Digital video camcorders record video signals onto the tape in very thin lines (as thin as 1/8 the width of a hair). The following anomalies may appear if the video heads are even slightly dirty.
- Mosaic or other blocky video artifacts (Fig. 1) or banding (Fig. 2) appear on the picture during playback.
- Sound becomes distorted, or there is no sound during playback.
- The message [HEADS DIRTY, USE CLEANING CASSETTE] appears.
Fig.1
Fig.2
If such symptoms appear, clean the video heads with the Canon DVM-CL Digital Video Head Cleaning Cassette* or a commercially available dry cleaning cassette. If the symptoms reappear shortly after cleaning, the videocassette may be defective. Stop using it.
*Availability differs from area to area.
Video heads may become dirty under the following conditions:
- Using the camcorder in humid or hot places.
- Using cassettes with damaged or dirty tapes.
- Using the camcorder in dusty places.
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Using the video heads for a long time without cleaning them.
note:
- Before you make important recordings, clean the video heads and make a test recording in advance. We also recommend cleaning the video heads after use, before storing the camcorder.
- Do not use wet type cleaning cassettes as this may damage the camcorder.
- Even after cleaning the video heads you may not be able to correctly play back tapes that were recorded with dirty video heads.