NEWS: Two New Kaleidescape Players announced!

[josh]

New Kaleidescape Movie Players Produce Stunning Video Quality from Ordinary DVDs, Provide Viewing Experience That Rivals Blu-ray​

1080p Player and 1080p Mini Player Expand Kaleidescape?s Reach in Home Entertainment​

SUNNYVALE, CA, June 18, 2008 - Kaleidescape, Inc., the market leader in entertainment servers, today introduced the 1080p Player and 1080p Mini Player ? two Movie Players that produce stunning video quality from ordinary DVDs, providing a viewing experience that rivals Blu-ray. The new family of Players makes it possible to enjoy the Kaleidescape Experience even with DVDs and CDs that have not been imported into a Kaleidescape System, and a new form factor makes it possible to place a 1080p Mini Player anywhere in the home.

The 1080p Player is designed as a 1U rack mount device, and includes a DVD/CD-ROM drive for import and direct playback of DVDs and CDs. The 1080p Mini Player offers the video and audio performance of the 1080p Player, in a smaller package with a lower price. It is ideal for inconspicuous installation in viewing rooms where owners desire that A/V equipment be hidden.

?These new Players have achieved our goal of producing beautiful high definition video from the DVDs that we?ve all been collecting for years,? said Michael Malcolm, Kaleidescape founder, chairman and CEO. ?The new 1080p Players leverage Kaleidescape?s extensive Movie Guide database to make the viewing experience even more entertaining. Our patent-pending video bookmarking changes the way rental movies are enjoyed ? no more annoying trailers, advertisements and DVD menus. And the compact 1080p Mini Player saves valuable space so customers can enjoy their movies and music in more locations throughout the home.?

?The new Kaleidescape Movie Player produces the best quality video I have ever seen from any source device,? said David Raife, owner of Paragon Technology Group with offices in Aspen, Vail and Steamboat Springs, Colorado. ?It makes DVDs look absolutely beautiful.?

[FONT=&quot]Features and Benefits of the New 1080p Players[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]1080p Video Output[/FONT][FONT=&quot] ? The 1080p Movie Player upscales ordinary DVD content to beautiful high definition video, matching the highest resolution of today?s display devices without the added cost and complexity of an external scaler. Crystal clear video and amazingly accurate colors provide a viewing experience rivaling that of Blu-ray.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Content-Aware Video Processing[/FONT][FONT=&quot] ? The 1080p Movie Player adapts its video processing to the type of content being viewed to achieve results that are impossible for an external scaler. For example, the onscreen display (OSD) with its sharp edges and high contrast is processed differently than movies, which contain motion and natural colors. Information in Kaleidescape?s extensive Movie Guide database is also used to tailor the viewing experience, for example, to automatically detect and expand movies to fill a 16:9 display without any user intervention.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Advanced DVD and CD Playback Features[/FONT][FONT=&quot] ? The Kaleidescape Experience is now available for DVDs and CDs that have not been imported. The user may insert a disc into a 1080p Player and enjoy detailed information about the movie or album, including cover art, movie synopsis, album review, and track names. Selecting ?Play Movie? on the OSD starts the movie instantly, without trailers or advertisements ? even for rental movies! These features combine to make the 1080p Player the ultimate DVD/CD player. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Full Import Control[/FONT][FONT=&quot] ? The 1080p Player prevents accidental imports of DVDs and CDs for less worrisome enjoyment of borrowed or rented movies. The import process is only initiated with a press of the Import button on the front panel, or by selecting ?Import DVD? or ?Import CD? on the OSD.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Small Size and Near-Silent Operation[/FONT][FONT=&quot] ? The 1080p Mini Player?s small size and near-silent operation make it an ideal free-standing device sitting on a shelf in the viewing room, hidden behind a plasma display, concealed in a cabinet, or mounted recessed in a wall or behind a piece of furniture.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Installed in the viewing room and connected to a Kaleidescape Server via Ethernet, the 1080p Mini Player allows for 1080p video quality in more locations throughout the home.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Myriad Installation Options[/FONT][FONT=&quot] ? The 1080p Mini Player includes a mounting bracket, making it quick to attach to any surface. Its mounting options allow for inconspicuous installation in a viewing room where the ability to import or play directly from DVDs and CDs is unnecessary. An optional rack-mount kit secures two 1080p Mini Players in a 1U shelf, doubling the rack density of the 1080p Player.[/FONT]

Availability
The 1080p Player is available now, and the 1080p Mini Player will be available in the second half of July, 2008. For more information, contact Kaleidescape at (888) 352-5343 or (650) 625-6150, email sales@kaleidescape.com, or visit www.kaleidescape.com.

About Kaleidescape
The Kaleidescape System redefines home entertainment by transforming the way movies and music are collected, managed and enjoyed throughout the home or yacht. The Kaleidescape System combines a compelling interface, outstanding industrial design, and services that set new standards in the consumer electronics industry. Kaleidescape, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is privately held. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with research and development conducted by Kaleidescape Canada, Inc., based in Waterloo, Ontario. Kaleidescape products are available through a worldwide network of custom-installation dealers and distributors. For more information, contact Kaleidescape at (888) 352-5343 or (650) 625-6150, email us at sales@kaleidescape.com, or visit www.kaleidescape.com.

