Video 8 & Hi8 Camcorder head cleaning, before and after & why ‘cheap’ online box companies suck!

Video 8 & Hi8 Camcorder head cleaning, before and after … and why cheap online box companies suck! This video goes over the before and after process of video camcorder head cleaning essentials. If your camcorder is not playing tapes, they could be blank or the heads could be dirty or worn and not picking up a video signal. This video shows exactly how this can be rectified and also highlight. Why so many video transfer online box companies that advertise cheap pricing have such poor reviews, and so many complaints because they cannot and will not clean or replace video tape player heads it’s quite mind blowing that this basic maintenance is not understood or performed by multi million dollar online box companies like legacy box South tree, Kodak digitizing and imemories. If you would like a quote to get your video tapes, visit www.GotMemories.com
Video 8 was an analog video format developed by Sony in 1976. It was the first consumer-level format to use the 8mm videotape cassette, which was smaller and more affordable than the VHS and Betamax formats that preceded it. Video 8 was designed to be used with camcorders, and it quickly became popular with amateur videographers. The format was eventually replaced by the Hi8 format in the late 1980s, which offered improved picture quality and sound.

[@ashokpatel8338]

BRILLIANT and VERY PROFESSIONAL, love the NO BS, say how it is.

[@gotmemories]

Hey mate! Glad you appreciate my style! I’ve been doing this too long to communicate any other way but straight up, take it or leave it, because I’d rather be on the beach in Hawaii than dealing with all this crap lol!! Cheers mate!

[@MegaAfterschool]

Love How you Roast the Other Comps, i agree with you

[@gotmemories]

It’s so frustrating. I’m sick of hearing pointless heartbreaking drama. It’s pure greed.

[@nourfilm.]

This is brilliant and exactly what am trouble shooting - thank you

[@gotmemories]

Glad I could help!

[@laserfilmlab]

Please do a video on a deep cleaning of camcorders. Please!!!!!

[@gotmemories]

I don’t do that, that’s Tim’s dept.

[@jsixx9432]

If I recorded a tape with dirty tape heads, is that tape ruined? I am 23 and purchased an old DCR-TRV340E and when I went to the beach with my friends I recorded a video and only about 30 mins out of 120 recorded properly the rest is either pixelated or a blue screen

[@gotmemories]

Sounds like you need a head cleaner or a new head or try your luck on another camcorder via eBay

[@jsixx9432]

Thanks for the reply ! I appreciate it

[@gotmemories]

You’re welcome!

[@RealNovgorod]

Did you ever consider RF-level level digitizing and software demodulation instead of relying on the camera's and TBC's analog processing? I assume it's completely uneconomical for a business, but just from a curiosity point of view of getting the best humanly possible quality from those old tapes...

[@gotmemories]

Most customers aren’t willing to pay hardly anything so it has to be an efficient process to keep labor time down.

[@OriksonDIY]

Have you ever digged into that topic a bit deeper and any information about that? I also was curious about that and searched for information some time ago. But as you said, it's completely uneconomical as you might need a custom made and high speed ADC propably with a FPGA to sample the PAL/NTSC signal with acceptable accuracy. Therefor, I did not found anything usefull that might work out of the box and I'm to busy designing my own ADC/FPGA board ;)

[@RealNovgorod]

@@OriksonDIY I actually did exactly that and meanwhile I developed my own more or less well functioning prototype software decoder for RF captures of V8/Hi8 tapes :) - the nonlinear filters still need some tuning and audio is not implemented yet but the video quality is already comparable to what comes out of the camera and I could get rid of the cropping artefacts introduced by the built-in TBC. The capture itself is a bit challenging but not much different than traditional capture because that requires the same type of high-speed ADC. You can use the one made by the LD decode guys for a few hundred bucks or use a fast enough SDR dongle or go really cheap and use a modified CX DVB tuner card with a custom driver which allows direct access to the ADC. All that is loosely united under the "VHS-decode" project (fork of LD decode for laser discs) and you can find all the info in the wiki and discord: discord.gg/BfPY3Zca The VHS-decode software is mainly focused on VHS but it works with some other formats including V8/Hi8 but not very well yet, that's why I'm developing my own software which allows for much more tunability (and is faster as well). But RF capturing from camcorders like the one in this video is already quite common and there's good documentation. The camcorders also typically do a reasonably good playback job (apart from some hickups), so you can instantly compare the RF decode quality to the built-in decoder. Definitely check out the VHS-decode wiki (and discord) if you want to get into the fun world of RF capture.

[@OriksonDIY]

@@RealNovgorod I hate you! :D Don't get this wrong, this is an awesome project, but now I want to give it a try and have to get all the hardware and spend the time to get the perfect RF data ;)

[@RealNovgorod]

@@OriksonDIY It's a great hobby if you can't afford a boat but want to burn just as much time on fixing it. You might end up in a rabbit hole going all the way through the planet and coming out on the moon. Ironically, it should be a bit easier to get a "good" RF capture as compared to a "good" traditional capture but the software is a hot mess at the moment (well, mine at least). The main philosophy is "capture now, decode later" (and throw more hard drives onto the pile each time) - it's exciting because you can start right away, but also a bit of a gamble of trusting a bunch of disorganized software sleuths and internet autists to eventually come up with a "user friendly" solution which fixes all the issues with the dated and dying decoder hardware... Or you can join the mess and learn how to digitally demodulate a signal, what's nonlinear de-emphasis and how to decode PAL color from a non-standard carrier signal with horrible phase drift - definitely more fun than a boat. Here's a work in progress: i.imgur.com/YnusK1c.png

[@Prismit-m7v]

Hi, are new Hi8 cassettes still being produced or is there only remaining stock to buy?

[@gotmemories]

Safe to say I’m sure that factory line closed years ago.

[@Mobious1]

Hey Phil, i have an issue that happens whether there is a tape in my sony trv 67 or not. it often cuts a recording and begins flashing. the best way i can describe the symbol is a + above a [\]. + [\] . do you have any idea what this might mean? THANK YOU

[@gotmemories]

Hi! I have no idea, sorry!

[@seppukusantana9418]

Just buy a converter box and digitize it

[@joyewallace2245]

I really appreciate you!!!

[@gotmemories]

You’re welcome!

[@DemiLuna0506]

What cleaner do you use? Or what qualities in a cleaner should I look for?

[@gotmemories]

Varies. 99.9 isopropyl, chamois tips, small screw driver, steady hand and patience.

[@RustyTheGeek]

Do you always wait until the image shows noise to clean? I've heard it's bad to clean too often since the head can suffer from premature wear. What are the best cleaning tapes? Only Sony or do any of the major names (Panasonic, Maxell, etc) make good cleaning tapes?

[@gotmemories]

All depends

[@larrymarcellus]

When I play a tape in my Hi 8 camcorder the video jumps..is that a dirty Head?

[@gotmemories]

Dirty or worn or could be the tape. More than likely something up with the camcorder

[@_gary_smule989]

How can I get a cheap tape?

[@gotmemories]

eBay

[@StarLink85]

💛💚💙💜❤️💖