This is Video8, Hi8 and its transition/phase out format Digital8.

For Digital8 and DV25 capture read Digital Tape Guide.

Overview

Conventional Capture Workflow

FM RF Capture Workflow

It is 2 things a ribbon cable, and a basic PCB that breaks out the connection points to large test probe points or standard header pins which are not practical to install into such small camcorder devices.

Copper traces wrapped in plastic with exposed connection ends normally coated in silver or tin.

The Pitch is the thickness of the flex ribbon cable Sony use 0.5mm pitch cables.

On most Sony Digital8 camcorders that support backwards playback, at the battery area, there is a rubber grommet or screw down plate once removed this exposes the Jig connection point for testing this is normally 16/18/20 pin ribbon connectors with a 0.5mm pitch, a readily available and generic interface this is the go-to method for Video8/High8 tape formats.

Simply visually check your pin amount and buy the correct jig with the links below.

Check the service manual to see what pins have the RF signal. A cap may be required in-line to get a workable signal depending on setup and device. Some users on the dd86 have had some trouble with getting good output from the newer Sony camcorders so what capacitor values and setups are optimal are not quite ironed out yet.

Jigs (Unpopulated) / Jigs (With 2.54mm pins) / Flex Cable 0.5mm Pitch / DuPont to BNC Type 2 USB Power Adapter / Type 1 USB Power Adapter

Digital8 Camcorders had backwards Support for Video8 and Hi8 and could digitise them to a DV25 stream via firewire which it natively uses for recording.

Note it is a very Lossy Compressed codec the minimum for no artefacts is considered DVCPro50 which is SD at 50-60mbps with 4:2:2 colour sampling and FFV1 10-bit 4:2:2 at 70-90mbps Lossless Compressed.

Format	Sub Sampling	Resolution	Frame Rate	Bitrate	Audio	Date Code	Timecode	Interface	Analogue Outputs	Cross Support
DV25 NTSC	4:1:1 8-bit	720x480	i29.97	25-30mbps	PCM 12/16-Bit	Yes	Sub-Code	FireWire	525-Line NTSC 3.58	PAL
DV25 PAL	4:2:0 8-bit	720x576	i25	25-30mbps	PCM 12/16-Bit	Yes	Sub-Code	FireWire	625-Line PAL	NTSC 4.43 / PAL60

Model	Type	TV System	User Manual	Service Manual	Video8 / Hi8 Support	Service Jig Point	Tapped & Tested
GV-D800	Digital 8	PAL	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
GV-D200	Digital 8	PAL	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
GV-A500	Hi8	NTSC	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes?	Unknown	None Documented
GV-500	Video8	NTSC	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Video8	Unknown	None Documented
EV-DT1	Video8	NTSC	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Video8	Unknown	None Documented
GV-8	Video8	PAL	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Video8	Unknown	None Documented

Model	User Manual	Service Manual	Video8 / Hi8 Support	Service Jig Point	Tapped & Tested
DCR-TR7000	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV103	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV110	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV120	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV203	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV210	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV230	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV240	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV310	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV315	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV318	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	16pin 0.5mm Pitch	Yes 100uF Cap Added
DCR-TRV320	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV330	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV340	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV350	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV351	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV360	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV361	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV380	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV460	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV480	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV520	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV525	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV530	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV730	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV740	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV828	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV830	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV840	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	20pin 0.5mm Pitch	Yes Direct
DCR-TRV130	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	No	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV140	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	No	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV150	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	No	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV250	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	No	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV260	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	No	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV265	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	No	Unknown	None Documented
DCR-TRV280	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	No	Unknown	None Documented

These European camcorder models end with an “E”, the list below is backward compatible and can still playback Video8 and Hi8 PAL tapes originally recorded at 25 frames per second.

Again if you are outside the US these are the camcorders for you, and if you can find one of these in the US they should also work for you as they all have duel PAL/NTSC support like most later PAL analogue equipment which is not seen on MiniDV however.

Model	User Manual	Service Manual	Video8 / Hi8 Support	FireWire Interface	Service Jig Point	Tapped & Tested
DCR-TR7000E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes
DCR-TR7100E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes
DCR-TRV738E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes
DCR-TRV320E	User Manual	Not Indexed	Yes	Yes	Unknown	No
DCR-TRV330E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Yes	Unknown	No
DCR-TRV340E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes
DCR-TRV460E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes
DCR-TRV461E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes
DCR-TRV238E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Yes	20pin 0.5mm Pitch	Yes Direct
DCR-TRV239E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes
DCR-TRV8000E	Indexed	Not Indexed	Yes	Yes	20pin 0.5mm Pitch	Yes 10uf Cap Added

Not confirmed.

