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CEDIA 2023 Preview: Kaleidescape Unveils Super-Fast, High-Capacity Movie Servers

Bob Ankosko  |  Aug 29, 2023

Kaleidescape today introduced a line of high-performance, high-capacity movie servers built to support super-fast downloads.

Hailed as the first dedicated movie servers to feature “lightning fast” 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, the new Terra Prime servers are available with solid-state (SSD) or hard-drive (HDD) storage and feature a new board design said to deliver faster networking and processing power than the company’s current movie servers in addition to being able to “serve more Kaleidescape high-bitrate 4K movies concurrently to multiple screens.”

The new models will be formally unveiled next week in Denver at CEDIA Expo 2023 (watch for our show coverage).

Kaleidescape describes the Terra Prime SSD models as the quietest and fastest dedicated movie servers available with the ability to download a high-bitrate 4K movie in as little as 4 minutes and feed up to 25 simultaneous playback zones. Two models are offered: one with 31 terabytes (TB) of capacity for storing up to 500 high-bitrate 4K movies and one with 8 TB of capacity that holds around 125 movies. Respective pricing is $24,995 and $9,995.

Terra Prime HDD server, available in compact and full-size versions, are rated to download a high-bitrate 4K movie in as little as 8 minutes and serve five or eight simultaneous playback zones, respectively. Four models are offered: 88 TB ($24,995) for storing up to 1,450 high-bitrate 4K movies, 48 TB ($15,995) for around 800 flicks, 22TB ($9,995) for roughly 350 movies, and 8 TB ($4,995) for storing about 130 4K titles.

Movies stored on a Terra Prime server require a Kaleidescape Strato player ($3,995) for playback. Kaleidescape designs and builds all of its servers in the U.S. to ensure reliable performance. For more information, visit kaleidescape.com

Related:

A Marriage Made in Movie Heaven

Kaleidescape Simplifies Disc-to-Digital Conversion

Kaleidescape 4K Movie Reviews

COMMENTS
Billy's picture
Submitted by Billy on August 30, 2023 - 7:28am

I have said it before and I will say it again, these are great, but.......the price is not justified. HDD, even the nice solid state ones here, cost nowhere near this number. Plus, all I seem to read about these recently says nothing about being able to load the blurays or DVDs you already own onto the system. That was once the norm for this company. Is that because of the years long Hollywood lawsuit nightmare the company faced? I guess the only content allowed is sold directly from the company on downloads. If you want to add what you already legally own your SOL. Hollywood must have made their case because no other company wants to compete in this arena that would give the monopoly here some competition. The sad reality is that hackers still glom content illegally. So why not let consumers rip what they legally own? Seems Hollywood only wants streaming and downloads versus solid media for consumers. Pure profit for them, plus pure control. Call me paranoid, but I do not trust them. Streaming has become expensive and fickle with leaving beloved shows on the platforms. If you digitally purchase a program, despite costing almost what physical media would cost, you are limited to watching it on only one certain device and it is not transferable. Plus, who says if it will always be available in the future? So, we are back to the status quo. Those in the top echelon of society that can afford this sytem, will have something very nice such as this admittedly awesome system, the rest of us need to saddly trod along with our heads hanging low.

Daddio777's picture
Submitted by Daddio777 on August 31, 2023 - 7:08am

I have one of the older HDD models, this new SSD model is very interesting.

Kal just recently allows us to connect an external optical drive to a Strato player for upgrading discs to digital. There are some decent discounts, depends on the studio. Not all movies can be upgraded but a good chunk.

Bob Ankosko's picture
Submitted by Bob Ankosko on August 30, 2023 - 10:01am
Appreciate your comments, Billy, but in his post of April 25, 2023, "Kaleidescape Simplifies Disc-to-Digital Conversion" (https://www.soundandvision.com/content/kaleidescape-disc-digital), David Vaughn addresses your concern about "being able to load the blurays (sic) or DVDs you already own onto the system." He wrote: "To convert your collection, simply connect the drive to your Strato player via USB and power both devices on. The Strato then enters "Recognition Mode," indicated by the front logo blinking three times. Insert a disc into the Blu-ray drive, and the Strato starts cataloging it — usually within 10 seconds for DVDs and 15 seconds for Blu-rays. After completion, the disc ejects, and the Strato reverts to 'Recognition Mode.' I spent an hour cataloging 55 discs from my physical library, including both Blu-ray and DVD titles."
David Vaughn's picture
Submitted by David Vaughn on August 30, 2023 - 10:16am
Yes, you can convert discs to K-scape, but there is a cost involved with it. Sadly, it isn't free. The good news is if you have a Blu-ray or DVD, you can upgrade to 4K for about a $1 more than the cost of getting a 1080p download. Typically, Warner/Paramount/Universal titles cost about $4.92 to upgrade to 4K ($3.14 for 1080p), but Disney/Fox titles are prohibitively expensive at $13.00 to as high as $21.67, which is way too expensive IMO.
trynberg's picture
Submitted by trynberg on August 31, 2023 - 1:57pm

It's a very nice product and I think that Kaleidescape's pricing is what they need to charge to both build proprietary hardware and a distribution system that avoids further legal entanglements with Hollywood. If I was wealthy to the point where the costs were not significant, I would go with these systems.

As I'm not, I'm very satisfied with ripping my own discs to a Plex server that is cheap and (generally) works wonderfully and I have full control over the system and content.

Billy's picture
Submitted by Billy on September 1, 2023 - 1:45pm

3 or 4 bucks to upgrade a DVD sounds like Heaven, but for the Blu-Rays I already own? That is money grabbing, and I learned in Kindergarten that is not nice.

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