General
Q: Does the DN-400 support line 21 (closed captioning)?
A: No, unfortunately the DN-400 does not support line 21.
Q: How does the DN-400/500 determine the audio bit rate?
A: The DN-400/500 determines the audio bit rate as follows:
If the video is from a DV/HDV source, then the DN-400/500 will record the file as is; without any modification. If the source is from an analog input, then the audio bit rate will be fixed at 48Khz/16bit (DV).
Q: I have a video signal connected to an input on my DN-400/DN-500, but I can’t see the output on my monitor. What am I doing wrong?
A: Please make sure that the output channel of your DN-400/DN-500 is configured correctly. If you are outputting to an Analog device, please set the output channel of the DN-400/DN-500 to any value between 0 and 62. If you are outputting to a FireWire device, please set the output channel of the DN-400/DN-500 to 63. Also, make sure the correct input source type has been selected in the recorder’s menu.
Q: When I power on my DN-400/DN-500/HDR-40/HDR-50, I am getting a “Hard Disk Failure” message on the LCD screen. What can I do to fix it?
A: Please make sure that you insert the hard drive into the recorder and turn the latch to the locked position before you power on the DN-400/DN-500/HDR-40/HDR-50.
Q: Which HDD Drive can I use for my DN-400/ DN-500 recorder?
A: In general, Datavideo recommends HDDs at 7200 rpm with 8 or (better) 16 MB cache memory. Preferred brands are: Hitachi, WD, Fujitsu. Datavideo does not support the use of Seagate drives.
Q: What is the difference between the DN-400 and DN-500?
A: The DN-500 is a rackmounted version of the DN-400 table-top unit. The only difference between the two is that the DN-500 has full-sized XLR inputs, while the DN-400 has mini-XLR inputs. Both units have identical components and will accept the same hard drive enclosure.
Q: Is it possible to digitize my VHS/S-VHS/8mm/Hi-8 video with the DN-400/500?
A: Yes, it is possible to digitize your VHS/S-VHS/8mm/Hi-8 video with the DN-400/500 as long as your source playback machine has an analog or FireWire output. To include audio from an analog source, your source machine needs to output RCA or XLR audio. Please keep in mind that depending on the format and age of your source tape, there may be quality and degradation issues. A Common problem with old tape sources is a loss of video synchronization, which can cause a mismatch of lip synchronization. If your tape has playback issues, we recommend that you use a time-base corrector between your source and the DN-400/500 to repair the video synchronization.
Q: How do I monitor my HDV signal?
A: The HDV signal from the DN-400/500 cannot be monitored. However, the DN-400/500 will decode the signal upon playback. Only SD signals can be monitored on the DN-400/500.
Q: Which NLE software applications can read .m2t files natively?
A: Here is a list of Non Linear Editors which support .m2t files: Adobe Premiere CS3 or higher, Sony Vegas 8 or higher, Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum, Grass Valley Edius, Avid Media Composer and Pinnacle Studio 12 or higher
Q: Does the included software allow you to batch the file conversion to another format?
A: Yes, you can batch the file conversion.
Q: Can I use multiple DN-400/500s with a FireWire hub?
A: No, only the last connected DN-400/500 will be recognized.
Hard Drives
Q: Do you recommend any particular hard drives to work with the enclosure?
A: We recommend 2.5″ SATA hard drives made by Hitachi, Western Digital or Fujitsu (Seagate drives will not work with our enclosures). We suggest a minimum specification of 8MB buffer, 5400RPM with a 3 Gb/s bandwidth.
Q: Can I buy extra drive enclosures? Can I replace my 250GB HDD with a larger HDD?
A: Yes, we sell enclosures with and without hard drives. You can replace your 250GB HDD with a larger HDD (up to 750GB and must be a 2.5” SATA drive). The hard drives that are larger than 750GB have a larger height, which will not fit inside the enclosure for the DN-400/500 and HDR-40/50.
Q: What is the maximum height of the hard drive that will fit inside the enclosure?
A: 11.6 mm is the maximum height of the hard drive that will fit inside the enclosure.
Q: What is the maximum recording time for the DN-400/500 with a 250GB HDD?
A: The maximum recording time for DN-400/500 with a 250GB HDD is 19hrs.
Q: Can we format the hard drive with a PC, or do we need to format in a DN-400?
A: We recommend formatting the drive in the DN-400 only.
Q: Is “HDD Surface Scan” the same as “Format HDD”?
A: No. “Surface Scan” checks the integrity of the hard drive (and takes about 2 hours). “Format HDD” is the same as on a computer, it will erase the entire hard drive and create a new index for re-use.
Q: I removed the hard drive from the DN-400/500 and connect it via USB to my computer, but it is periodically losing connectivity. The hard drive does not appear as an external drive. Is there something wrong with my hard drive?
A: Please make sure you are using the Datavideo USB transfer cable (included with the DN-400/500) with your hard drive. We have encountered some issues with third party USB cables which might cause a loss of connectivity with the drives.
