Disc to digital question

[MovieChef]

For Strato owners or soon to be owners, is the cheapest way to get disc to digital offers to find a used M500 and use it to catalog blu-rays?

 

[cinelife]

You cannot catalog with only an M500, that Player would need to be attached to a Premiere server. Look for an "Alto" or "Cinema One" (2nd Gen) as the least expensive way to Catalog your discs.

Jim

 

[SJHT]

I know we all have said it, but K needs an improved process besides passing around Altos. This is 2022!

 

[cinelife]

I decided to buy the Altos I use to help folks catalog, but K was (is) also providing some Altos for use by dealers to help clients catalog as well.

I realize the point being made is that there should be a better way to catalog, but what would that be? (Seriously) What process should be used to prove ownership of a disc to the satisfaction of the content owners (Studios, etc.)? You'd need a way to identify the content, verify ownership attached to a specific system, and add that data to a particular Store account. If not using a device (Alto, C1, Premiere system, Vault) how would that be done? What would be the financial burden on the company, versus the expected benefit, to create the process (this is just a reality check comment to keep the suggestions realistic)? Not being sarcastic here, if anyone has a realistic alternative that also makes financial sense from a business perspective, please share it.

Being the person that has been keeping up with a list of folks borrowing an Alto, and ensuring it gets to the next in line, and having lost a couple of Altos in the process, and receiving emails from some members that frankly have been a bit rude ("where's the Alto?" "I've been waiting on the list for several months. is it ever coming," etc.), if there's a better solution I'd like to hear it!

Jim

 

[SJHT]

I think it has been mentioned that VUDU uses a phone app to do this with a limit of 100 conversions per year. You just scan bluray/dvd bar codes. It uses GPS, so you have to do this at home. Something like this would at least be a good start for folks. K might be able to change the yearly limit and maybe just have this as part of their mobile app. Also, someone mentioned plugging a bluray drive into the unused USB port on the Strato. Who knows is this could work, but purchasing a cheap drive to do this would be less cost than an Alto. K would have to make changes to support this is even possible. The service you and other dealers do is fantastic, but maybe could be augmented with other options.

 

[cinelife]

Sounds reasonable to me! I like the bar code idea. As you know we used a version of disc ID (UPC) when we were shopping for movies at local retailers to remind us what movies we already owned. A different process, but the system had some element of disc ID involved. The BR drive is also a reasonable solution.

I guess it would come down to man hours dedicated to creating the necessary support for those ideas, and the benefit to the company by creating the service.

Thanks for the post!

Jim

 

[Dew1551]

Sounds reasonable to me! I like the bar code idea. As you know we used a version of disc ID (UPC) when we were shopping for movies at local retailers to remind us what movies we already owned. A different process, but the system had some element of disc ID involved. The BR drive is also a reasonable solution.

I guess it would come down to man hours dedicated to creating the necessary support for those ideas, and the benefit to the company by creating the service.

Thanks for the post!

Jim

Thanks for your efforts to help new customers get their old movies that they own into the K eco system! i am new K owner and this option plus the new strato and terra offerings are what brought me to the K community! i used a loaner from my dealer but was aware of your efforts. strong community participation also attracted me to finally bite the bullet and spring for “the best system” without this and the K store for downloading i would not have purchased my system!!

 

[cinelife]

Welcome! (and thank you for the comments)

Have fun!

Jim

 

[Transepoch]

The added benefit of a drive is that it could be used to validate with UHDs. Paramount has already started separating their releases, so you're no longer guaranteed to receive a second disc in the box, and the further we get into the 4k era other studios are more likely to follow suit.

 

[superpoppa]

I decided to buy the Altos I use to help folks catalog, but K was (is) also providing some Altos for use by dealers to help clients catalog as well.

I realize the point being made is that there should be a better way to catalog, but what would that be? (Seriously) What process should be used to prove ownership of a disc to the satisfaction of the content owners (Studios, etc.)? You'd need a way to identify the content, verify ownership attached to a specific system, and add that data to a particular Store account. If not using a device (Alto, C1, Premiere system, Vault) how would that be done? What would be the financial burden on the company, versus the expected benefit, to create the process (this is just a reality check comment to keep the suggestions realistic)? Not being sarcastic here, if anyone has a realistic alternative that also makes financial sense from a business perspective, please share it.

Being the person that has been keeping up with a list of folks borrowing an Alto, and ensuring it gets to the next in line, and having lost a couple of Altos in the process, and receiving emails from some members that frankly have been a bit rude ("where's the Alto?" "I've been waiting on the list for several months. is it ever coming," etc.), if there's a better solution I'd like to hear it!

