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NEWS: Update on Kaleidescape Vault!

cinelife said:
No, that is not the plan, which is a good thing in my opinion. Nearly every DVD changer I've come across eventually had issues. Too much movement, IMO. Better to import, and forget it.


Jim
Click to expand...

Hi Jim

Now although I agree totally with you regarding reliability issues from constant use and movement, i feel that if a player is incorperated in the loader it's only fair to include the ability to play directly from disc.
I would be quite surprised if this feature wasn't included as it would only be a software issue. ((possibly excluding the excellent K user features) fav scenes, etc...)

P.
 
Mr.Poindexter said:
No, not possible. Each M-class player can only operate one optical drive. That means only one vault per M300. It also implies that each modular disc vault will only have one drive. Although two drives for faster importing might sound desireable, it would drive up the cost and not increase speed that much given the bandwidth limitations of the USB2.0 connection.
Click to expand...
But once the MDV is full of imported discs, and no longer controlling a drive, shouldn't it be possible (outside of purely software restrictions) to chain multiple units? Besides, I would expect there to still be an ethernet port on them to handle the actual data transfer, rather than bottle-necking on a USB port.
 
I don't think so, Transepoch. They would be bottlenecking the USB port but not really since the USB2.0 connection is going to be sufficient for one reader, but one is the limitations of how many drives the player can command. If it was a software issue, they could just let you use an M500 to control it.
 
Great news. I hope they will address the PCM concerns in the IDV.

I do think its a little "interesting" that space concerns are the reason there wasn't full PCM decoding in the new players and if one wanted the modular player, youre forced to plug it in to a player via USB- that will create some issues for people.

The time frame is a little disappointing (the IDV is clearly the way to go and youre looking at around 12 months from now). And the price at around 6k is a bit steep for 300 discs- I am at over 400 BR discs currently... Keep in mind thats DISCs- so Band of Brothers we might count as one movie, but its 6 discs...
 
Mr.Poindexter said:
The modular disc vault is still going to be a 5U solution in the rack in addition to the M300 player, should one decide to rack mount it.

Now the big question for me will be whether or not to wait for the big 300 disc unit or get a 100 disc modular unit and an M300 to tide me over.

Also, I wonder if the new Integrated Disc Vault will do the decoding for the high res formats inside the player, since they will have plenty of space to work with and a fresh slate.
Click to expand...

I think if I had migrated to the new players, I couldnt wait and Id get the Modular disc vault and then add the IDV when its available. Youll just have more capacity.
 
Mmmnn wish I known earlier

I just traded up a M300 for the M500. Now it looks like I have to re-purchase the M300 just to be able to get the vault solution. I wish my dealer or KScape had told me to hold on to the M300.
 
Not to worry...

August 10, 2010


On July 28, my update on Kaleidescape's disc vault project stated that the Modular Disc Vault can only be connected via USB to an M300 Player. We knew that the M500 Player had enough performance to control a single optical drive, but we had not tested it with two optical drives prior to my update. Based on feedback from our dealers, we gave high priority to that testing. I'm pleased to share that we are now confident that it will be possible to control a Modular Disc Vault with either an M300 or M500 Player.

Sincerely,

Tom Barnett
Director, Product Management
Kaleidescape, Inc.
 
Mr.Poindexter said:
Not to worry...

August 10, 2010


On July 28, my update on Kaleidescape's disc vault project stated that the Modular Disc Vault can only be connected via USB to an M300 Player. We knew that the M500 Player had enough performance to control a single optical drive, but we had not tested it with two optical drives prior to my update. Based on feedback from our dealers, we gave high priority to that testing. I'm pleased to share that we are now confident that it will be possible to control a Modular Disc Vault with either an M300 or M500 Player.

Sincerely,

Tom Barnett
Director, Product Management
Kaleidescape, Inc.
Click to expand...

OK- so to be clear, if you hook up an M300 or an M500 to the modular vault via usb, and those players (of course) ethernet to the server, other players in the network can play movies from the server if the disk is in the vault hooked up to the original player, correct?
 
Correct. So if you have 1 vault of any kind and it has a bunch of BluRay discs in it, any player on that network can play back any title in that vault. It is already like that now in that an M300 or M500 can play back any title that is in any tray of any M500 on the network right now. This just expands that list of titles currently loaded in players substantially.
 
Great news!

Q. I have a K6000 player sitting in the basement all boxed up. Will there be a trade up/in on the vault?

P.
 
Doesn't all this mean that the MDV needs to be located in close proximity to the M-player, to make the USB connection? Bummer, I just wanted to hide the MDV in a cupboard out of the way and just connect it to the LAN with a long ethernet cable back to my switch. I just don't have 5U of spare space in my equipment rack, Bummer!! Or am I misunderstanding something here? Also, has anything been said yet whether the MDV will accept both Region A and B BR discs??
 
The vault will have to be connected via USB. The cost to connect via ethernet would be higher since that would require more processing, which is currently done in the players. The integrated disc vault will have an ethernet connection, but then you would not be using the player capabilities in it if you just hook it up via ethernet in a cupboard.

The vault will be able to accept both regions of BluRays as the authentication of the region is done on the playback, not the loading.

No word on tradeins for the vault, but the music player isn't really the same product as the vault. I would guess no tradein there but I cannot speak for Kaleidescape on the issue.
 
Finally good news that there is light at the end of the tunnel. (I've been away for awhile)

Looks like I should upgrade my 1U server to the the 3U this year with the integrated solution coming next year, to lessen the costs of all these new toys.
 
My command of such things is pretty elementary. Do I understand correctly that I would keep my arrangement of players and vault in their centrally located racks along with all of the other toys? They would be connected to one another by cat 5 and USB2 cables? The output cables would be HDMI cables run to each of my televisions around the house? Are there enough jacks on the backs of all of these units to do all of that?
 
Hi, K's MDV simply connects to either a M300 (no drive) or M500 (with drive) via a single USB cable.

About USB: USB cables are short distance in nature, however their are USB extender products on the market for those that require longer connectivity between a player and a USB attached MDV. From USB.org... " the USB specification limits the length of a cable between full speed devices to 5 meters (a little under 16 feet 5 inches). For a low speed device the limit is 3 meters (9 feet 10 inches)..."

A couple of USB Extender options:
Gefen: http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=5529
Intellix: http://www.avovercat5.com/products/digiusb_f.htm
 
I believe you'd have to have one player and Vault unit in your central location, then you would require K players at each monitor you wish to use. You'd send the signal via cat5.
 
Hi Jerry,

You are on the right track but you are overthinking this. You shouldn't have to do anything. When you plug-in any Kaleidescape component, it is automatically picked up by your "Kaleidescape System" and added to it. Therefore any Players would know that a MDV(s) was added to the system, where it was added, and be able to find its contents. Servers and Players plug into your network via Ethernet. An MDV plugs directly into a Player's (M300 or 500) USB port.

Kaleidescape has one of the few a/v products on the market that you can literally just plug in and it works. We dealers/custom installers certainly add some setting and integration work for optimal performance BUT the main system works right out of the box. You gotta love that about K!
 
Any idea what real cost of the disc vault is? I realize that MSRP is 1500. What do you think that they are charging the dealers?
 
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