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Loaded into a Kaleidescape server via an M500 player, a Blu-ray disc is bookmarked and ready to play from the hard drive ... as long as the disc is in the tray.
For seven years, Kaleidescape has been recognized as having the most reliable multiroom movie server.
But some have been twiddling their thumbs while the manufacturer developed a solution for Blu-ray storage.
Those who have been waiting will finally get what they wished for … sort of.
Two new M-Class players (M500, M300), which will ship May 18, let users add Blu-ray discs to a Kaleidescape movie library and play them throughout the house – with one major caveat: The physical disc must be in the DVD tray.
That DRM Thing
DVD copying is a sticky business. Real Networks lost a lawsuit last year for its RealDVD movie management software. And Kaleidescape has been battling the DVD CCA (Copy Control Association) since 2004. The DVD CCA, which licenses the Content Scrambling System for decrypting DVDs, maintains it is a violation of its licensing agreement to copy DVDs, even if the CSS remains intact.
In light of the murky DRM waters – and especially Kaleidescape’s highly publicized legal struggles – the industry has wondered if the company would even touch Blu-ray.
They’re touching it, but that’s about all for now.
The new M500 can copy Blu-ray discs onto a legacy Kaleidescape server. The Blu-rays, along with all of the metadata, appear in the standard Kaleidescape library.
“Just like DVDs, the Blu-rays are a pristine bit-for-bit copy,” says Linus Wong, director of product marketing.
In order to play a Blu-ray title, the physical disc must be in an M500 DVD tray. At least you can place it in any tray on the network. And, as Wong says, “Most installs would have a few M500 players.”
The system then verifies that the user actually owns the disc and didn’t simply rip it from a rental.
“One of the studios’ main concerns is that they’re worried about rentals – that someone going to rent a movie and copy it,” says Wong. “In our implementation, we require that a physical disc for Blu-ray be present when you play a movie.”
He admits, “It’s a little less convenient, but it’s an interim inconvenience.”
It’s just a short-term fix because Kaleidescape plans to introduce a multidisc changer next year. Users can load (and copy) their entire movie collection, and the server will validate that a Blu-ray disc is present before it plays. As before, standard DVDs can be copied and played without the extra measure of DRM.
So Why Bother?
The inconvenience notwithstanding, the M Series offers plenty of value to Blu-ray-loving consumers.
“It’s actually nice to even see on the [TV] screen what Blu-ray discs there are,” says Kaleidescape CEO Michael Malcolm. He notes that users can even sort their libraries by Blu-ray titles.
The complete library, including Blu-rays and DVDs ... or search only Blu-ray movies.
Come on Kaleidescape what is the point of having the disk in the tray? This is laughable, spend more money for less.
Tom: That’s great. Really. We all know the Kaleidescape is a great machine and the interface is really nice. We also know it does many things other servers don’t.
However, we’re arguing over minor features compared to the main idea of media servers: the ability to rip or store media to a hard drive and then play it over a network whenever you want to without getting up to put a disc in the tray. Sure, you could have 5 different movies playing, but you’d need to first put 5 different discs into 5 different players. Which falls short of the main idea.
It’s like designing a super lightweight car with amazing materials but still needing a horse to pull it around:)
My advice Tom: I know what it’s like to have the limited resources that you have (I work in a small business as well). I also know that you have major litigation concerns which impact the bottom line. So I propose that a ‘hack’ somehow finds it’s way onto the internet which allows blu-ray playback without a disc in the tray for all Kaleidescape products ;)
Aaron,
The Kaleidescape disc loader is unlike a Blu-ray Disc changer. When you insert a Blu-ray Disc, the contents are imported to the hard drives of the Kaleidescape movie server. You can then play the movie from any room in the home with an M500 or M300 player. The disc loader does not need to spin around to play the movie, because it’s played from the hard drive.
Five different people could be watching five different movies, or watching the same movie at different points in the film.
With a Blu-ray Disc changer, you’re limited to watching the movies in a single room, because there is only one video output and only one disc transport to play the movies from. And rotating the carousel each time the movie starts is slow and can lead to breakdowns.
Tom Barnett
Kaleidescape, Inc.
@Aaron: I totally agree. It seems to me that Kaleidescape wants to generate more profits by going with their own system instead allowing you to connect a 400 Disc Blu-ray player. Also I wonder what kind of internals does the K system blu-ray have. Does it even rival the Oppo or Pioneer? Is it basically a low end blu-ray player but they hike up the price just because its a Kaleidescape?
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Without the disc loader, this is a barely workable solution, which ranges from no better to probably quite a bit worse than having an individual blu-ray player wherever you want to watch a movie.
With the disc loader, it actually realizes some of the promise of a media server, but clearly is vastly over-engineered to comply with overreaching companies backed by overreaching laws.