MiniDV tapes de-magnetized - horizontal distortion

[gizmoxman]

I have about 40 hours of old MiniDV tapes that have been stored close to a speaker and got de-magnetized over time.

The symptoms are as follows: the image is split into 5 horizontal section - 3 (top middle and lower) are good, alternating with 2 distorted sections (between middle and top / and between middle and bottom). The bad sections are not completely erases, just look like a horizontal sync is off (i.e. scrolling diagonal lines across the "bad" horizontal sections). If need be, I can post a sample screen print.

I am new to video conversion/restoration process. However, I am willing to dedicate time and money to this project.

Alternatively, maybe anyone knows of a commercial service that does this kind of recovery.

I appreciate any help.

[ed klein]

I would check with a TV repair shop, major electronics repair shop, or last a computer repair shop.

I think the process is called degauss, and basically an electromagnet is used to reverse the polarity of the distorted magnetic fields.

Something like when you degauss the CRT for stray magnetic fields.

[Abuilder]

Gizmo
You definitely don't want to "degauss" your tapes. Degaussing them will pull all the data off them and render them useless. A deguasser is a powerfull magnet itself, the same thing that caused your problem to begin with.
You will most likely have to send them in to have the data pulled of them and placed on other media.
Here is a link for one of the best data restore companies that I know off. They have been around forever.

http://www.ontrack.com/tape/