Pentax_W60_Problem

My new Pentax Optio W60 Exhibits severe vertical banding noise in at least the 640x480 30 fps video mode.

There is a chronology of my communications with Pentax about this problem below the sample frames on this page.

The short story is that so far Pentax claims that there is no problem and that these absolutely vertical purple-pink artifacts are due to "the normal reflection of light".

Took my first video with the camera and immediately moticed the problem.

I contacted Pentax via online chat about the problem and they suggested returning the camera for another one.

I returned it got another one. Alas the second camera was exactly the same.

I contacted Pentax Tech. Support by phone, and a very nice lady took the information, and the URL of this webpage.

She could not however tell me if this was a problem that could or would be fixed by a firmware upgrade.

A lady named Andrea called from Pentax Imaging. I pointed her at this web page and she looked at the images. She said that some one would get back in touch with me either by phone or email.

On the assumption that I will hear more from Pentax, I will keep a chronology of events on this page. Right now I am hopeful. Clearly someone at Pentax cared enogh to call me back. Stay tuned!

I got one of the technicians to look at the purple lines you’ve been experiencing during video mode and he says that this is a normal reflection of light, probably from the sun reflecting off of some metal or other reflective surfaces. If you would like to get a second opinion you can contact our Technical Support hotline at 1-800-877-0155.

In my opinion, your technician is wrong. I have had other digital cameras, and taken videos like this. None of them has exhibited these problems. In particular I used to use a Sony DSC W5 that took great videos in exactly these conditions.

What we are looking at here appears to be what is called "banding noise" and is camera specific. Tell him to search the web for "banding noise" he will find lots of examples. This is not caused by "normal reflection of light". That would be a specular reflection and would not be absolutely vertical and purple-pink in all frames. This is a digital artifact.

I am keeping a chronology of these communications with Pentax on my web page.

The W60 does take good still photos though. These have been lightly massaged by The GIMP to sharpen, reduce noise and remove kite line, but the camera provided good data to work with.