When it comes to picture and sound quality for movie viewing at home, you can't get much better than Blu-ray Disc. Full HD 1080p video resolution, minimal video artifacts and rich uncompressed 7.1 channel surround sound combine to create a theatrical experience at home that streaming video services just can't match. But in this age of convenience and short attention spans, who has the time to actually peruse a collection of discs on a shelf, select a title and then wait for the movie to load?
Kaleidescape has offered an alternative home theater solution for those who appreciate the quality and value-added content of DVD and Blu-ray Disc, but prefer the convenience and instant access of digital copies. The company's media servers have graced the homes, vacation homes, and even yachts of the well-to-do for over ten years. The concept is simple: load complete DVDs and Blu-ray Discs (along with all menus, soundtracks, audio options and bonus features) onto a server for instant access, without sacrificing any image or sound quality. The finishing touch? A robust graphically driven user interface that allows viewers to browse through or search their movie libraries for films featuring specific actors, directors or genres.
Sounds great, right? The catch? An exceedingly high price of admission. Kaleidescape systems typically start at about $15,000. But that changes with Kaleidescape's new Cinema One. The Kaleidescape Cinema One is a media server and player in one, with a retail price of $3,995. The Cinema One holds up to 100 Blu-ray movies (or 600 DVDs) on its local hard drive. It can be mated with a second Cinema One unit for double the capacity (200 Blu-ray Discs/1200 DVDs). And if even that is not enough space, you can add in one or more DV700 Disc Vaults for virtually unlimited networked storage.
The Cinema One also supports Kaleidescape's new online store, Kaleidescape Store, delivering SD or HD quality movies via broadband internet. Titles purchased via the online store also come with bonus content normally only found on physical disc. Kaleidescape has faced repeated legal challenges from the studios who claim that the DVD copying scheme used by Kaleidescape infringes on copyright law. However, an injunction ordered by a California court against the sale of certain Kaleidescape products which was to go into effect in April of 2012 was granted an eleventh hour stay. This allowed the company to continue selling both its DVD and Blu-ray-based media server products.
Because the system is fully digital, with all content stored on local or networked hard drives, you can bookmark your favorite cinematic or TV moments and access them virtually instantly from a simple online menu. This sure beats finding your disc on a shelf, skipping through previews and fast forwarding just to find Chief Brody say, "You're gonna need a bigger boat" or to find Indy describing how much he hates snakes. Click a link, play your favorite scene. It's that simple.
The Cinema One system comes with a remote control, but can also be operated via an iOS app, or via control systems from Crestron, AMX, Control4, Savant and others.
The Kaleidescape Cinema One is available now from Best Buy's Magnolia stores as well as current Kaleidescape dealers and custom installers.
More Information:
