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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
DVD Birdcage (2002)

DVD Birdcage (2002)

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Released 9-Sep-2002

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Screensaver Main Menu Audio
Featurette-Making Of
Gallery-Meet The Cast
Gallery-Scrap Book
Trailer-DVD Fireplace; DVD Aquarium
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 999:99
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Mark Denning
Studio
Distributor

Holborne Australasia
Starring None Given
Case Click
RPI $29.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio Unknown Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    It's now been over a year since I reviewed the second in the screensaver series of discs from DVD Productions, that being DVD Fireplace. This title followed on from the equally quirky DVD Aquarium. I've suitably recovered from that experience and I am willingly able to tackle the third disc in the series DVD Birdcage. If you have read either of the reviews of the other discs, and have any common sense at all, you should quite easily be able to work out what this disc is all about, without me having to explain it.

    This one is about birds of course. Like the fireplace disc, it is effectively a screensaver for your computer or a disc that you put on in the background at a dinner party (yeah...I can just hear you all saying "he must have really entertaining parties"). It's not the sort of thing you'd sit and watch for hours, but then again...

    There are a choice of four birdcages to watch. Each one runs for twenty minutes exactly before looping back to the beginning. There is a brief layer-change-like pause at the twenty minute mark when they restart. The first cage to select is one containing Singing Canaries, which feature four brightly coloured canaries sitting on a couple of perches in a cage. They bounce around a bit and tweet and chirp as you would expect birds to do. Next up is Canaries in Widescreen, which has six birds in what looks like the same cage, but this time in a 16x9 enhanced 1.78:1 widescreen cage (see the note about this cage in the video transfer section). Next up are the Finches. These are very nice multicoloured birds (six of them) that also bounce around and chirp and tweet. Finally you can select the Colourful Parrots. Five very colourful parrots that also do the chirping and the tweeting bit. If all the bird sounds get a bit too much or they are driving the cat absolutely bonkers, you can switch the soundtrack to a very pleasant classical music piece instead.

    My wife preferred this one to the fireplace disc. She said it was a much more pleasant sound and there was no smoke to make her eyes sting. I guess I should go and buy her an aviary.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Once again, the usual in depth analysis that we pride ourselves on here, seems a little bit like overkill for this type of title, but I guess that's what we're not paid to do!

    The birdcage is presented in two aspect ratios: 1.33:1 and 1.78:1. The Canaries in Widescreen is in the latter aspect and is 16x9 enhanced. A word of warning though - it does not appear to have been encoded properly as my TV failed to identify it as widescreen and did not automatically switch to 16x9 mode.

    Sharpness is adequate for the source. There is no edge enhancement or any other nasties. There are no problems with shadow detail and there is no low level noise.

    The birds are quite colourful and come across quite nicely. There are no real major problems with the colours, aside from a minor case of bleeding associated with the bright red canaries.

    There are no MPEG or video artefacts present.

    Since the birds don't talk how the heck can there be any subtitles!

    It's a single layer disc, so there isn't a layer change.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Each birdcage comes with a choice of two soundtracks. You can have the real bird sounds (tweet, chirp, tweet, you get the idea), or a classical melody playing instead. They are both presented in the Dolby Digital 2.0 format.

    Since the birds don't talk (now there's an idea, why couldn't a talking cocky have been included). There is obviously no dialogue and there are no audio sync problems.

    The music is pleasant if unremarkable, but the birds do become a little repetitive and annoying after several minutes. I recommend switching between the two.

    Obviously there is no surround or sub use.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Main Menu Audio

Featurette-Making Of

    There's no timecode information on this featurette, but it runs for approximately 4:30 minutes. A real tongue-in-cheek making of featurette (much like the one featured on DVD Fireplace), with all the crew discussing their role in bringing the birds to life. Presented full screen 1.33:1. A bit of fun.

Gallery - Meet the Cast

    A one page (static) gallery showing the various types of birds that took part in the making of the disc. If you consider yourself a bit of an ornithologist, you'll already know the differences between Scarlet Chested and Yellow Parrots, and Bengalese and Gouldian Finches.

Gallery - Scrapbook

    Eight photos that show some of the behind the scenes activity that occurred during the making of the disc. The is a brief sentence next to each explaining what was happening. Full screen 1.33:1 is the aspect ratio, though the photos are considerably smaller than a full screen.

Trailer

    Trailers for both of the previous releases DVD Aquarium and DVD Fireplace.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This is a multi-region disc catering for all six regions. It is fair to assume that it identical in all respects around the world.

Summary

    DVD Birdcage is the third in the series from DVD Productions, following on from the quirky DVD Aquarium and DVD Fireplace. It's different, that's for sure. I can well imagine it finding it's niche in a petshop or something similar. I'm not sure of the use at home. What's next I wonder? DVD Antfarm, DVD Termite Mound? The mind boggles.

    The video is fine for the task at hand. The audio likewise.

    The extras are light and brief.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Darren Walters (It's . . . just the vibe . . . of my bio)
Sunday, September 15, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDLoewe Xemix 5006DD, using RGB output
DisplayLoewe Calida (84cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationHarmon/Kardon AVR7000.
SpeakersFront - B&W 602S2, Centre - B&W CC6S2, Rear - B&W 601S2, Sub - Energy E:xl S10

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