Model	User Manual	Service Manual	Video8 / Hi8 Support	FireWire Interface	Service Jig Point	Tapped & Tested
DCR-TRV325E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	No
DCR-TRV530E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	No
DCR-TRV430E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	No
DCR-TRV230E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	No
DCR-TRV235E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	No
DCR-TRV325E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	Unknown	Yes	Unknown	No
DCR-TVR250E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	No	Yes	Known	No
DCR-TRV255E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	No	Yes	Unknown	No
DCR-TRV265E	Not Indexed	Not Indexed	No	Yes		No

Model / Format / Sound / PCM / DCF / Year / € / Drive Comments

Model	Format Support	Sound Support	Year	Price EUR	Drive Type	Frank Hirsinger's Notes
CCD-V8	V8	o - -	1985	€1500	O	originally camcorder; complete VCR, however, with Timer-Tuner Unit TT-V8E
EV-C8	V8	o - -	1985-1986	€900	O	first mobile V8 VCR for CCD M8E or as VCR for Timer/Tuner TT-V8E
EV-P10	V8	o - -	1987-1988	€380	O	first V8 player (no record function!), designed for camcorder without playback option
EV-A300	V8	o (oo) + -	1986	€850	O	with optional PCM Processor (PCM-EV10E) capable of 1 Track PCM
EV-S700	V8	oo 6tr. -	1986	€1400	O	identical to EV-S600; rounded front panel
EV-S600	V8	oo 6Dr. -	1987	€1350	O	also marketed by Pioneer with some different functions and RC
EV-A200	V8	o - -	1987-1990	€800	O	the standard V8 VCR following the 300 model, after the first Multi PCM models were on the market
EV-S650	V8	oo 6tr. -	1988-1989	€1200	O	designed especially for DAV PCM recording and playback
EV-S850	V8	oo 6Tr. -	1987-1990	€1500	O	Sony's first model with Jog Shuttle
EV-S550	V8	oo st 1Tr. -	1990-1992	€1400	U	precursor of the 1000; marks the end of the 6 track DAV standard (5 year run...); built in camcorder power source
EV-C3	V8	o - -	1990-1993	€400	U	first handy VCR for cutting and editing videos with a camcorder
EV-C45	V8	st - -	1992-1994	€500	U	developed from the C3E, now with stereo sound

Model	Format Support	Sound Support	Year	Price EUR	Drive Type	Frank Hirsinger's Notes
EV-S1000	V8 & Hi8	oo st 1Tr	1990-1994	€1500	U	probably the best selling Hi8 video cut VCR with PIP and separated pictures for input and output picture on one screen
EV-S880	V8 & Hi8	st - yes	1993-1994	€1100	U	developed from the 1000 with new designed circuit boards for mechanics and electronics
EV-C500	V8 & Hi8	st - -	1993-1998	€700	U	first handy hi8 VCR developed from the C45 (long time in the market)
EV-P25	V8	st - -	1994-1995	€380	U	inexpensive V8 player (no recorder!)
EV-P300	V8 & Hi8	st - -	1994-1995	€500	U	first inexpensive Hi8 player, developed from the P25
EV-C400	V8 & Hi8	st - -	1996-2000	€500	F	Hi8 VCR developed from the P series, however with the new F mechanics
EV-C2000	V8 & Hi8	st - yes	1995-2000	€900	F	cheap version of the 9000 model, however without the motor driven panel. Capable of viewing and recording the RTC Timecode
EV-S9000	V8 & Hi8	oost 1Tr. yes	1995-1999	€1750	F	last PCM VCR with digital pic. improvements like drop-out filter, digital comb filter; RTC ; Time Base Corrector
EV-T1	V8 & Hi8	VHS st - yes	1996-1997	€1650	F	Twin Recorder with Hi8 and VHS mechanics; very good picture due to DCF
SLV-T2000	V8 & Hi8	VHSst - -	1997-2001	€1000	F	Inexpensive successor of the EV-T1VC

o = HiFi Mono via FM head signal

oo = Stereo via PCM; Mono over FM head signal

st = Stereo sound over polarized FM head signal

PCM = Pulse Code Modulation. Here analogue signals are converted into binary signals. With this method, the carrier signal is in pulse form, the modulation signal is digital.

1Tr = 1 Audio Track.

6tr = 6 Audio Track.

RTC = Sony Re-Writable Consumer Timecode

DNR = Dynamic Noise Reduction = electronic noise reduction: The Dolby noise reduction system is well-known for audio cassette recorders.

DCF = Digital Comb Filter: Enables clean separation of interleaved colour and B/W signals. This prevents colour streaks and unsteady colour edges and enables crystal-clear and precise images.

PCM technology samples the analogue signal 8,000 times per second and converts it into an 8-bit signal, resulting in a sample every 125 µs. The resulting transmission speed is 64 kbit/s.
1 Track is the 1 track PCM method that uses an additional track to dub V8 tapes.

Sound recordings can also be made without a picture 6 track refers to the 6 track PCM process, which is only possible with DAV (Digital Audio Video) devices and enables 6 parallel tracks on one tape. Disadvantage: you can only listen to or record one track at a time. So no real multitrack method!

With the O-drive, the tape is wound counter clockwise around the head drum with a pin.

With the U drive, 2 pins loop the tape around the head drum from both sides and "write" a "U". The F drive is a further development of the U drive. It has a more stable capstan shaft and also offers the option of very fast tape rewinding of just 1 minute (90s cassette) without wrapping around the head drum (tape protection). Some other weaknesses of the U drive have also been skilfully improved!

Thanks to Bob Hennessey & Frank Hirsinger for there charts, materials and collected manuals.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/355121-List-of-Sony-Handycam-Digital8-camcorders-with-analog-digital-passthru