cinelife
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⭐️⭐️PATRON⭐️⭐️
Authorized Kaleidescape Dealer
I was going to wait until the official announcement from Kaleidescape to post a comment, but apparently someone else that knew about the upcoming announcement shared it with a client that then shared it with one of my clients, and that person planned to post in Forums today. His information was partially wrong so I decided to post this with as much accuracy as possible understanding that some of this info could change before the official announcement.
We all knew this day was coming. We all knew Kaleidescape was planning to move away from disc based systems, as others in the industry are doing. The Store, and the Strato and Terra products were created to make that move. The Store is doing well, as is Kaleidescape, so it is finally time to start moving away from the older disc based components. Kaleidescape isn't alone in this regard, others, including Oppo, could see discs were going away so they exited that market segment as well. New sales of Premiere components has dropped as well, in favor of the industry leading Encore components and convenience of shopping at the Kaleidescape Store. I'm sure it is a financial drag on the company to try and support both systems, and frankly given where the industry is going makes no financial sense, so this is the right move for Kaleidescape, IMO.
The Premiere line products are slowly being phased out. The end of June (next month) is a target date for dealers to order Premiere line products as they currently due. This date is not set in stone, but it is a date we all need to be aware of because after that date there is no guarantee the Premiere product you want will be available. As was pointed out to me, there is a difference between product "sales" and product "support," and Kaleidescape will continue to support Premiere products after the final product is sold. They will continue to sell replacement drives and spare parts for Premiere (the parts available to them) and Co-Star will also remain available. They will also continue Support for all "in-warranty" products throughout the warranty periods. Movie metadata support and KEAOS updates will continue as usual, but support for CD metadata will be discontinued at some point. Premiere servers will continue to receive the usual functional updates as well.
All of that said, the time has come. It's time to move to the future, and the future is digital content. This is obviously the right move for the company, and all Kaleidescape stakeholders (including us). Kaleidescape is doing well, and continues to lead the industry with the best UHD/HDR components in the market, and I expect things will only get better as we go forward. I encourage all Premiere owners to consider upgrading their Premiere components to the Strato/Terra line while that opportunity still exists, or at a minimum, these owners should consider upgrading an older Server (1U, 3U, or 5U) to the much newer 1U+ because doing so guarantees you up to 5 more years of support for your disc based content (assuming you extend the standard 3 year warranty by 2 years). Check with your dealer for details, and if you don't have a dealer and need support to make the move, contact me and I'll help, or alternatively, contact Kaleidescape Sales directly.
It's a great company, with incredible people, and I expect it to continue its industry leading model well into the future.
Jim
We all knew this day was coming. We all knew Kaleidescape was planning to move away from disc based systems, as others in the industry are doing. The Store, and the Strato and Terra products were created to make that move. The Store is doing well, as is Kaleidescape, so it is finally time to start moving away from the older disc based components. Kaleidescape isn't alone in this regard, others, including Oppo, could see discs were going away so they exited that market segment as well. New sales of Premiere components has dropped as well, in favor of the industry leading Encore components and convenience of shopping at the Kaleidescape Store. I'm sure it is a financial drag on the company to try and support both systems, and frankly given where the industry is going makes no financial sense, so this is the right move for Kaleidescape, IMO.
The Premiere line products are slowly being phased out. The end of June (next month) is a target date for dealers to order Premiere line products as they currently due. This date is not set in stone, but it is a date we all need to be aware of because after that date there is no guarantee the Premiere product you want will be available. As was pointed out to me, there is a difference between product "sales" and product "support," and Kaleidescape will continue to support Premiere products after the final product is sold. They will continue to sell replacement drives and spare parts for Premiere (the parts available to them) and Co-Star will also remain available. They will also continue Support for all "in-warranty" products throughout the warranty periods. Movie metadata support and KEAOS updates will continue as usual, but support for CD metadata will be discontinued at some point. Premiere servers will continue to receive the usual functional updates as well.
All of that said, the time has come. It's time to move to the future, and the future is digital content. This is obviously the right move for the company, and all Kaleidescape stakeholders (including us). Kaleidescape is doing well, and continues to lead the industry with the best UHD/HDR components in the market, and I expect things will only get better as we go forward. I encourage all Premiere owners to consider upgrading their Premiere components to the Strato/Terra line while that opportunity still exists, or at a minimum, these owners should consider upgrading an older Server (1U, 3U, or 5U) to the much newer 1U+ because doing so guarantees you up to 5 more years of support for your disc based content (assuming you extend the standard 3 year warranty by 2 years). Check with your dealer for details, and if you don't have a dealer and need support to make the move, contact me and I'll help, or alternatively, contact Kaleidescape Sales directly.
It's a great company, with incredible people, and I expect it to continue its industry leading model well into the future.
Jim