Peaceful Rest (1999) |
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Peaceful Rest (1999) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | New Age | Main Menu Audio | |
| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1999 | ||
| Running Time | 60:32 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | David Warth |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Tasmanian Symphony Chamber Players |
| Case | C-Button-Version 2 | ||
| RPI | $34.95 | Music | Various |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0  (224Kb/s)
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
This is one of the ABC's Soundscape Series. It is the first one I have seen, but there are others. They have no plot, no character development, just interesting visuals and accompanying classical music. I must admit that I was a little disappointed in the choice of music. An awful lot of the music here is very very familiar stuff - and I don't mean that in a positive a way, either. You will have heard a lot of it accompanying TV advertisements, for example. I found that a bit irritating, because images from the ads would pop into my head while I was watching this disc. I think I would rather they'd taken a few risks, and used slightly less familiar, slightly less clichéd, music. Perhaps a single longer piece might have been better. For the record, the music is:
That said, the music is performed well by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Chamber Players, and it does its job of providing audio wallpaper. It is mixed with quite a lot of ambient sound, including waves, rain, trickling creeks, wind, splashes, and so forth.
The visuals are good. They vary considerably, from ocean waves, to lush forest dripping, to flowing streams - there's lots of flowing water here. If flowing water induces in you a need to duck off to the toilet, then maybe you better skip this disc. There are some gorgeous shots of a platypus at the start, and plenty of other native Australian animals get their turns: a yabby, a possum, a Tasmanian devil, wallabies, a wombat, an echidna, and something I think was a quoll. There are lots of birds, too, but the real star of the show is the scenery. There is a marvellous sequence at around 47:00 which glides through a river valley, with the water absolutely still and reflecting the thick vegetation on either side - that's what I was expecting!
There were a couple of moments that surprised me: there were shots of what looked like detergent foam being washed about by ocean waves - I did not expect to see pollution in this. Then again, maybe it was a natural phenomenon; I can't say.
The video is presented in standard 1.33:1, and is not 16x9 enhanced. This programme material was made for TV, so this is understandable.
The picture is mostly sharp, with strong shadow detail and little noise. There is no edge enhancement to be seen. There are some shots which appear to be a little out of focus, but that is hard to tell, because it is not always clear what is supposed to be in focus.
Colour is solid, with strong greens, and occasional splashes of colour in flowers.
There were few visible MPEG or film artefacts, except for one interesting effect. There are a few slow vertical panning shots, and these were marred by a subtle rippling effect.
The disc is only single sided, single layer, but that's plenty, because the feature is only 60 minutes in length, and there are no extras.
| Sharpness |   |
| Shadow Detail | |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
One warning I must give you - turn the volume down before you start playing this. It has been recorded at quite a high level. I had my volume fully 10dB lower than normal, and it was still quite loud.
There was absolutely no dialogue. That means no sync problems, of course.
There is no credit for music selection or arrangement. I've made my comments about the choice of music. The players have done a fine job, and their work is spread across the front speakers - the soundtrack is quite strongly biased toward the front. The surrounds get a trace of the music, and some of the ambient sound, but they are not worked hard. The subwoofer is called upon to strengthen the bottom end for waves crashing on rocks, and strong wind, but it gets a rest a lot of the time - which is perfectly appropriate for a title called Peaceful Rest.
| Dialogue |  |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use | |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The video quality is very good, with little to criticize.
The audio quality is good.
The extras are non-existent.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras |  |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-737, using Component output |
| Display | Sony VPL-VW10HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics matte white screen with a gain of 1.0 (280cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Denon AVC-A1SE |
| Speakers | Front Left and Right: Krix Euphonix, Centre: Krix KDX-C Rears: Krix KDX-M, Subwoofer: Krix Seismix 5 |