I have a fairly new VCR/DVD combo Magnavox MWD2205. VCR worked fine until I played a movie that was a rental and then dubbed on home vcr back around 1987. The movie played pretty well but now when I record the recored show is in black and white with sound but gets all jumpy and crazy like for a bit then you can see the picture for a while still in black in white. Should I try a headcleaner? Any help would be appreciated.
What you are seeing is the effect of the "guard band" placed on pre-recorded tapes. Older VCRs were not effected by this. This is a modification of the composite video that would be detected by the recording unit and prevent proper recording. Newer VCRs are not as tollerant of this missing or scrambled information. The combo unit is working correctly.
Dan
HI Dan, thanks for the info. I do understand what you are saying. But since I played that old copied movie all the recordings from off the TV that I am doing are that black and white jumpy, blipy stuff. It was recording normal before the old movie and now its not.
Carrie
It is possible that the internal "computer" is now confused. Try unplugging the unit for 2-3 hours and try again. That should cause a complete reset. In the meantime, I'll lookup the model and see of there is any other way to reset it.
Dan