Panasonic AG-1980 For Sale
 

I have a Panasonic AG-1980 For Sale. Picture quality on playback is very good based on the quality of the tape. I have noticed no issues with color bleeding or fading during playback. TBC works on the unit.

The only downside is the LCD display is starting to fade.

Asking $350

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Does the TBC brighten or dim -- to any degree whatsoever -- when disabled/enabled?
How dim is the display dimming? 25% or normal, 50%, 75%, 100%?

With an AG-1980, those are essentially questions these days. :)

I have this in my office. Will test on Monday so I can give an accurate response.

D

So I have 2 of these AG-1980s and I tested them both today.

I did notice today some difference in picture from the last time I used them. Since that time I relocated them to my office and to test them today I had to connect them to a computer via a Blackmagic Intensity. What my tests showed:

1. TBC

- TBC works well - there was no dimming that I could detect on either of the VCRs when enabled/disabled.

2. Picture

- There has been some degradation in picture from last playing - one line at the bottom of screen on one and picture issues more substantial on the other one.

3. LCD Display

- I would say the dimming on both lcd displays would be >25% but <50%.

Both require re-capping. I had planned on re-capping one for sure and selling the other. Now I am wondering if I should just recap both before selling any.

I will still sell the one for $300 obo with understanding that it needs to be re-capped if someone is wanting to pick it up for that purpose.

D

That would be highly suggested. :)

lordsmurf, The black levels on the TBC really depends on the unit per say. Sometimes it is fixable and other times it is just the machine. The AG1980P differs from the AG 1980. Some of the capacitors are molded in to a medal plate and you can't remove them. The 1980 tends to be a lighter picture than the 1980P decks. When you turn on the units and get a humming noise that is bad caps. The dim display is faulty caps usually in the power supply and around the front panel. The units are getting harder to fix, my costs have gone up big league. As I have stated many times when the machine is really off, you get some random noise in the picture. Because of the age and that Panasonic used a poor string of caps and resistors, you are going to have to get them refurbished.

The shops that can do them are in short supply and most techs will not waste hours upon hours trying to figure these machines out. Sometimes they will attempt to repair them say they are fixed and they are not.

The color levels on each unit tends to differ from machine to machine. With the wearing out caps you lose a lot of the color it tends to fade out. The JVC 9800 has very bright colors levels and the 9900 in my opinion has the perfect blend of colors.

Again the AG-1980's are hit or miss, that is even when they are fully fixed. They never play the same.

Of course if you press stop and play you will get a slight shift. This can be seen with reds.

The AG-1970 doesn't have a video card either they tend to play more the same than the AG 1980's. Just about every time going in to the 1980's you have to rebuild the video card.

On the last few units that I worked on found loading problems and than the heads were also kind of worn. On one of the machines I could not get a picture until I scrubbed the heads this took a long time. Have two machines I am working on, both display a blackish picture and need tons of capacitors replaced.

What really sucks for the consumer, you have no easy fix to rebuild these units.

Just tested my unit with the TBC on/off, it is just a tad bit darker with the TBC. The unit I have is perfect took the best of the lot.

On a side note, got a home recorded copy of an NFL playoff game from 1980 and TV back in 1980 was not great so what I did was hooked it through an external TBC and messed around until I got the color levels to how I wanted them. It is just a thought.