DVdoctor's John Ferrick slams Sony for putting at risk users investments in HDV camcorders by having tape formulations that can clog up camcorder heads – a mistake it made before in the early days of MiniDV
Back in the early days of digital video, there were lots of reports saying that the heads on newly introduced MiniDV camcorders were only lasting for 50 hours. Naturally, these reports put a damper on public enthusiasm for DV and a considerable amount of panic was experienced in the ranks.
The reaction to these reports from pros was that, yes, DV was really convenient and yes, the quality was superb and, hey, the price was outstanding as well – but that all counted for nothing if you were going to need to use your DV camcorder for more than 50 hours over its lifetime – which is nothing at all in commercial terms.
Amazingly, faced with these worrying reports, the camcorder makers started telling users that this was all quite normal and that, since DV was a consumer format, the expectation was that most people would only use their camcorders for about five hours a year. Consequently, they said, the situation was perfectly acceptable because that equated to a 10-year lifespan – and that's reasonable, isn't it?
Well, this was all hokum. The camcorder makers were covering their own backs over this unexpected problem and not looking at the situation scientifically to try to find out what was going on - and everyone was being fed total misinformation.
The problem turned out to be caused by severe head-clogging, and this resulted from a mismatch between the various lubricant and binding chemicals on different brands of DV tape – more precisely, between those used on Sony's DV tape and everyone else's.
Mix up the two sets of chemicals, and gunk formed and this gunk got down inside the heads and clogged them up - and it was hard to remove even for a service engineer. This situation arose because there was no standard in the DV tape format covering lubricants and binding chemicals.
Yet, it soon became clear that problems could be avoided if you stuck with one brand or if, anyway, you didn't switch between Sony tapes and those sold under any other brand.
But, if you were forced to switch brands - to or from Sony tapes – the only chance you had of reducing potential problems (and it wasn't guaranteed) was to use a tape cleaner on the head before you started using the new brand.
Up to the very last, Sony refused to admit there was a problem and, since tapes from other makers, especially Panasonic-branded, were more keenly priced, many people, myself included, swore never to use Sony tape again, irrespective of the brand of camcorder they were using.
Astonishingly, Sony was actually telling people that it was able to detect whether non-Sony-branded tape had been used in a Sony DV camcorder, and that the company might not honour the warrantee if this had been the case. Then, I thought this totally over the top, and nothing short of corporate irresponsibility - and I've not changed my mind since.
But, the pressure on Sony mounted and, as if by magic, the problem largely went away - Sony having brought its formulations in line with competitors', even though it kept quiet that it had done so and didn't, as far as we know, make any efforts to recall the problem tapes or warn the public about what might happen if they mixed tapes.
Although the problem did surface again from time to time, as old stock got used, that was largely the end of story, or so we believed.
Fast forward now to the tail end of 2004 when Sony introduced its amazing new FX1 HDV camcorder. This is a genuinely revolutionary product. Along with its companion model the Z1, the FX1 is set to seriously shake up the world of DV camcorders. It's impact may be akin to that of Sony's VX1000 MiniDV model which sounded the death knell for analogue camcorders.
But Sony - of all companies - seems to have forgotten the problems that its incompatible tape formulations caused in the early days of DV, judging by what we're seeing happen right now with HDV tape.
We appear to be back in exactly the same situation again with incompatibilities between tapes causing head clogging. Sony, seemingly, decided that these new camcorders need a better formulation of tape – the reasoning being, presumably, that drop-outs with HDV can be seriously problematic.
Unlike DV, drop out with the MPEG system used to record to tape with HDV can cause you to lose not just a frame but a whole group of pictures – a dozen frames or more.
Now, although few of the tests we've read seem to agree that better tapes are needed, we're prepared to go along with Sony's hypothesis even if we have at the back of our mind is the idea that it's just a way to increase the revenue derived from tape.
But if such new tape really is necessary, it's totally unacceptable that Sony should have forgotten the big problems it created in the past with incompatible DV tape formulations and now come out with a "high-quality" tape that, in effect, can damage someone's precious new HDV camcorder.
Yet, that seems to be what happens if you mix Sony's new tape with any other type. And, once again, Sony is taking the totally unacceptable stance that users should stick to Sony-branded tape or be prepared to suffer the consequences.
We know now that it's perfectly possible for Sony to engineer a tape that is compatible with other brands and doesn't result in head clogging if brands are mixed. So, either the company is being incredibly stupid or it's deliberately bringing about a situation where buyers of its HDV camcorders feel they must use only Sony tapes.
For now though, let's be charitable and put it down to forgetfulness and ineptitude since, all too often, companies – blue-chip, as well as smaller outfits - demonstrate repeatedly that they're unable to learn from their previous failings.
One of the things I pleaded with Sony to do when the problems were rampant in the days of the VX1000, was to introduce a software mod that would give us a confidence index.
By that I meant having the read heads and inbuilt software check to see how many blocks of data are being poorly read. That way, the user would be made aware of problems developing in the camcorder.
Sony turned down the idea and no other maker took it up either but, to this day, one of the maddening things about DV is that when you are recording to tape or when you are playing back to a capture system, you have no idea at the time if you are experiencing a significant number of errors.
Sure, if the system is not able to recover the blocks you will get a blockiness, or if the condition is massive you might get a tape-check error, but other than that, you are totally in the dark – perfect results could still mean that a failure is right around the corner. You've no way of knowing.
Now, with the arrival of HDV, MPEG long-GOP recording and the potential for multi-frame dropouts, such a confidence index becomes even more necessary.
But, if that can't be implemented easily, then the very least Sony must do is go back and revisit the discussions from the VX1000 days and come up with a high-quality tape that is compatible with other brands.
Some kind of apology and an offer to make good for its mistake would be welcome, too, but we'd not recommend holding your breath.
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