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.
• 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.