DFU, in the film industry, is known as 'Digital Fuck Up'. This occurs mostly in digital tapes, like MiniDV or DVCam tapes, when it begins to wear out or has been recorded and overwritten
too many times over and over again. It can also occur if a camera's internal parts are damaged, or just need to be cleaned.
DFU looks like a bunch of pixilated colored blocks in different types of random sequences and sizes across the image. There are no real ways of fixing the actual DFU, but there are ways of preventing it; use tape cleaners, don't over-write already used tapes, and keep your camera and tapes in good, safe storage.
DFU has also been known to happen on video that has been recorded straight to a file on a hard drive or recordable disk. I've had first hand
experience with it, and still can't seem to find out how it happened, or even how to fix it. It seems to be the same digital colored blocks though.
If anybody would like to add to this or has any suggestions, fire me an e-mail: lukas@goodtimesproductions.net
