Hi all,

I have been looking around for DV tapes and have suddenly discovered that some have memory chips in them and are more expensive than the tapes without the chips.

Can someone please explain to me the purpose of the chips and whether it is needed or not?

Thanks in anticipation

Sands

[Wayne Moule]

Where have you seen these and which tape brands are they?

I have seen Sony ones and they are about £5 more expensive. I have also seen some JVC ones and they are also more expensive then their equivalents without the chip.

[Andrew_arkless]

I pretty sure these are only used in certain Sony machines, I'm
not sure what the chip store (I did ask about this when I got my
Pana Cam but that was years ago & I forget what it does).
if your camera manual does not mention it don't worry &
use normal tapes.

I had the same question.
The chap in the shop said that they are for storing titles on.

I also believe that they are used to accurately wind the tape exactly to the end of the last recorded section so you can continue to record on to the tape seemlessly even after you have removed it from the camcorder.

I have just bought a sony camcorder, and I have to say I am a little surprised that in this digital age that DV camcorders don't mark the end of the tape anyway. It is really annoying that as soon as you take a tape out of the camcorder you have to manually try and find the end of the last footage before recording on it again!!

I think they only work with Sony camcorders. They certainly don't work with all camcorders.