On my old xl1 when I imported into FCP there were thin black spaces on each side of the frame. I now have a xl1s and now there are no back spaces on either side of the frame. Instead there is a thin black space on the bottom of the frame and on the left hand side there is a slight discolouration. I have had the chassis assembly and heads replaced.

What you are describing sounds like it is in the overscan area of the image and normal. Overscan is the part of a video image that is not displayed on standard TV sets. It goes back to the picture tube days when the scan started and ended off the visible area of the tube face. However, it is often apparent on a computer monitor, which has no overscan.

The amount of overscan varies somewhat from TV set to TV set due to internal adjustments and aging of the scan components. This property is reflected in the "action safe" and "title safe" areas often seen in editing systems. They show the area that is safe from being cropped by overscan. With the advent on flat panel displays and increased use of computers,I suspect that camcordrs are moving away from having visible overscan areas.

Thanks Don for the reply. Yes, I believe you are correct in your diagnosis. On a TV monitor the black space on the bottom of each frame and the discolouration on the left side will never be seen.

However, when I export for a DVD production these two problem areas are clearly visible on a computer display or if the DVD is projected using a video projector. They would also be visible if a clip was posted on the web.
For these reasons I need to somehow "deal" with this issue. Do you have any suggestions, for instance, can the xl1s be adjusted to eliminate this problem?

Probably not in the camcorder, but in your NLE you should be able to crop or mask the side/ends to hide it.