###​

? 2008 Kaleidescape, Inc. All rights reserved. Kaleidescape and the Kaleidescape logo are trademarks of Kaleidescape, Inc.; they are registered in the United States and certain other jurisdictions. Other trademarks and trade names are owned by third parties and may be registered in some jurisdictions.

 

[josh]

Datasheets for the new Players

Here are the Datasheets for the two new players. (Adobe PDF)

• Kaleidescape 1080p Player (KPLAYER-6000)
• Kaleidescape 1080p Mini Player (KPLAYER-300)

 

[carajo]

This is good news.

I think its great that they have the new mini's to go behind the plasmas.

The only thing I missed here was what about importing of the 1080P movies? So as of now with the new players we can upscale. our existing DVD collection to 1080p but not play 1080p DVD's? or did I not read that right. THey even mention rentals and import in the same paragraph! I only have the older players without dvd drives so I cant watch a dvd right now which I sometimes would need. Do the existing players show cover art and movie info when just viewing the movie without importing? If not than this is a good new thing.

 

[AnOutsider]

Hmmm... I dunno. Firstly, I like the fact that I can pop a movie into the player and walk away, knowing whether or not my projector is on and I click import, it's going to import it anyway.

Second, upscaling is great, but I thought the next gen would at least PLAYBACK blu-ray. Perhaps the hardware is there in preparation?

Viewing the kscape info for a dvd or cd without importing is cool, but I don't rent anyways (can you even rent music cds??). In any case, not too excited about this.

 

[MrCaseyB]

Do the existing players show cover art and movie info when just viewing the movie without importing?

The previous generation Movie Player 2 (KPlayer 5000) always supported direct playback without having to import the disc. The next version of KEAOS mentioned in the press release greatly improves the direct playback experience, providing cover art, full meta data and bookmarks to skip warnings, coming attractions, etc. These enhancements to direct playback will be available on the new players and the older KPlayer 5000.

By the way, the picture quality on the new players is truly spectacular, If Secrets of Home Theater and HiFi were to benchmark it, it *may* surpass the Denon 5910 as top dog DVD player.

 

[cinelife]

This is good news.

I think its great that they have the new mini's to go behind the plasmas.

The only thing I missed here was what about importing of the 1080P movies? So as of now with the new players we can upscale. our existing DVD collection to 1080p but not play 1080p DVD's? or did I not read that right. THey even mention rentals and import in the same paragraph! I only have the older players without dvd drives so I cant watch a dvd right now which I sometimes would need. Do the existing players show cover art and movie info when just viewing the movie without importing? If not than this is a good new thing.

The new players WILL NOT support BR playback, not now, and not going forward (unless they change the player hardware, which is not planned). The players were designed to bring 1080p, better processing, and installation flexibility to the K System.

As already mentioned by Casey, the processing in the new players is excellent and is apparently a noticeable improvement on the current player. (I have not personally seen the new player, so I'm reporting comments from others that have seen it at K).

Jim

 

[MrCaseyB]

the processing in the new players is excellent and is apparently a noticeable improvement on the current player. (I have not personally seen the new player, so I'm reporting comments from others that have seen it at K).

Jim

I enjoyed the thorough shootout you had with the KPlayer, the Crystalio, the HD -DVD player etc.. Any chance you will be doing a similar comparison with the new 1080p KPlayer?

 

[TivoSloth]

Here's a review of the two new players in Sound & Vision.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/me...k-kaleidescape-1080p-player-kplayer-6000.html

 

[cinelife]

I enjoyed the thorough shootout you had with the KPlayer, the Crystalio, the HD -DVD player etc.. Any chance you will be doing a similar comparison with the new 1080p KPlayer?

I have to admit to being curious about the new level of performance and would be happy to run some A/B's with gear I have here.

Jim

 

[iansilv]

uhh... right.

So they devoted resources to this that will not playback bluray content? That scares me- sounds like the writing on the wall is that bluray won't be coming after all...

 

[DigitalStudioWerks]

uhh... right.

So they devoted resources to this that will not playback bluray content? That scares me- sounds like the writing on the wall is that bluray won't be coming after all...

Geezsh, people sure jump to conclusions based on what? Nothing. Kaleidescape announced 2 players BOTH support 1080P and the only thing mentioned bout Blu-Ray was that that "it rivals Blu-Ray."

As far as Blu-Ray support Kaleidescape said it will be supported in LATE 2009 which is still MORE than a year away. We are barely in the middle of 2008.

Also we do not even know how Kaleidescape is going to integrate BluRay. First, we do know that BluRay is 1080P so Kaleidescape HAS to have a 1080P player. Hence yesterday's release.

Second, Kaleidescape MAY be integrating BluRay in such a way that when it is supported you may need only 1 BluRay player for importing purposes and if you have the new 1080P players you can playback BluRay movies.

Kaleidescape has had a great track record of getting out software updates and hardware upgrades. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[iansilv]

Oh I do- I definately do give them the benefit of the doubt. I am just worried...

