JVC HM-DH30000U Problems
Dear Gary: After reading your excellent coverage of the new D-Theater technology and D-VHS ala JVC I ran out and bought a unit. I was quite disappointed to see that there are quite severe bugs in the units available for sale. These bugs cause frequent video and audio dropouts on ATSC material recorded via the FireWire port (thanks to very cool software developed by members of the AVS Forum to work in conjunction with the Telemann Hi-Pix HDTV PC card), other D-VHS tapes recorded on Panasonic D-VHS recorders, the Demo Tapes received with the unit itself and some of the D-Theater tapes now in circulation. The trials and tribulations of the JVC HM-DH30000U community are well documented in the AVS Forum boards. The recent firmware upgrades do not seem to fix the problems. It is my unfortunate conclusion that the unit is “not ready for prime time” and at its $1,500 street price, is causing severe problems for its early adopters. I would hope that the magazine could lend a hand to the unfortunate users in working with JVC to find a solution and have them make some form of restitution to the user community (beyond repeated round trips of the units to the repair center, along with intolerable delays to return them) which relied upon your glowing reviews to purchase this unit.
Stephen Dukker
Editor-In-Chief Gary Reber Comments:
As for the reported “problems” posted on various news group sites, all of the problems discussed are so “mixed up”—“bugs,” “dropouts,” “freezes,” “noise,” etc.—that there is virtually no repeatability in evidence. JVC has confirmed the firmware upgrade for the HM-DH30000U to be a 100 percent fix for the performance compatibility that JVC guarantees. This compatibility is defined in the “ATTENTION” leaflet which is included with the product. As for head clogs, JVC recommends use of a D-VHS head-cleaning tape, or other professional cleaning, as has been a normal maintenance procedure for VHS for years. If you are experienceing problems, bring this to the attention of JVC’s Customer Service Department or visit a JVC Authorized Service Center to have the unit inspected. Regarding one problem not mentioned above is the sad case of incompatibility with the Panasonic D-VHS product now off the market. Unfortunately, Panasonic designed their interface (very similar to IEEE 1394) as an exclusive interface. JVC informs me that although they have tried their best to make the past recordings compatible (out of courtesy), the way in which the MPEG stream was treated is different from what is now available as specs from IEEE 1394, as well as the MPEG stream. JVC says it cannot not guarantee compatibility with recordings that were made prior to IEEE 1394 specs being finalized, although they say “the firmware upgrade did quite a good job.” At Widescreen Review we have not had one problem with several plays of the prerecorded movies we have for review. One caution that should be mentioned is that with any new format, there are bugs initially that eventually get worked out. Also there is the tendency for competitors to raise the “problem” issue as a rampant occurance. JVC has assured me (obviously I am supporting the format due to its leading-edge performance) that they will most certainly address any and all problems which truly concern both the D-VHS format and particular models.
You can E-mail Widescreen Review @ mailto:editorgary@widescreenreview.com