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New UHD Kaleidescape hardware

HiFiGuy1 said:
Well said. If everything I have on my server were available as a digital copy on the Store, I wouldn't be quite as frustrated, but as it stands, even if I were on board with the new path, and willing to drop the money to replace all my hardware and go with basically a download-only strategy, I can't do it because of the number of studios and titles that are still missing in the Store. I only have a 1U, so I can't imagine extrapolating that for guys that have one or more 3U servers.
Click to expand...

As people pointed out in the other big thread, though, there are a lot of owners who have a lot of content that won't ever be in the store (and isn't on iTunes or the other major services). So having "all" major studios STILL doesn't really fix this problem.

What fixes it is a player that can play from both systems (or even better, the ability to host 4K content on Premiere and a new player that can do it all). I'm holding out hope that kind of solution happens.

K is slow. They don't communicate much. But they haven't let us down before, either. I think there's still hope they won't here. The nice thing is we're getting our panties in a bunch over 4K when there's hardly any 4K content to be had, and no great 4K theater experience to be had, either (I mean relatively affordable but BIG screens). Yeah, that stuff is coming, but there's plenty of time for K to skin this cat.


--Donnie
 
Wait- wait a sec- What about Crestron! Could a Crestron control system pull titles from both systems in to one interface?
 
Or what about the Kaleidescape iPad app? Couldn't it aggregate media collections seamlessly between a premiere and an Encore system with some added IP control input switching?
 
Transepoch said:
Aren't both the Alto and Strato part of the Encore-line, and thus able to see content on the other?
Click to expand...

This is correct with the caveat that Alto will not display any 4K Ultra HD titles that are downloaded to the Strato.
 
iansilv said:
Or what about the Kaleidescape iPad app? Couldn't it aggregate media collections seamlessly between a premiere and an Encore system with some added IP control input switching?
Click to expand...

Now THAT is an interesting idea.

John
 
iansilv said:
Or what about the Kaleidescape iPad app? Couldn't it aggregate media collections seamlessly between a premiere and an Encore system with some added IP control input switching?
Click to expand...

Yes. I'd still like to see *either* the Encore or the Premiere OSD integrate both as well.

That said, the only way the K-app integrating both would help is if you ALSO have a high level system behind it. While the app could tell you which system has which movie, the app, in and of itself, can't switch inputs on your system. The most you can hope for (at least in K's current paradigm) would be for the K system to publish a request that a certain system is planning to play a movie. You'd have to have a back end system listening for such requests to then know how to switch your system properly.

That can easily be done with any of the bigger advanced systems like Crestron, and can also be done by lesser systems like Indigo. But it requires *some* kind of control system with a full-time middleman server, not just an app-based system.

MOST people who want that functionality can handle that. I'm just pointing out that it's not a problem solved JUST with an app update. Gets a lot of the way there, but not fully.

And yes, Crestron users could probably do enough two-way comm with both Encore and Premiere systems (assuming Encore comes with the same kind of network interface Premiere has...I have no idea, but assume it does) that you could have a custom Crestron interface that could also do this. It would be a fairly big undertaking on the Crestron programming side and would never be as clean or as nice as the K-app, I don't think. Not that I care, because Crestron is way too expensive for what you get, IMHO, and I dumped it a few years ago. *shrug*


--Donnie
 
I just don't understand why Kaleidescape couldn't build a replacement for the M300 that could talk to both types of servers, provide an integrated UI, and then play movies from either one, as desired. My only conclusion is that Kaleidescape doesn't want to do this and wants the Premiere line to slowly go away. It's honestly difficult to feel loyalty to a company that treats its customers this way.
 
This has already been explained in several places, short answer is 4K security required by the Studios, NOT KALEIDESCAPE. There are other factors as well, but most of the issues stem from 4K security.

People can continue to attribute these restrictions to K, when current information indicates it is the Studio's, but to further ascribe negative motives to K's actions (getting rid of Premiere) is just wrong. I politely suggest additional reading on this subject.



Jim
 
Perhaps its not a question of want but a question of limited resources plus priorities. Maybe the priority is get the 4K system out and running. Then they can come back and address some of these short comings. This is just my speculation. It's not something I KNOW.

My hope is they will eventually allow the new player to access the Premiere servers.
 
The security on the Premier server is not as secure as the movie studios require for housing their 4K content. Some of the security that Kaleidescape does with software, the studios require to be done in hardware which is harder to hack.

To adjust the servers would require shipping them back to Kaleidescape and changing hardware in them - not a cheap and easy fix and not something that can be done via remote download.

The only part of this I don't understand is why the Encore player cannot read data from a Premier server.
 
Exactly. I wouldn't mind having to add an additional server for the UHD content, as well as a new player that could talk to both servers. But Kaleidescape isn't even giving us that option.
 
Mr.Poindexter said:
The security on the Premier server is not as secure as the movie studios require for housing their 4K content. Some of the security that Kaleidescape does with software, the studios require to be done in hardware which is harder to hack.

To adjust the servers would require shipping them back to Kaleidescape and changing hardware in them - not a cheap and easy fix and not something that can be done via remote download.

The only part of this I don't understand is why the Encore player cannot read data from a Premier server.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned, I talked about this specifically with the K booth rep at CEDIA, and I don't honestly know his position in the company if any, but he was direct and adamant about the fact that this exact thing CANNOT be done. If it were as easy as a new board in the K Premiere servers, I would think they would say "it's not out yet, but a solution is coming" instead of "it will never be able to happen". You're right about it being a hardware issue.

The question in your last sentence is likely due to the chip needed in any server to provide the requisite security for the new UHD content. The player has the necessary chip, and the Premiere server doesn't.
 
Maybe it is impossible. Maybe it isn't. Reps at shows often have to adhere to a script but given K being a smaller company its very possible that's the case. I'm with Mr. Poindexter in hoping they will make it so you can at least access content on the Premiere servers. I don't see why not. In thinking about this it could simply be the people involved with regulating 4K are just being difficult. Maybe they are steamed over things that happened in prior interactions or maybe I'm totally off base. Who knows. I do know the issue here isn't really technology. So its got to be something else.
 
I understand the Strato player has the chip and the Terra server will but the Premier server doesn't, but are we saying the Strato cannot play anything from an unsecure source? The DV-700 does not have the chip but can be a source for the Strato. I don't see why the Strato couldn't read Blu-ray content from the Premier.
 
Mr.Poindexter said:
I understand the Strato player has the chip and the Terra server will but the Premier server doesn't, but are we saying the Strato cannot play anything from an unsecure source? The DV-700 does not have the chip but can be a source for the Strato. I don't see why the Strato couldn't read Blu-ray content from the Premier.
Click to expand...

Based on what I saw at the show, the DV700 and the Disc Server are different, though they look physically identical at a glance. I am guessing here, but the differences might indeed include a chipset to allow them to talk with each other. That might explain part of the additional $1k of the Disc Server's price tag. I hope so! Otherwise, not sure about the price disparity.

Look, to be clear for everyone, I am not thinking the "sky is falling" and I do think K can solve the technical hurdles, but I also understand it might not be cost effective to do so, and that's how "it can't be done" is taken by me. With a sufficient amount of money, almost any technical hurdle can be cleared with relative ease, right? It just has to make sense from a business perspective. The last thing I want to happen is for K to make a "popular" decision that compromises their long-term viability as a company.
 
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The price difference is because they have not yet raised the price of the DV700.
 
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