Video8 tape playback sound, but no picture?
 

After thinking about it for decades, I finally borrowed a camera to transfer my Video8 tapes (also done VHS and miniDV) to MP4-files.

This has been going quite well, until I got around to the Video8 tapes. Some minutes into one of the tapes the picture got distorted, showed a blue screen, then picture and so on. I tried fast forward/rewind a couple of times, fast forward during play, cleaning cassette, without luck. I found some articles online suggesting using different cameras due to misalignment (?), and borrowed another camera (Sony Handycam Video Hi8 XR CCD-TR840E, first one being a Sony DCR-TRV120E). This time the picture was ok/fine and I managed to transfer two tapes which had issues on the first camcorder.

In between I checked other tapes recorded on the same camcorder (I do have it, but it is not possible to power on - Sony Handycam CCD-F450E) to make sure the camcorders didn't have general playback issues.

But, the last two tapes have issues on both camcorders, distorted image/blue screen/audio noise. I do see the recording in play/fast forward, but have not been able to do regular playback.

Unfortunately one of these tapes contains the only recording I have of my late grandparents, and it breaks my heart not to be able to recover the content. And, of course I blame myself for not doing this 25 years ago when my camcorder was still working...

All help is appreciated. I'm afraid I won't be able to modify a camera or similar tasks, but anything that can get me closer to a potetial tape rescue is highly appreciated!

Regards, Cathrine

If the tapes aren't physically damaged it's probably a combination of the camera itself and whatever poor capture device you are using.

If you do not want to get a setup yourself then you can, if you are comfortable with doing so, mail out the tapes to some people here on the forum that use much higher quality gear such as myself.

Either:
- Your tape is dirty. It's rarely something you can visually see. This is one of the few instances.
- All of your tapes are dirty, and it has now accumulated on the camera.

What happens when you try to play a tape your know what fine at time of previous capture?

I'm afraid to ask, but what did you use for capture card and software? Capturing direct to MP4 is almost always terrible.

Due to your issues, and the likelihood that you've never seen what a quality capture looks like, I'm really tempted to accept this project from you.

I can only hope the tapes are possible to playback/transfer, and if the solution requires high technical skills/camera modifications I would have to ask for professional help of someone who actually wants to look at it - knowing there are issues.

Both cameras were tested with other tapes in between the "bad" ones to rule out erros on the camcorder itself (dirt etc.).

I know that my home non-professional setup is not the best (I'm only doing this for my own tapes), so instead of dealing with one old PC with FireWire or unfamiliar capture card/SW, I've connected the cameras to a Philips DVDR with DV input. For Video8 I have connected the Video8 camera to a miniDV camera (pass through) to the DVDR. The files are stored on the DVDR, burned to a DVD (*.VOB) and converted to *.MP4 later on. Probably not the best way to do it, but I had the DVDR, and it works (memories saved) :)

And that is what I hope for with these two tapes - save memories, especially since this is the only recording I have of my grandparents.

Thank you both for your replies, any help is appreciated.

That's actually a decent method. Not best, but also from worst.

However... Firewire?
But you're using a Sony CCD-TR840E?
- Hi8 cameras have composites output, sometimes also s-video
- Also, E means PAL

So you're PAL?
Europe? Australia?

Yes, that is important content. :salute:

They look to be in Norway, so yeah they are in Europe.

Don't have any PAL machines so I can't help I'm afraid.

The Hi8 camera is connected to the miniDV camera with composite to AV (minijack) cable, and the miniDV is connected with DV/FireWire/iLink/IEEE1394 cable to the DVDR :) (sorry for mixing up the terms)
Yes, in Norway, but reaching out to the world hoping to solve my problem.
When there is a picture doing play/fast forward, is it hope of recovery, or could the tape still be ruined?

Hmm... I wonder if that chain is causing issues.
For testing, remove the DV camera, and run the Hi8 tape in the Hi8 camera directly to the DVD recorder.

I didn't clearly see it in the thread, but do the problematic tapes play OK if the player is connected directly to a TV input?

I ask because TV sets are generally more forgiving of out-of-spec video signals than capture cards or recording equipment.

I'm viewing the tape on the camera itself, so unfortunately the tape is the issue - not the connected devices :-(

Since another tape played ok changing from one camera to another, I'm hoping it will be possible to recover this as well, so any advice is welcome.

Some of your tapes are probably clogging the heads, for easy troubleshooting try to get a cleaning cassette, cleaning the video head only may not solve the problem if the entire tape path is dirty, Are the tapes ME (metal evaporated)? if so, those are notorious for SSS or at least dry flaking of the magnetic layer.

I don't think the camcorder can be the issue. I can change to a different tape which will play just fine, so it's just that specific tape (MP tape) :-(

When you switch to other tapes they may clean the tape path and when you put that tape back it clogs the heads, It's a possible scenario to consider. If a part of that tape plays perfectly at times and it doesn't play at other times it's a clear indication of a tape shed.

Sadly it is only flickering or blue screen, but thank you for this information. I appreciate all the input and help.

Rgds, Cathrine

I wish I had better news for you. It can be really hard to diagnose certain errors online, with tape in hand.

