Kaleidescape Collections

[josh]

Do (did) you buy the DVD collections from Kaleidescape? I find the lists valuable to help me do some of my own buying (elsewhere), but haven't bought any Kaleidescape collections, mainly because I typically have some of the discs in the collection already and couldn't stand to have two copies of something.

Have you bought any?

If Kaleidescape people are listening (actually, i know they're lurking on these forums pretty often)... what collections would you want in the future?

My suggestions:

• Art packs - might even be in HD via transport disk. Gallery Player has some great collections for this purpose.
• Classical music - logical first CD collection they could offer, especially since the new Classical Music enhanced UI is in beta and soon to launch.
• How about something like "Ebert & Roeper's Top 10" from each of the past 10 years. (make them available separately). Maybe also offer their "top 50 all-time".
• Work with a film festival and offer their films as a collection. When I came back from Telluride Film Festival last year, I definitely would have bought the collection of the films seen there. Especially the amazing short films and foreign films I suspect we'll never get to see on DVDs in wide distribution in the u.S.

And here's a way to REALLY fix/enhance the Kscape Collections - "Automatic Collection de-dupe": Let me buy a collection, but their system would know that I already have some of the films on my server, and it could automatically delete those titles from my order. If I bought the (hypothetical) James Bond collection, the system would already see that I have 4 James Bond movies, it would delete those from my order automatically and reprice it lower without those. upon arrival, I'd have the complete collection with no duplicates. Now THAT I'd buy... and it would automatically be better for me than shopping at Amazon since it would be so easy.

I'd definitely buy "New York Times Best DVD" collection if it could automatically do this for me and ensure no duplicates!

Comments?
Suggestions?

 

[cinelife]

Great ideas! I really like the art gallery and IF suggestions. The Gallery channel on Dish HD (Voom) gets a lot of our attention, as does the IFC channel. Given K's client base, these might be good collections.

I'd also like to see a collection dedicated to the best foreign films and perhaps the best animated films (especially given the excellent releases in the past several years.)

Jim

 

[JerryL]

Josh- Great ideas. I own enough DVD movies (around 700) that I didn't feel the need to buy their collections but- I think especially in the case of the artwork this could really be a great suggestion. It could be nice to put your plasma/ LCD/ on during a party and have it display HD artwork.

I was given a HD DVD player as a holiday gift and I have to tell you- the image quality blows away DVD and is an improvement over everything I have seen in the world of MPEG-2, even the stuff that comes with the Kscape. That was my previously reference HD material. Not any more. I know it is early in the game and I don't think these formats will take hold, but boy oh boy, I would love Kscape to offer some kind of HD library, even if it was in MPEG-2 (but I have to say that I prefer VC-1). I agree with this comparison:

from: http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/worldtradecenter.html

Lastly, 'World Trade Center' offers the rare opportunity to do an immediate comparison between the HD DVD and Blu-ray versions, as they are being released simultaneously and Paramount sent us both in the same mailing for review. Despite the fact that the studio continues to use different codecs for each format -- HD DVD gets VC-1, Blu-ray goes MPEG-2 -- the image on both is very similar. My impressions are consistent with the differences I've been noticing between the two codecs. I tend to find MPEG-2 gives an image a slightly coarser, harder-edged look. Noise is a tad bit more pronounced versus VC-1, which gives off a smoother veneer. Again, though, these differences are minute enough that I suspect reactions could be different on other players and display devices. Based on 'World Trade Center' alone, I certainly wouldn't claim one codec superior over the other

I watched "The Searchers" last night on HD DVD and I was blown away by the quality. The clarity and what I call "image stability" of this VC-1 codec are really fantastic. Thats my wish for 2007- for K Scape to some how figure out how to get us HD- but if I were in their shoes I would be watching but not putting any eggs into any baskets...

 

[cinelife]

Hi Jerry,
I owned both formats and presently have Sony's BDP-S1. I'm waiting for the new Toshiba XA2 due out in a few days. Saw the new Pioneer Blu-ray in action last night and we compared Tosh's A1 and Sony's BDP-S1 along with the Pioneer. IMO the picture quality between them was very similar. As you probably already know, we are finding that many BR disks (and some HD-DVD's) were poorly transferred. A good transfer in MPEG-2, with a decent bit speed (like Kingdom of Heaven, 24 mgbts/sec) looks great, and on par with anything else out there. BTW, Warner is already releasing VC-1 titles for BR.

Your point is well taken on the PQ (and audio) of the new HD formats versus dvd, but it will likely be awhile before K moves forward given the discussion on their site (FAQ) and coupled with the fact that this is all still building and most of K's market, like much of the country I'm afraid, hasn't yet embraced HD. If they could only see it in a proper setup.....

 

[JerryL]

You are so right. The K makes sense for me as I have such a large DVD collection and I will never replace it all. But I will duplicate a few movies with their HD variants. I might adopt BR too but I figure I might as well wait for the CES announcements. Frankly, there are no titles on BR that really excite me past Kingdom of Heaven- this is a good movie that I think the box office overlooked (how typical).

 

[cinelife]

At least we have the pleasure of knowing we have a unique product that provides a wonderful home entertainment experience. It is also nice to know that K is aware of the future (HD) and stands ready to embrace it at the appropriate time.

I agree that KOH was a very good movie and it is also thought of as "reference" (PQ) in the BR community. There are many others as well. Also, Warner is about to release (over the next several months) the BR versions of the movies they already released on HD-DVD. All told, IIRC, there are over 100 new BR releases over the next two months. (probably similar numbers for HD-DVD)
The studios are also starting to release their BR/HD-DVD versions at the same time as new dvd movies. Should be an interesting year!

Jim

 

[plinck]

I would like to see more HD titles. I would defintitely buy them. The 2 titles that come with the system are incredible and I am dying to see more. I do have a HD DVD player, but after using the kscape for a while, it just seems cumbersome to use any kind of DVD player.