Customer Reviews

HD Moods: FIRE [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Just bought this earlier this evening, and it's perfect. I was surprised to see that this company had made another "fireplace" blu ray before, but was horrible what with the children and phones, etc. This company must have gotten the feedback, because there is NONE of that on this updated one.
Just the sights and sounds of five different fires. All of which look great, and really show off the blu-ray quality. My only problem is that the beach scene in this video isn't quite "beach-y". It's more like you are at a lake near the woods as you don't hear sounds of waves in the background, but the natural ambiance of birds chirping and other outdoor noises. However these work just as well!
A great buy, and again, if you're scared because of the previous version of this disc, don't worry. It's fixed, and it's now what you were looking for. No complaints here.

I've been looking for a good fireplace blu-ray disc for use during the holidays. But, every one I've seen has always been lacking in quality. When I heard this one had been re-done to address quality issues, I decided to give it a try. The result is great. You get several scene options, and each looks fabulous in high-definition. And the sound options are welcome as well. You can choose to hear the crackling fireplace alone, or you can hear scene appropriate music. Well, I almost knocked a star off of the review for the music (I just didn't like some of it), but I was looking for the fireplace sound alone, so I left it alone. The music seems to be a mix of midi and synthesizer music. Some people may like it, but just give me the fireplace itself, and I'm happy.
Steady camera, and the scene is never interrupted. If you are going to buy a fireplace...um, simulator, this is the one to get.

There is something so calming about a fire--the flames dancing, the embers crackling. If you are looking for a DVD that actually mimics a fire like the one you would build yourself in your own fireplace, or on your own beach, this is the one for you. I have mine "burning" now as I lay in bed with the electric blanket turned on and I tell you...it is as if I have the real thing---but without the mess.

Each fire scene can be played with "natural" sounds or several options of audio added. I don't dig the audio; it seems like synthesized chime music. I'd much prefer soft classical. But that doesn't really matter to me since I can always play other music but I really just want to hear the sounds of the fire and that is the option I will most likely stay with.

I honestly don't think you'll be disapointed with this selection.

I have occasionally viewed a regular DVD virtual fireplace. Watched it mostly, but not limited to the holiday season. I thought I would take advantage of my blue ray and flat screen and purchase a blue ray virtual fireplace. It is decent, but it does not wow me. I did do some homework prior to purchase. I was aware the music was more synthesized than instrumental, but I purchased it more for the picture and crackling sounds. I do like the optional scenes, which include a Christmas and Halloween scene with are what you might expect for music. The beach scene is just OK, which is how it has been described in the reviews. Overall, reasonable purchase for the price compared to others. I did find myself viewing my older DVD virtual fire after purchasing this one. At least the blue ray player upscaled it. Keep in mind, with these virtual fireplaces, viewing it on very large flat screens may have a "your room is burning" type affect.. We have a 37 inch in our large bedroom. I think anything much bigger may be a bit too much. How large would a fireplace be??? =)

After reading a lot of reviews on several Burays, I chose this one.
It is perfect. Exactlty what I wanted. Very clean picture.
No nonsence fireplace, with no cheesy background noise or music.
I popped it in the Bluray player as soon as it arrived. It was so soothing I forgot all about watching the news.

HD Moods can produce 1080p Full HD, which in 1080i, it looks stunning! The fact that it looks stunning is because it was shot with the Red Digital Camera at an remarkable 4,000 lines of resolution, standard high def video cameras typically shoot at about 2,000 lines of resolution.

It has multiple fireplaces, like a crackling wood-burning fire, modern gas fireplace, a holiday with stockings fireplace, beach bonfire and a really cool gothic castle fireplace.

When you pop in the blu-ray disc into your blu-ray player, It starts almost instantly with the first fireplace. To change the fireplace and other settings, press the menu button on your remote and the menu slides out from the left side of the screen and the fireplace is still going in the background and the change to another fireplace and almost instant.

The Sound
I found the sound to be incredible! The fire sounds are accurate and natural with all the crackling pops. in the menu settings, you can change from 5.1 to 2.0. the 5.1 was awesome for the beach bonfire, but for the regular fireplaces, it was still ok, but not that impressive. But when I switched to 2.0 and changed the settings on my audio receiver to 2.1 channel and cutting out the center and rear speakers I was almost blowing away to how incredible it sounded, and I think you will too! It sounded like I had an actual fireplace! All of the cracks and pops were just so relaxing.

There are music that you can play in the background but they are absolutely awful. It's some sort of Midi Synthesizer music, which very bad. I would prefer to play my own music over it.

Overall, I love this one and I'm going to be using it a lot. I say if you have a PS3 or a Blu-Ray player, this is the one for sure.

To put this review simply, this blu ray fireplace is perfect. It was exactly what I was looking for in a hd fireplace.
If you are looking for excellent picture quality then I recommend buying this blu ray.

This product was so good, I put my HDTV in front of my fireplace, because the effect is better than a real fire.
Troof.

This is the sharpest video of a fireplace I have ever seen! It almost looks like its cgi graphics. The flames are nice and not too bright.
One fireplace scene , the modern one with the rectangle gas fire is great for screens hanging on the wall BUT they blew it by zooming in 5 minutes into the fire scene then they zoom back out 5 minutes later.... never do that! it ruins the effect! always make them seperate so you can pick one that suits your needs never change scenes or zoom or pan - it ruins the whole effect! the fireplace scene is nice and crisp and thank goodness does not zoom or pan around. video is awesome , truly well done... fix that other fireplace and add different size fireplaces to compensate for larger tv's and this video would be perfect.

On a Christmas Eve in the early '80's, a local TV station played a tape the station owner had recorded of a fire burning in the fireplace at his home, including the occasional poking at the fire and his hand appearing out of nowhere to throw on another log. I put it on the TV during our Christmas Eve party as a gag - how could a fake TV fire be anything but ridiculous - and soon found all of our guests gathered in the family room in front of the TV "fireplace", while the Christmas tree stood alone in the living room. It became a fixture of our Christmas Eve celebrations ever since, guests always joking, "how's the fire going?" when they arrive. A few Decembers later a newspaper article reported that the TV station would be changing owners in January and that this could be the last chance to watch "Yule Log" on channel 36 (apparently the "Yule Log" show had attracted enough viewers to warrant an article about its demise). With that information and a handy VCR tape, the TV fireplace tradition survived in our home.

Well, 25 Christmas Eves later, the VHS tape is nearly worn out and now that we have a big-screen TV and the kids (who weren't even born when the tape was recorded) a Playstation 3, I was looking for a Blu-ray "Yule Log" replacement. I've actually bought a few and this one is my favorite. The High-def picture is very sharp and you get a selection of several fireplaces, including one decorated for Christmas. My other two fireplace discs don't look nearly as sharp, like they were recorded in a definition lower than HD and then just copied onto a Blu-ray disc. There are two soundtracks, either the crackling of the fire or Christmas music.

Of course, the big question is how does it stack up against the original, 25 year old "Yule Log"? While the picture on this disc is MUCH sharper, the camera is pulled back away from the fire to show the entire fireplace, where I prefer the fire to nearly fill the TV screen - after all the disc is titled "HD Fire", not "HD Fireplace". Also, the Christmas decorations on the Christmas fireplace are a little cheesey, so I just select the standard fireplace track. But wait! If you show a different fireplace you don't get the Christmas music! Which is just as well because the Christmas tunes are played by a single annoying bell-like instrument and it grates on your nerves after a short while, so I just play my own CD's on the stereo.

Bottom line: a beautifully vivid fire that is sure to please, but it's not perfect due to the wide shot of the fireplace and poor Christmas music.