Hi,
I have a DCR HC14E and it developed a similar problem. It was fine after using in in Florida and was kept in its box for nearly a year until we went to Florida again -only to disover the fault.
It was too close to the holiday to do anything about it, so we just shot hundreds of digital photos instead.
When we got back, we found that there was a common fault with a whole range of Sony DV cams and that Sony were repairing the fault free of charge.
Digital Imaging announcement : Sony
That is an old link but it may still be worth checking out - that is how I got my HC14e repaired for free.
As I stated, it was a general fault with the CCD chip on several models, Sony repaired it free of charge but it took about 2 months to come back. It has been problem free since then, it was just a pity that we never got to take it to Disneyworld that year.
Hope that helps somewhat..