Ordinary Europe

ID: HE-200

Price: 10,000 yen

Discs: 1

Sound: B-Mode / EFM

Running Time: 28 minutes

Released: Pioneer

Basically a scenery disc showing locations throughout central and eastern Europe. Places included are Switzerland, Austria, and the French Riviera.

Hard pressed, but basically the best picture I’ve seen on the MUSE Hi-Vision format. The picture is razor sharp and all the shots have a lot of visible details. Colors are very well saturated without being overdone (and bleeding) while shadow detail is very revealing. Most of the shots are outdoors in varying lighting mostly in bright sunlight, but occasionally in overcast scenes. Nevertheless, well done and I’m sure that with the date it was recorded, used the latest and greatest HDVS camera systems.

Compression artifacts are basically absent. I’d have to do a frame by frame to find visible flaws, and even then I’d be hard pressed to find any. A disc that is well done.

Sound is very well done and revealing. There is the typical jolly background music in many of the scenes, while occasionally a slower classical sound is present in indoor shots. There are also some scenes with Yodelers in the Swiss Alps, along with a band and a singing glass blower. Sound is very warm and natural (very common for the non-movie features) and a pleasure to listen to.

Want amazing detail of Europe and at the same time want to show off your system? Get this disc !!! It’s like being in Europe, and I can’t recommend it enough. Given the list price, it shouldn’t be expensive to buy and is a must in any Hi-Vision collection.