Kaleidescape to support Blu-ray; player coming in 2009!

[unreal1080p]

This is ULTRA high end but great news nonetheless

From the Kaleidescape owners forum:

http://www.kscapeowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236

Here's the details of information that will be released tomorrow for Kaleidescape dealers.

(I have received permission from Kaleidescape's executive team to be the first to publicly post this information on the web! Thanks Kaleidescape for supporting this user group!)

Details are this:
A new player will be released that plays Blu-Ray Discs in addition to DVDs, CDs, and "content from other sources."
The new player will be compatible with all existing Kaleidescape Servers!
The new player will support H.264 and VC-1 codecs in addition to the current MPEG-2 that Kaleidescape uses for today's DVD content.
Kaleidescape will state that in addition to optical discs, the device will be able to theoretically support content delivered from the Internet, though it is not announcing any service details for such delivery.
There are no plans to support HD DVD discs, but the company says it reserves the right to revisit that decision based on traction in the marketplace.
The player will be released "in 2009."...... however, the information says that Kaleidescape "is optimistic that it will be possible to import Blu-ray Discs at that time."
Note the ambiguity about the release of hardware and the hope that importing of Blu-rays will be possible at that time. My guess is that this means that all of the details of Kaleidescape's implementation of managed-copy haven't been worked out yet, which is understandable. So its possible that the hardware will be out and the software will not yet be released.

There will NOT be an additional fee or licensing cost for the KEAOS version that will support Blu-ray, assuming you presently have the movies-software license and have one of the new Blu-ray compatible players.
Kaleidescape is saying that the new Blu-ray player is anticipated to cost about the same as the current Movie Player 2 which would be incredible, but there is some wiggle room here as they are telling dealers that at this date is too early to provide definitive information about pricing.
There's one more somewhat ominous note in the information that I have. Kaleidescape is saying that it is "possible" that the studios will charge users a fee to copy a Blu-ray disc to their Kaleidescape server.
Last, Kaleidescape is predicting that current hardware should easily be able to deliver 5 simultaneous Blu-ray playbacks with the initial product, but that they may be able to tweak performance somewhat to deliver 10 or even as many as 20 simultaneous streams over a GigE network.
That's what I know tonight about the Blu-ray Disc plans.

There's more information, however, that will also be released. In addition:
Kaleidescape for DVD content will see "improved video quality, a simpler user interface, and more foolproof video configuration."
Wow, this is very impressive, especially the fact that our current investment in server hardware is preserved and that we should have no worries about continued investment in this hardware to be ready for this major release. If the new player/reader is really the price of a MoviePlayer 2, that's incredibly impressive as well.

There you have it... very exciting.

And a quote from the release sent to all Kaleidescape Dealers:

Dear Kaleidescape™ Dealer:

In recent months we have received a number of questions from our dealers concerning Kaleidescape’s plans to support the new Blu-ray Disc™. While Kaleidescape rarely discloses product plans, we feel it is important to do so in this case.

Kaleidescape has invested significant engineering resources toward extending the Kaleidescape System to support Blu-ray Disc HD content. We are in the process of developing a Blue-Laser Player that is designed to play all Blu-ray Discs in addition to DVDs, CDs, and content from other sources. Kaleidescape’s new Blue-Laser Player will be compatible with all existing Kaleidescape Servers; it will be easy to add Blue-Laser Players to any existing Kaleidescape System.

The most significant technology that we will incorporate into our Blue-Laser Player will be support for the H.264 and VC-1 video codecs, in addition to MPEG-2, which is currently supported by all Kaleidescape Movie Players. In addition to making it possible to play Blu-ray Discs, these new codecs will make it possible for the Kaleidescape System to play H.264 and VC-1 content (both HD and SD) from other sources in the future, including the Internet. We currently have no plans to support HD DVD optical disc, but we will re-evaluate this decision if HD DVD becomes a more successful format.

We plan to introduce the Blue-Laser Player in 2009. We are optimistic that it will be possible to import Blu-ray Discs at that time.