I've been testing my two decks: a Panasonic AG-1980 and a JVC V10U.
When playing one particular tape, the AG-1980 tends to give me lots of white flashes at the top of the frame, and occasional full-frame noisy glitches (is this the TBC freaking out?)
See these video samples below for comparison (this tape is SP speed.)
V10U sample:
https://youtu.be/dx4wi6KL4vc
AG-1980 sample:
https://youtu.be/uwlxMZolD9U
Side by Side comparison:
https://youtu.be/mZnT2xV783k
Any suggestions on why my AG-1980 behaves like this, while the V10U does not?