Jim

To be honest, I think K should be doing more of what you’re doing. It’s not quite right that you’re doing the heavy lifting for the community when the company that advertises this cataloging method (pretty heavily in all their interviews) provides no easy way for customers to actually do it. Meaning access to the hardware.

I have a distributor in Canada who refuses to lend out the equipment he claims he has on loan from K and there is nothing we can do about it as a customer to a premium service. The dealer in my city said they wanted to know how many discs I was planning on cataloging to charge $5 a disc (meaning they wanted to take some money for themselves just for me inserting the disc on top of the D2D price). They eventually pulled the offer when the distributor decided not to send one out.

I like the VUDU idea but the shortest path ahead is to send out more hardware using their existing process. Even better, K loan directly to customers like Jim is doing.

I’ll continue to wait patiently Jim, sorry you’re not getting the gratitude you deserve for helping out.

 

[LFletcher]

As others have suggested there are probably only 2 viable options.

1) an app (like Vudu's) to scan the barcodes.
2) a desktop app (for pcs/macs) where you insert the disk into a drive to confirm ownership.

It's more than a little cheeky for K to publicise the disk to digital / upgrade programme as a major selling point when in reality its not open to new users. It only exists based on the goodwill of the forum and some dealers being able to offer the service. The Alto's won't last forever, so they really need to come up with a more viable option.

 

[HTRaleigh]

I totally agree that there needs to be a better process for the masses to catalog the discs they own. I borrowed an Alto from Kaleidescape when Brett Bjorkquist was still there. I'm not sure who is managing this for Kaleidescape now.

Even though I cataloged over 1200 disks and I plan to make most new purchases from Kaleidescape, there may be times where a movie on disc is not in the KScape movie store or is available for a deep discount new or in the secondary market. If I pick those up it would be nice to catalog and convert to digital without having to find and borrow another Alto.

 

[Skynet Cinema]

+1 here for a better process.

Would be great, if K could response to the mentioned proposals in this thread.

 

[HTRaleigh]

About 120 of my Bluray cataloged discs were actually for titles where I own the 4K disc. When KScape figures out how to meet customer cataloging needs better it would make sense if they would allow 4K cataloging in the future with an appropriate additional D2D discount for owning a 4K disc vs an HD disc. The longer K goes without doing this the larger 4K libraries future customers will have and that will make K less financially viable for those new customers. Without a viable D2D the entire proposition of converting the next generation of enthusiasts from Bluray players to K will be more difficult.

 

[aerialsound]

I'm a bit perplexed as why an app is not available for disc-to-digital. I was able to create barcode for our fortune 500 company's equipment management and bought a $150 light pen to scan the codes into dbase (a simple database product) running on an IBM 8088/86 processor. This all took place in 1986 or so and coding it took a day to complete/test. It is 2022 and the light pen can be replaced by your phone's camera. And then logged into the phone. The tricky part is you must figure a way to disable the app when you are in a Best Buy store or anywhere where videos are sold for obvious reasons. I think the app itself is easy but to integrate with a location could be challenging. K simply may not have the resources to pursue this.

 

[cinelife]

Even if it were possible to shutdown the App as you describe, it wouldn't matter. You can purchase 50 movies at BB, go home and scan the Bar code, then return the movies unopened and get a refund. It's unfortunate, but potential fraud is another factor in creating the requested App.

Jim

 

[SJHT]

I don’t think there are 50 movies at best buy. I’m sure there is an answer for this including an app that runs on a computer making you insert the disc. This would be the same as having for an Alto. SJ

 

[aerialsound]

Oh yeah... didn't think of that. That said, I'm sure there are some untrustworthy folks that would do that under the VUDU app as well. Let's face it, we can put locks on as many devices, doors or property items, but at the end of the day, we can't safeguard everything from dishonest people. I mean what is to stop someone from scanning his neighbors/family member's collection using a Cinema one or Alto? it is nearly impossible to stop someone, if there intent is to do harm.

 

[cinelife]

If they're using someone else's collection, as bad as that is, at least there's a real movie that has already been purchased as opposed to the buy and return method aided by using an App. I'm not opposed to an App, it's a great idea if it could actually prove ownership without assisting in fraud.

Jim

 

[superpoppa]

If they're using someone else's collection, as bad as that is, at least there's a real movie that has already been purchased as opposed to the buy and return method aided by using an App. I'm not opposed to an App, it's a great idea if it could actually prove ownership without assisting in fraud.

Jim

If fraud is the concern from a mobile app, I wonder what’s the hesitation from K to release a windows/Mac app that reads discs?