People have been frothing over Ultra HD TVs for a while now. Despite all of the big, beautiful picures, the biggest complaint is that there's not a lot of 4K content to be had.
Earlier this month, a company started streaming 4K content -- and it wasn't Sony. One very lucky homeowner was the first to receive a little something from ODEMAX, a streaming service designed for the RedRay Digital Home Cinema Player. First announced earlier this year, the RedRay player is currently available on Red.com, with an MSRP of $1750 and a waiting period of 2-3 weeks.
The hardware is out there, but the attached service still isn't available yet. However, one homeowner was the recipient of the very first title to stream on the ODEMAX service: The Ballad of Danko Jones. Sure, this 2012 movie doesn't have a ton of special effects, but it does have Elijah Wood, Selma Blair, Ralph Macchio, Jena Malone, and Motorhead singer Lemmy.
"We've been content creators and fearless champions of 4K since 2008 and now the mainstream has finally caught up," said Jason Diamond, co-director/co-writer of the film.
Earlier this summer, the pre-order process began for Sony's 4K Ultra HD Media Player. This box is very similar. However, it currently only works with Ultra HD TVs manufactured by Sony.
Developed by camera innovator Red.com, the RedRay player delivers 4K, 3D and HD content to the home, all via the web. According to the company, it can deliver that content at high-frame rates of 48 to 60fps. The player supports the DCI 4K spec (with a 4096-by-2160 resolution) and the Ultra HD spec (3860-by-2160). For content that you want to keep, there's an expandable 1TB hard drive.
Other features include one 1.4 HDMI output, four HDMI 1.3 outputs, and another HDMI output for 7.1 channel audio (LPCM up to 24 bit/48 KHz).
"It wasn't our goal to preempt Sony. Their system is great and there's room for us all," said Scott Poarch, president of GlobalHost, the firm that managed the ODEMAX launch."We are building the best possible experience with the best available content. It was time to take the system out for a spin and the timing just worked out right."
Poarch went on to say that this is just a sampling of what the RedRay player can do. However, the ODEMAX service is currently still in "closed beta" mode.
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