Troubling Defect Found in Some Sony DCR-HC85s

by News Editor
Published on Jul 7, 2004 10:00 AM



Over the past month, CamcorderInfo.com has conducted an investigation into a troubling defect in the video performance of the Sony DCR-HC85. The problem concerns the camcorder’s picture quality under normal lighting conditions. It appears that when some DCR-HC85s shoot dark objects, even under fairly strong light, they produce a clearly discernible amount of chroma noise in dark areas of the screen. This chroma noise appears as vibrant yellow and blue artifacts.

CamcorderInfo.com first reported on the problem with the Sony DCR-HC85 on June 4th in the DCR-HC85 Camcorder Review. After being uncovered on the CamcorderInfo.com message board, CamcorderInfo.com confirmed the presence of the defect in a DCR-HC85 that Sony provided to CamcorderInfo.com for review. In the article, Nathaniel Hansen, Managing Editor for Consumer Video, described the problem and noted that he would not recommend the camcorder if the problem was present in all DCR-HC85 models.

Hansen had discovered the problem a week earlier, and CamcorderInfo.com decided to hold the review to allow Sony to investigate the problem. The DCR-HC85 that was tested for the review was shipped back to Sony for examination, and CamcorderInfo.com e-mailed officials at Sony with sample stills of the chroma noise problem in action.

After receiving the camcorder, Sony reported that Harry Haruna, their Japanese engineer for camcorders (stationed in the Sony US San Diego communications headquarters), had examined the sample DCR-HC85 and found it to be up to specifications. However, he did not test the camcorder for the chroma noise problem. A representative from Sony then told CamcorderInfo.com that the sample DCR-HC85 was sent immediately to Sony's Japan headquarters for further investigation.

The still below is an example of the chroma noise problem on the DCR-HC85 in action. The video from which the still was taken was taped in full auto mode, and although the light in the shot varies, it was measured to be somewhere between 80 lux and 160 lux. If you look at the LCD computer screen in the shot, which is turned off, there are many yellow and blue spots which one would not see on a normal camcorder.

The second picture features the similar problem, with the dark object a file cabinet.

In the initial DCR-HC85 review, Hansen described this problem as abnormal, and something you would not expect even from a poor quality camcorder. The review stated that the excessive chroma noise produced by the DCR-HC85 had to come from a defect with the DCR-HC85 which was being tested.

CamcorderInfo.com tested two other DCR-HC85s, which were purchased from SonyStyle.com, Sony’s online retail store, and they did not produce the problem displayed above. Jeff Keller, publisher of DVSpot.com, tested a different DCR-HC85 supplied by Sony and in his review stated that he did not experience the problem which we experienced. The fact that DVSpot.com did not run into the problem, and two other DCR-HC85s tested by CamcorderInfo.com under the same conditions did not have the problem, would lead to the conclusion that only some, not all, DCR-HC85s are affected by the chroma noise problem.

After waiting nearly a week, CamcorderInfo.com decided to publish the review with a note that Sony was looking into the problem. On June 10th, CamcorderInfo.com offered to Sony to post a message on the DCR-HC85 review, as well as in the DCR-HC85 message board, requesting serial numbers from users who were experiencing the problem. Officials at Sony liked the idea and helped CamcorderInfo.com craft the message board post.

Over the next few weeks, more than 10 people responded to the request for serial numbers of camcorders, saying they were experiencing the same problem that was posted on June 10th to the DCR-HC85 message board, as well as in the DCR-HC85 review. CamcorderInfo.com has not been able to confirm that all these people were actually experiencing the problem through testing their camcorders; however, the problem was described in detail in the review.

On June 15th, after a series of e-mails concerning the problem, Rosemary Flynn, spokeswoman for Sony Camcorders, discussed the problem with CamcorderInfo.com editor-in-chief Robin Liss. Flynn said that officials at Sony acknowledged the problem in the image that was sent to them. Nevertheless, Sony Japan had been unable to duplicate the problem in the DCR-HC85 that CamcorderInfo.com had originally tested. Further, Flynn said that Sony Japan had tested ten other DCR-HC85s and been unable to duplicate the problem. During that conversation, Flynn communicated that Sony customer service had not received any phone calls regarding the excessive noise problem, and said that Sony was discounting the problem as a defect with the one model which they were unable to duplicate.

During the course of the call, Liss asserted that CamcorderInfo.com would not be satisfied to put the problem to rest at this point, telling Flynn that Sony was leaving too many questions unanswered. Liss continued, if Sony was unable to duplicate the problem in a camcorder where it was known to occur, then it would be difficult to have faith in their tests of the other ten models, because they did not have a test setup that could replicate the error evinced in the still frame grab. She further argued that if Sony were to leave the problem at this stage, the question of how many DCR-HC85s were affected would remain, creating serious doubt about the functionality of the camcorder. Flynn agreed and stated that she and Linda Vuolo, Director of Sony Camcorder Products US, would ask Sony Japan to do further testing on the DCR-HC85.

It should be noted that the test that was conducted to discover the chroma noise problem on the DCR-HC85 was not standardized. Most of the tests which CamcorderInfo.com conducts officially on each camcorder are conducted under extremely controlled lighting conditions with a scientifically calibrated test chart. The DCR-HC85 test that revealed the chroma noise problem was done under casual conditions, which would be difficult to duplicate perfectly. However, according to Hansen, the problem revealed itself in a variety of uncontrolled circumstances. Hansen believes that users would not have to go to any great lengths to create a situation in which users would recognize the HC85 chroma noise.

During the June 15th call, it seemed that one of the biggest problems that Sony Japan was having in testing the DCR-HC85 was that they were unable to duplicate the problem. CamcorderInfo.com invited engineers from Sony in Tokyo to come to the CamcorderInfo.com offices to see the shooting conditions under which the problem was found. Flynn discounted the suggestion, saying that it was largely impractical to fly someone from Tokyo to Boston.

Right before publishing this story, Flynn stated that Sony customer support had not had any users contact them regarding the excessive noise problem. Flynn explained in an earlier communication that Sony often uses information from their customer service line to determine when product defects occur. Flynn's information is contradicted, however, by some of the users who initially sent their serial numbers to CamcorderInfo.com. A small portion of those users, saying they were experiencing excessive noise problems, told CamcorderInfo.com that they had in fact contacted Sony customer support to report the problem.

After repeated communications with Sony on the issue of the DCR-HC85 chroma noise problem, Sony has reported to CamcorderInfo.com that Sony Japan has been unable to duplicate the problem. Sony's official response to the problem is "After investigating the model that was sent to us by CamcorderInfo.com we were unable to replicate the noise problem that they've outlined. The camcorder met factory specifications, and we conducted significant testing and dedicated many man hours to recreating the problem. Sony stands behind its quality products and as always, if a customer is unsatisfied with a Sony camcorder, we welcome them to contact Sony customer support and look for repair under their warranty."

At this point, many questions remain regarding the chroma noise problem with the DCR-HC85. Sony has been unable to determine how many, if any at all, DCR-HC85s are affected, and which ones might display the error. Compared with Sony’s lower-end camcorders, there are fewer DCR-HC85s on the market, and it may be only a small proportion of them that are affected. Even if this is a relatively small problem, hundreds of individuals, each of whom spent US$1,000 on their DCR-HC85s, could be affected.