Customer Reviews

Fireplace: Visions of Tranquility [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I've been really looking forward to this DVD ever since I got my Blu-ray player. I have a regular DVD version (different company) and I really thought it would be very similar. I was wrong.

Firstly, the video is stretched so the image is a bit distorted. I'm one of those people that can't watch those faux-HD movies/shows. This is HD, but possibly shot on the lowest-quality possible. It was also shot interlaced, which means you can see all the horizontal scan lines in the fire so the picture quality is sub-standard. It's not true.. THIS IS NOT A 1080p DISC (besides seeing scan lines, my Blu-ray player says it's 60i...so it's not just my eyes).

Secondly, the camera is zoomed in too close to the fire. The DVD I had before had several options and all of them were at least zoomed out far enough to see the whole fire. This DVD is cropped at the top and the fire fills the screen. Some shots are cropped so close it feels like part of my house is on fire. If you like this kind of thing, that's fine, but I prefer the "fireplace illusion"...the TV either looking like a fireplace or zoomed out enough to actually see a fireplace. There are four different fires and they're all shot from basically the same distance so one will have a very hard time distinguishing the difference between any of them. The only difference I could tell was that the wood was stacked slightly differently. Of note: where the description says "different angles & shots" it doesn't mean that you can use the angle functionality on the DVD player. It just means that throughout the DVD they chose slightly different angles to shoot from... you have no control over those.

Finally, the audio is also a disappointment. Blu-ray should have at least 5.1 audio and the Crackling Fire is only 2.0 (stereo), though there's an option to play the classical music with 5.1.

All in all, a lackluster release by a manufacturer who clearly just wanted to beat any other product of its kind to the HD market. The images look far better than the actual blurry video so make sure you really really want to sacrifice all the above aspects just to have this DVD. Wait a while and better ones will surely be available soon.

Its the nicest one I have used... but it could have been nicer...

Pan a little out so the whole flame would have been welcomed..

Also there are some fires that the camera pans and scan around and thats just not called for!

I would have rather seen different views back off the same fireplace... some tv's are bigger than others and if its like 50 or 60" the fire just looks too big... so different views further back would have been better.

At least they did use a real fire with real wood not a gas fire like most of the other discs I have seen. The first one is a full fireplace with wood that burns almost down then loops... thats the way to do it. The others that scan the fire are distracting and dumb.. the whole concept of these discs is an illusion of a fireplace so why does the camera need to move ? instead just offer different views of the same fireplace instead.

Overall on a lcd around 32 to 40 " you will be very pleased.... the bigger your set your fire will look too big and will not look natural at all.... in fact it will look like your living room is on fire... hence the further away view would have been welcomed...

I don't know how you could mess this up, but they did. Like everyone else I wanted a nice fireplace scene in 1080p. What I got was something my grandma would record and give to me. Every one of the fireplace selections is zoomed in and not very different in configuration. How hard would it be to produce several scenes of beautiful fireplace settings rumbling in high quality uncompressed audio? It's obvious they produced a low budget product hoping it would sell simply because it's released in Blu-Ray format. Don't buy this. I recommend buying a fireplace scene on upscaled DVD until a respectable product is released on Blu-Ray.

The last reviewer is accurate when he said it does not work on the Sony PS3. If you go to the "HDscape" website they will offer you a free replacement disc that will work on the PS3. They stated something was wrong with the encoding process and that it should be fixed in all future releases of the Fireplace disc.

As far as the quality, I have no idea as I am waiting to get a replacement disc. Hope this helps.

I preordered this because I have been eagerly awaiting an HD quality fireplace experience but it will not play on the PS3... can't speak for other Blu Ray players. After getting a replacement from Amazon it had the same problem so I need to send both back and get a refund. Odd that my HDScape fish tank works fine... probably a small company without a Quality Assurance department.

You can't expect much from a video of a burning fire other than just that--a video of a burning fire. I have not seen the standard definition version of this HD DVD, but I believe that this version comes with fewer features, based on the reviews I have read of it. Still, this version comes with multiple different versions of the fire: A complete fire (starts after the fire is already lit and goes until it nearly goes out--you do not see the very beginning or the very end) An eternal fire (which is just the first minute or so of the fire looped back to back forever) and a number of other versions, including an exciting fire, which just looks at the fire with different camera angles, and a version of the fire set to music.

The fire looks great on HD DVD. The sound is a little weird--sometimes you hear little metal popping noises and tinkling sounds, and I wonder if this is an error in the audio compression or just the natural sound of the fire rack being heated. I once had an error with the HD DVD where the menu would not allow me to make a selection, and I had to restart the machine, but this happened only once and I do not know whether it was the player's fault or the HD DVD's fault. The reverse side has the standard definition version and its content is slightly different, but I cannot recall how it differed. Both sides are in wide screen and there is no full screen option. All in all, it is a great little fire to have going on in the background if you, like me, do not have a fireplace in your apartment.

Unfortunately this does not work on the ps3 included blu-ray player. There hasn't been a firmware update to the ps3 in a while, so I'm surprised they did not test it.

And, after reading the other reviewer's take on the lackluster quality of the video and audio I think I'll just return this and move on.

I have the HD DVD version of this fireplace as well , I have tried a few others and this one still is the best of the bunch.... why ? well this disc has a fireplace scene thats starts from beginning to the end, it does not pan around like the others do, the full fire lasts about 20 minutes or so at least there is always a different look when you walk past the screen. The disc has other scenes as well but this is the only disc I know of that does not pan or zoom around which is a cardinal sin for video like these. I just want to see a fire from start to finish with the same view angle and no zooming... this is it.

This DVD is in the old HD format and if you don't own one of those players it is absolutely usless to you as it was for me.

It's a fire on my tv. We set it up in the IT department lobby at our university and everyone who comes in has something to say about it. Yes, it does fade out/in to a zoomed-in perspective but not too often. Admittedly, we do get a little work done around here so no one stares at the screen the whole time anyway.

Looks clear and crisp on a 42" LCD Vizio in 1080i (highest resolution for this disc). Sound is fine. I REALLY appreciate being able to turn off the Christmas soundtrack and still here the sounds of the fire!! We played the music yesterday and I believe I heard it replay twice during the 8 - 5 work day. Nothing too bad since most of it is elevator/lobby instrumental (or light vocals) music anyway.

Bought used and definitely would recommend!