mom@sftri.UUCP (Mark Modig) (07/14/85)
I am having a problem with playing back pre-recorded tapes of movies from one particular company. I have bought blank video tapes and recorded them; they play back fine, along with all of the other prerecorded tapes I have gotten, except for most, but not all, of the movies I have gotten from this one particular company. When one of the troublesome tapes is played, a small strip across the top of the screen is distorted-- the picture bends sharply to the left: ------------------ |\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\| <-- bent sharply to the left |||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||| <-- normal |||||||||||||||||| ------------------ The effect sometimes is only barely noticeable at the very top; other times it creeps down from the top until about 1/4 of the screen is affected. I have tried adjusting everything I could think of on the VCR, including the tracking and picture controls-- there is even a vertical lock adjustment on the underside of the VCR that you need a special "key" to adjust, but there is no change. Since all the other tapes work, I don't really think there is anything wrong with my VCR, but I'm wondering if the signal is too weak for the TV (my TV is rather old) or if the tape might be copyguarded and so the signal is not as good. Any ideas on what else it might be, and how it could be fixed? Thanks Mark Modig ihnp4!sftri!mom P.S. I have a Panasonic PV-1630 VHS VCR
davew@shark.UUCP (Dave Williams) (07/15/85)
In article <468@sftri.UUCP> mom@sftri.UUCP (Mark Modig) writes: >I am having a problem with playing back pre-recorded tapes of movies >from one particular company............ > >------------------ >|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\| <-- bent sharply to the left >|||||||||||||||||| >|||||||||||||||||| <-- normal >|||||||||||||||||| >------------------ > The condition you describe is called "flagging". It is generally caused by improper tape wrap during recording or playback. The tape is pulled away from the hub before the recording head has had a chance to fully pass by. Tape stretch may also produce this problem, but usually in localized areas of the tape. It appears the one company you mentioned has a problem with a duplicator. This usually points to poorly maintained or worn equipment. Pirated tapes suffer from this problem more than those produced by legitimate duplicators. -- Dave Williams Tektronix, Inc. Graphic Workstations Division "The 6000 Family" "The workstations that made Wilsonville famous."
lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (07/17/85)
It might be added that some "flagging" can be helped through proper use of the VTR "skew" control. Unfortunately, few consumer VTR units bother to include this (mechanical) adjustment as an external control, though it does exist externally on U-MATICs and above... --Lauren--
albert@ucbvax.ARPA (Anthony Albert) (07/17/85)
In article <1462@shark.UUCP> davew@shark.UUCP (Dave Williams) writes: >In article <468@sftri.UUCP> mom@sftri.UUCP (Mark Modig) writes: >>I am having a problem with playing back pre-recorded tapes of movies >>from one particular company............ >> >>------------------ >>|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\| <-- bent sharply to the left >>|||||||||||||||||| >>|||||||||||||||||| <-- normal >>|||||||||||||||||| >>------------------ >> > >The condition you describe is called "flagging". It is generally caused >by improper tape wrap during recording or playback. The tape is pulled >away from the hub before the recording head has had a chance to >fully pass by. I would say that a more likely reason is the older model television. I recently had a 1972 RCA TV which bent on some tapes but not on all; after replacing it with a new monitor, NO tapes show picture bending. This question is raised often in Video magazines, and this is the reason usually given for the phenomenon. -- Anthony Albert ..!ucbvax!albert albert@ucbvax.ARPA
nessus@nsc.UUCP (Kchula-Rrit) (07/17/85)
> I am having a problem with playing back pre-recorded tapes of movies > from one particular company. I have bought blank video tapes and > recorded them; they play back fine, along with all of the other prerecorded > tapes I have gotten, except for most, but not all, of the movies I have > gotten from this one particular company. When one of the troublesome > tapes is played, a small strip across the top of the screen is distorted-- > the picture bends sharply to the left: > > ------------------ > |\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\| <-- bent sharply to the left > |||||||||||||||||| > |||||||||||||||||| <-- normal > |||||||||||||||||| > ------------------ > > The effect sometimes is only barely noticeable at the very top; other > times it creeps down from the top until about 1/4 of the screen is > affected. > > ... > > Mark Modig > ihnp4!sftri!mom > > P.S. I have a Panasonic PV-1630 VHS VCR *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** A few months ago, I rented a tape that did this on my G.E. VCR. I "re-wound" the tape then "fast-forwarded" it and let it auto-rewind. This cured the problem. From the alter ego of-- Kchula-Rrit