I'm willing to upgrade" angle. Good call!

I'll give them a ring tomorrow morning.

By the way, I assume you meant to say "to the known-flawless TBC-1000"