Hi8 Blue Screen

kevin-c2769 wrote on 1/9/2026, 4:51 PM

Hi everyone! I’ve managed to successfully convert a Mini DV and VHS but hit a problem when trying to convert a Hi8. I have a Sony DCR-TRV120E camera connected to the USB dongle via the Video/Audio output but I’m getting a blue screen on the computer. The video plays fine on the camera’s display and the audio is coming through on my computer’s speakers but no video. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

AAProds wrote on 1/10/2026, 4:04 AM

@kevin-c2769

Kev, it will almost certainly be either a cabling issue or digitiser settings issue.

Try a Composite cable and then an S-Video cable. If no joy, try it on your TV (Composite connection only probably).

In the program "Import" settings, ensure you have selected either the composite or S-Video input, as appropriate to your cabling.

If your PC has a DV port, you could bypass the dongle and just use WinDV or Scenalyzer to capture the DV stream.

Lastly, probably not a consideration but check your camera settings menu for AV-DV Out:

The above is for the TRV120. Try both settings to see if you get a picture.

kevin-c2769 wrote on 1/10/2026, 9:54 AM

@AAProds

Thanks for the response. I’ve tried connecting the camera to the TV using the same composite cable and I’ve no picture on there either so it looks like that’s the issue. I’ll order another one and hopefully that will sort it. Thank you for your help.

AAProds wrote on 1/10/2026, 5:36 PM

@kevin-c2769

Kev, it might still be the camcorder: try playing it on the TV with one of your other RCA cables. It doesn't have to be the yellow one.