US-based media server specialist Kaleidescape has created the ’world’s first’ multizone movie server for Blu-ray discs.
The two new players are the M500 and M300, and the idea is that you load your Blu-ray discs on to the server’s hard drive, then pipe them around your home using your multiroom home cinema system.
There is however, a catch. To get the Hollywood studios on board, Kaleidescape has had to ensure that the system can only play a film if the Blu-ray disc is actually in the player’s disc drawer. Which rather seems to negate the purpose of media servers.
The company says it’s developing a multi-disc loader however which will be able to store and access a large number of discs within the system.
When coupled with a Kaleidescape server, both players will support 1080p video at 24fps and bitstream pass-through of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Further improvements to the M-Class servers include an upgraded HD seen interface and the Kaleidescape Movie Guide of over 135,000 titles, has been expanded to include over 3,300 Blu-ray titles.
The M500 and M300 are available now directly from Kaleidescape for £2,995 and £1,995 respectively.