If you're ready to give up, and willing to risk mailing the tape, I know somebody in Norway. I'll send him a message, see if he's interested in helping you. For a fee, most likely, of course. Also PM me your city, he might be close, no mail needed, I can check on that as well.

FWIW: failure to play at normal speed, yet showing an OK but fast image at high speed (say 2x) playback may indicate a malfunctioning head (one of the two) resulting in missing fields and associated audio. If it happens when played on known good players it likely happened during the recording process.

Some players will revert to a blue screen if they detect problems with the image such as missing fields, but will not switch to blue screen at the fast playback.

A recovery kludge might be to record the fast play image and then slow it down to normal speed using an appropriate editor. Not great but perhaps better than nothing.

Here’s a pretty good discussion of some issues with specific Sony tapes.

https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vid...uring-hi8.html

Maybe it relates to your tapes as well.

BW

Is it possible the recording has PCM audio, which your camcorder doesn't support?

Dealing with tricky Video8 tapes

He stated he is getting sound but no picture, So the nature of audio shouldn't matter, Should it?

I wouldn't think so.

Hi

LS directed me to this thread, I'm located in Norway so I'll be happy to have a look at the tapes if you are interested.

Image showing up in search but blue screen with some audio in playback could be an indication of tape path alignment having gone bad on the recording camcorder over time which did happen with these camcorders though hard to know for sure without testing.

The original camcorder not turning on is not at all unexpected as the Sony camcorders from that time period have electronic components (surface-mount electrolytic capacitors) that were not well made from the factory and go bad over time, it pretty much happens to all of the Sony 8mm models from the end of the 80s to around 1994.

Thank you for this input. I got a tip about a guy in the UK, and have been in touch with him regarding these tapes. I really hope they can be recovered. But, in case I find more tapes I would be interested in your Norwegian contact. I'm located in the south/east region. Feel free to send me a message.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and expertise.

-- merged --

@lordsmurf - Thank you for this input. I got a tip about a guy in the UK, and have been in touch with him regarding these tapes. I really hope they can be recovered. But, in case I find more tapes I would be interested in your Norwegian contact. I'm located in the south/east region. Feel free to send me a message.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and expertise.

I would be hesitant to send these from Norway to UK, which is why I purposely didn't suggest anybody in UK to you.

@Cath, hodgey is my contact here. I'd strongly suggest him in this exact scenario.

LS, for everyone's information why would you be hesitant to send tapes from Norway to UK?

I often don't have one-size-fits-all advice because it quickly turns into one-size-fits-none advice.

We live in a world of constants and variables.

Constant example = Some form of TBC is required for analog tape conversion. No exceptions to this rule. Be it minimalist TBC(ish) from certain DVD recorders, or actual line/frame TBCs. Even hodgey's vhs-decode project has TBC baked into it. It's non-fungible.

But then we have many, many variables.

Shipping tapes internationally is always risky. It's a variable. I've rarely accepted international tape conversions because I don't want to see memories be lost from mail mishaps. We can always replace gear, or replace commercial tape releases, but we can't replace one-of-a-kind tapes.

Within-country mail is almost always fine. International is where risk enters, because it's generally subjected to altitudes (oxygen changes), temperatures, humidity, x-ray, magnetic scanners, etc. No amount of wrapping it will help, and may in fact just make matters worse. And that excludes all the human error. For example, customs agents are rarely the brightest bulbs in the room. I've seen these goons dismantle items to "find drugs", harming the item in the process.

It's a variable that must be weighed on a case-by-case basis.

Also note: I've infrequently been criticized (from the peanut gallery) for "changing my mind". But that's a simpleton view. They want one-size-fits-all(none) advice, which is what those low-end YouTubers provide. Not case-by-case. I realize that these matters have nuance. That's a skill you get after doing tape transfer work for 25 years (and a professional level, including for major studios). In this specific scenario, I only suggest international shipping as a last resort, or because an error demands more experience.

"Fun" fact: The studios would sometimes ship tapes to me, internationally, and always with an express courier. It wasn't perfect. Tapes would sometimes be "lost" for months, trapped in the postal system, where tracking was worthless. Nobody truly cared about the tape contents (emotionally speaking), we were all employees trying to archive history. But I can image how agonizing that would be to somebody losing their only copy of precious family memories.

I very much want to see this lovely woman recover those "only recording I have of my late grandparents". Without hassle, without heartbreak.

I do share your concerns, but when searching for help I was also searching for this "gut feeling" - finding someone who cares about the content. Finding this forum has been great, and I was referred to this guy in the UK. Since I've already made an agreement with him, I will honor that agreement (which was made shortly before learning about the Norwegian member of this forum. I'm sure they would have been an equally good choice!).

I have colleagues in the UK which I will ask to bring the tapes from/to Norway, using within-country mail in the UK.

Fingers crossed, I really hope this will work out and that I can view the content again!

Thank you again for all help and knowledge sharing.

If he's flying, be sure he doesn't check the tape(s) in luggage. Stow them in a carry-on.

That is the plan :-) Thank you

Re: PCM audio. FWIW, it was rarely found on consumer gear, and was recorded on a separate portion of the scan from the typical audio/video and the RCTC time code/data code. Typically a way to dub additional audio on a tape without messign with the existing video/audio. The Sony EV-S7000 VCR is a high end consumer unit that can play and dub PCM audio.