 

[ptrubey]

My guess is that they will need another round of hardward to be able to play Blu-ray. These players just won't be able to do it. With these players, K has caught up to state of the art DVD playback of about 6-9 months ago, which is fairly normal timing for a relatively low volume speciality manufacturer.

Anyone know MSRP?

 

[DigitalStudioWerks]

Anyone know MSRP?

Kaleidescape 1080p Player $4,295
Kaleidescape 1080p Mini Player $2,995

 

[ptrubey]

Just got the info from the S&V magazine article:

"The new 1080p Player is available now at a suggested price of $4,295, and will replace the Movie Player 2 as the de facto Kaleidescape player. The 1080p Mini Player will be available at the end of July for $2,995. "

Glad to see they aren't going to cave in and actually release an affordable player

 

[Elliot]

Question i have is do all the menus now run at 1080p?

As on the old players they were 576p max... hence the players constantly caused projectors / plasmas to change res in and out of films etc.

 

[cinelife]

My guess is that they will need another round of hardward to be able to play Blu-ray. These players just won't be able to do it. With these players, K has caught up to state of the art DVD playback of about 6-9 months ago, which is fairly normal timing for a relatively low volume speciality manufacturer.

This is exactly correct. It has been made VERY clear to me that these new players WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SUPPORT BR playback. To hope, speculate, or expect otherwise is not going to change the fact the these current players are not capable (hardware limitations), and WILL NOT be capable (through software) of BR playback.

The only way that can ever change is to redesign the player's hardware, which IS NOT planned, and according to at least one very reliable person at K, is not going to happen.

If you want to argue that these players SHOULD have been designed to allow for BR playback, then fine, that argument can certainly be made. However, creating false hopes, or expectations, by using/posting language that implies that K may/will "fix" this issue is just wrong. In K's view there is nothing to "fix."

Also, to link the release of these players with K's BR implementation is ridiculous. They were/are separate projects at K, and BR is still being worked on and is planned for next year as already stated by K. Nothing has changed in this regard.

Jim

 

[Croptop]

Question i have is do all the menus now run at 1080p?

Yes.

 

[jmdls]

New players

Hello, everyone! New to the forum. My name is John Sciacca and I've been a huge K-scape fan for a while. I write for Sound & Vision, and recently had the privilege of reviewing the new 1080p player. The review is posted at www.soundandvisionmag.com. I thought I would comment about the video quality of the new players from personal experience. The cover art screens are definitely in 1080p and look WAY sharper. I went back and forth between the new and Movie Player 2 screens on a 60-inch 1080p Pioneer Elite Plasma and the new player was stunningly better looking. The scaling of the new player is way better, however your performance on movies may vary depending on the quality level of the scaler in your video device currently. For instance, the Movie Player 2 set to 1080i vs. the 1080p player looked very similar since the Elite plasma has such a good scaler built in. The new player does have some great sharpness enhancement that really brings out a lot of detail, but that can be at the expense of some noise is other areas of the image. All in all, I think the 1080p player is a great deal at $300 more than the Player 2. However, I wouldn't feel the need to rush out and trade-in my Player 2 unless K-scape offered a decent incentive. The half-sized player will be great for bringing the overall system price down for people who don't need local playback and importing, so that is good news. As someone else speculated, perhaps the 1080p player will be the backbone for future Blu-ray support, however it definitely WILL NOT play Blu-rays. I put one in just to see and it spit it right out.
Anyhow, great forum and thanks to everyone who posted favorite scene clips. Is there a place on the forum for downloading cool scripts?
John Sciacca

 

[cinelife]

Hello, everyone! New to the forum. My name is John Sciacca and I've been a huge K-scape fan for a while. I write for Sound & Vision, and recently had the privilege of reviewing the new 1080p player. The review is posted at www.soundandvisionmag.com. I thought I would comment about the video quality of the new players from personal experience. The cover art screens are definitely in 1080p and look WAY sharper. I went back and forth between the new and Movie Player 2 screens on a 60-inch 1080p Pioneer Elite Plasma and the new player was stunningly better looking. The scaling of the new player is way better, however your performance on movies may vary depending on the quality level of the scaler in your video device currently. For instance, the Movie Player 2 set to 1080i vs. the 1080p player looked very similar since the Elite plasma has such a good scaler built in. The new player does have some great sharpness enhancement that really brings out a lot of detail, but that can be at the expense of some noise is other areas of the image. All in all, I think the 1080p player is a great deal at $300 more than the Player 2. However, I wouldn't feel the need to rush out and trade-in my Player 2 unless K-scape offered a decent incentive. The half-sized player will be great for bringing the overall system price down for people who don't need local playback and importing, so that is good news. As someone else speculated, perhaps the 1080p player will be the backbone for future Blu-ray support, however it definitely WILL NOT play Blu-rays. I put one in just to see and it spit it right out.
Anyhow, great forum and thanks to everyone who posted favorite scene clips. Is there a place on the forum for downloading cool scripts?
John Sciacca

First, WELCOME to the forum!

Thanks for taking the time to post your comments (Nice mag write-up BTW).

The script info you asked about is located on the forum's main page at the bottom of the "General" category.

Jim