Last night I was fooling around with my PDX10, trying to see if any special key combination would produce any unexpected results, and I discovered this:

If I turn the camera on the camera while pressing the stop button, the LCD displays [1]C:31:23 where the time code would usually go. Pressing the TC/User Bits button has no effect. This works starting the camera to both 'camera' and 'VTR' modes, and the [1]C:31:23 message persists if I rapidly toggle modes. Powering down and then turning the camera back on returns the TC display to normal.

Has anybody else discovered any undocumented things like this? I seem to recall a few years back somebody hacked a way of generating color bars on a Sony camera that was not documented to have this feature.

Imagine accessing a secret menu where you can set the camera to PAL, change to a different gamma setting, turn on locked audio for DV-SP, play Pacman... you never know what might be hidden in there!

I believe the non S model Canon XL1 had something like this as well- where you could get it to generate color bars if you performed a few steps.....nice find Ignacio.

How do you know that the "secret code" wasn't related to an error condition you created by "abusing" your camera this way? ;-)

If you're a fan of secret codes though, check out this link which tells you how to go into service mode with your Sony TV... some pretty interesting stuff is in there...

http://209.145.176.7/~090/awh/sonyadj.html

Sir,
please put the camera down and peacefully leave the store. Everyone, go back to your shopping, nothing to see here. The LAPDX10PD HAVE GOT EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL. :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

heh,
c:31:23 is an error message "S reel fault"
"correction: load the tape again, and perform operations from the beginning"
camera found that it cannot perform the task, and returned error code.
You can access maintenance menus of camera if you use RM-95 remote controller, but better to not touch these.

regards, Margus

when yr cam goes to sleep in record standby mode - just gently press the photo button and it will spring back to life :)

Several cameras have undocumented features. The XL1 and the VX1000 could both generate color bars, but neither feature was advertised or documented in the manual. The bars weren't particularly useful, they weren't SMPTE bars, but hey, it was better than nothin'. The DVX100 has a service menu you can get at, but it's pretty scary looking so I don't think anybody's had the guts to fiddle with it and see if they could change anything. And the European PAL DV cameras had DV-input disabled, but some enterprising entrepreneurs figured out how to go in through the RM-95 service remote and enable those features. So, the PDX10 may very well have some hidden features, but as someone else already said, the C:31:23 message is just an error code, it happens to me on my old TRV8 when the tape jams.