Control
Q: Can the DN-400/500 be controlled via FireWire?
A: No, the DN-400/500 cannot be remotely controlled via FireWire. The FireWire port can only be used to send a DV/HDV video stream to the recorder and to mount the recorder to a computer as an external hard drive.
Q: What can I do if I’m having RS-422 problems when using analog video?
A: You will need to update the unit’s firmware. You can find the necessary files and a step-by-step guide on the DN-400 or DN-500 page on this website.
Q: How can I use a RS-232 remote controller with the DN-400/DN-500?
A: We recommend the RS-422 port for remote-controlling the DN-400/500 as the RS-232 connector is intended only for factory updates.
Recording
Q: What resolution does the DN-400/DN-500 record in?
A: Standard definition video is recorded at 720×480 NTSC, 720×576 PAL. HDV video is recorded at 1440x1080i.
Q: Can I playback while recording simultaneously?
A: No, the DN-400/500 is a single stream recorder, so playback can only occur once recording has stopped.
Q: I want to record from an analog input source but I also want to use the DV output on the DN-400/500 to feed a MP-6000 recorder. Is this possible?
A: Yes, the DN-400/500 will transcode the input signal to DV, while actively recording to the hard drive. Please note: any signal disruptions will affect all of the devices in the DV video stream.
Q: While recording from a DV source, will the DN-400/500 pass the video and audio to the DV outputs so I can also record to a backup computer hard drive or miniDV tape?
A: Yes, while recording from a DV source, DN-400 will pass the video and audio to the DV outputs so you can also record to a backup computer hard drive or miniDV tape.
Q: While recording from a DV source, will the DN-400/500 pass the video and audio to the analog outputs so I can monitor the signal?
A: Yes, while recording from a DV source, DN-400 will pass the video and audio to the analog outputs. It will not work if you are recording from a HDV source.
Q: Can I record a component signal and output to FireWire?
A: Yes, you can; but you must set the output channel to 63 within the front panel menu of the DN-400/500.
Q: What type of compression does the DN-400/500 use?
A: The DN-400/500 records in standard DV (.dv) compression for standard definition, and in standard MPEG-2 Transport compression (.m2t) for high-definition. The DN-400/500 can also convert the files to DV-compressed AVI Type 1 or AVI Type 2 format (.avi). The unit also ships with PC-based software (on a CD) that can convert your video to many other formats – please see the DN-400 page/DN-500 page on this website for a full list of formats.
Q: What format do the DN-300, DN-400, and DN-500 record to, when my input is analog (composite, S-video, component)?
A: NTSC – DV 25 Mbps, 8-bit Y.U.V. 4:1:1 PAL- DV 25 Mbps, 8-bit Y.U.V. 4:2:0
Q: Does the DN-300, DN-400, and DN-500 record HD signals?
A: Yes, but only via the FireWire port. The signal source must be as follows: HDV 1080i / 60 25 Mbps 8-bit Y.U.V. 4:2:0 HDV 1080i / 50 25 Mbps 8-bit Y.U.V. 4:2:0 The DN-300, DN-400, and DN-500 are unable to record HD component.
Troubleshooting
Q: I have a FireWire video capture board on my computer, but it is not detecting the DN-400/DN-500. What can I do?
A: It’s possible your FireWire video capture board is not SBP-2 protocol compliant (IEEE-1394 hard disk protocol). It may only function with AVC-compliant devices, such as a camcorder, DV deck, etc. Since the DN-400/DN-500 functions as a hard drive and not a deck, you need to connect it to a regular FireWire port on your computer (or add a 1394 PCI FireWire card if none of the FireWire ports are available).
Q: I’ve noticed that the video goes out for a few seconds every 10 hours. Is there a fix?
A: This is only a problem when recording analog video in PAL – the recorder switches itself to a new track after 10 hours. It is a bug in the encoding chip’s program and unfortunately cannot be fixed. If you know a recording session will be longer than 10 continuous hours, we suggest using digital cameras. Neither NTSC nor DV/HDV recording have this problem.
Q: The USB interface on the removable hard drive is not fast enough for realtime editing. How can I resolve this on my NLE system?
A: We recommend transferring the files to your local hard drive for the best performance.
Q: Do you have a solution for converting the raw DV files to Quicktime for Mac computers?
A: The DV files can be read natively by Mac computers, so a file conversion is unnecessary. The DV files can be read natively with either iMovie or Final Cut Pro. However, if you have HDV files, Final Cut does not natively support .m2t so you must use a program like, Streamclip (free to download) to convert the .m2t files.
Q: The LCD screen on my recorder is displaying a “hard disk failure” on boot up. Has my recorder failed?
A: Your Datavideo recorder must have a drive inserted and latched before it has been powered on. If you power on your recorder and then insert the drive you will encounter a “hard disk failure” notification on the display. If your recorder has initially booted with a drive, you will then able to remove and reinsert the drive without encountering a “hard disk failure”.