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Category:    Home > Reviews > Special Interest > Geography > Travel > Documentary > Visions Of Europe (2001 – 2009/Acorn Media Blu-ray Set)

Visions Of Europe (2001 – 2009/Acorn Media Blu-ray Set)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C+     Episodes: B+

 

 

The new Visions Of Europe Blu-ray set is an amalgamation of three previous box sets from the continually popular Visions Of series that we have covered often on both Blu-ray and DVD.  There was the Visions Of Europe DVD set with the same content but in lower definition:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9148/Visions+Of+Europe+(Acorn+Media+DV

 

 

And just before came two separate Blu-ray sets covering Italy and Britain & Ireland:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8937/Visions+Of+Italy+++Visions+Of+Britai

 

 

In those links you’ll find links to our original coverage of the separate DVDs of this fine series that remains the best travelogue series you can get and an early, successful HD production. 

 

 

The 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image ranges from some sharp, colorful images to some on the soft side with slight aliasing, staircasing and even shimmer throughout the seven discs, but they are all superior to their DVD counterparts and there are some demo shots throughout each disc.

 

All Blu-rays except the Italy Blu-rays (with PCM 2.0 Stereo with Pro Logic type surrounds) are here in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes that far outdo the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mixes on the DVDs, though the soundfields are limited to music with any narration towards the front speakers and in the center channel.  Sometimes, more in the center channel than I would like, so expect some variance throughout.  Otherwise, this is as good as these are going to look or sound.

 

Extras include deleted bonus footage for almost every program on the set, also in HD and looking good, though they usually only come with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound.  This is now the definitive set of this series, though more installments still exist for Blu-ray release, so they will hopefully follow soon.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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