JVC HM-DH30000U Lockups
Dear Gary: I’m a new subscriber. Your issue on D-Theater and your dedicated D-VHS Web site got me on board. I bought the JVC D-VHS VCR a few weeks ago and, at least from the “travelogue” demo tape, the video quality is absolutely amazing. Can’t wait for movie releases to start. The only problem I have is when time shifting some NTSC programming and recording in the digital format about two or three times an hour, the picture “freezes” for a few seconds, similar to pausing the tape. I see on JVC’s Web site they have a software upgrade for “problems” playing D-VHS tapes. I haven’t had time to research it beyond that but wonder in your testing if you’ve had similar problems. I seem to recall in your review you had an occasional glitch on the demo tape, but mine so far has been flawless in playback.
Jerry
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.
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