Search - Visions of the Sea: Explorations by HDScape (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) on HD DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 12/25/2018...

Has DVD.

ALERT - You are ordering an HD-DVD item. This format can be played only in HD-DVD players (the discs will NOT play in regular DVD or Blu-Ray players). If you do NOT have an HD-DVD player, you should not order this item.

Unbelieveable picture quality in HD

D. Krepak | 06/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a scuba diver and have an HD DVD player you will absolutely love this disc. I have many HD movies and Blu-ray movies but the picture quality in this video in HD is outstanding, the best of anything I've seen. I have the Toshiba HD-AX2. I ordered this disc back in Jan. and it was well worth the wait. There is gentle music in the background, no commentary or info. as to what you are seeing so it isn't educational for those not already knowledgeable. I can't imagine anyone who loves marine life not enjoying this disc in HD. I hope they make more like this in the future."

Not Bad, Definitely Worth Owning

J. Greenhouse | 10/07/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this, because I love the subject. The photography is very good, and the pictures for the most part are quite sharp. There are a few scenes, mostly close ups that aren't quite as sharp as the rest, but they are in the minority of this disc.
I do have issues with the sound. I found the 5.1 soundtrack to be rather bright sounding, to the point that it hurt my ears. The 2 channel "mellow" soundtrack was better.
Overall, this is a nice disc, but not as good as my standard for this subject, "Coral Sea Dreaming", which is still better overall and highly recomended, but not available in HD"

Has its Moments... But Overall it's Average

D. Eidam | 07/09/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After buying the HDscape Sampler disk, I decided to take the plunge and purchase a few of their full length products in HD-DVD. One of those purchases was Visions of the Sea: Explorations. To sum it up quickly, the ambience is nice and comforting, but the picture quality is blurry and sometimes just dull.

Its a great video to have running in the background during a family/friend get together or as something soothing to watch to unwind from a hard day at work. As stated earlier, this video from HDscape isn't the sharpest overall picture I've seen from their other products, but their is a difference between the HD version and the standard version. Biggest complaints to the picture was that it was too blurry during scenes with brighter colors and that it just wasn't sharp enough during scenes with numerous fish and underwater plants. Again, I have to compare these underwater scenes with those of Planet Earth, which is vastly superior on every level in picture quality to this.

Visions of the Sea isn't a documentary either, merely ambience. Another HDscape product, Antarctica Dreaming, was both a documentary & ambient video. With all the different types of plantlike, creatures, and fish shown in this video, I would have loved to learn more about them.

So overall, Visions of the Sea: Explorations isn't a great video, but it's not bad either. Video quality stands out as the main problem, but the ambience strengthens the overall presentation. There are a couple of extras on the disk too, like previews from other HDscape products, but nothing exciting. Buy if you must, but there are other, much better, HD-DVD nature documentaries/ambience like Planet Earth and Antarctica Dreaming that I would recommend first."