Kaleidescape Premiere End-of-Sale Options & FAQ
Automation, Home Cinema - May, 2020
With the recent news of Kaleidescape discontinuing their Premiere range this summer you may be looking to embrace the Strato system or making sure your Premiere system still has a few more years in it! We have listed below a few options available to you below followed by a short FAQ
Upgrade your existing 1U or 3U server
Kaleidescape will be accepting orders on new Premiere line components up to July 31st of this year. But be warned that there is a limited number of units available so if you are thinking of upgrading please contact us sooner rather than later!
As always Kaleidescape have an excellent trade-in deal available for owners wanting to upgrade their systems. A common option at the moment is to upgrade your server to something with more capacity. Kaleidescape quietly released the 1U+ server to replace the 1U and the 3U models, you will still be able to purchase 6TB disc cartridges for your 1U or 3U server after they go end-of-line, but the 1U+ can take 10TB cartridges. So the upgrade available now is to trade up to a 1U+ server with either 18TB or 30TB of storage!! This should keep you guys going for a few more years at least
We send you out your new server and you or one of our technicians installs it onto your network and runs the replication service. This will transfer all of your library from the old server to the new one and verifies the data when complete. We send the old unit back to Kaleidescape, and you have a brand new much larger server and a brand new 3 year warranty. You can extend this for a further 2 years. That’s five years more life for your Premiere system!
Upgrading to the Strato system
Perhaps now is the time to retire your Premiere and embrace the all digital Strato system. The only way to get content into a Strato system is to download it from the Kaleidescape Movie store, so your existing DVD and Blu-Ray discs will not play on it. Now this store may not have EVERY movie ever made, but it does have quite a lot. And it has every new release the day it comes out. In fact pre-order a film you are waiting for and it will be downloaded into your system right away, and unlocked to view the minute it is officially launched!
We can get your existing DVDs and Blu-Rays into the Strato by downloading them from the store. We are on hand to guide you through this process which starts with us comparing your existing movie library to the store to see what is available. With Kaleidescape’s unique disc-to-digital service we scan your Premiere system library and any movies that are available from the store you can buy again at a discounted price to download into your Strato system. Even better you can upgrade their quality (where applicable) from DVD up to Blu-Ray or all the way up to UHD!! Any movies you have bought from the movie store for your Premiere system, will automatically be put into your Strato. Now we can do as little or as much of this changeover process for you. Many of our customers set us a budget and we go out and fill your server with a bunch of new movies too for you to pick your way through!
Adding a Strato System to your Premiere using Co-Star
There is a third, best-of-both-worlds, solution available for Kaleidescape users and that is to use Co-Star. This is a great little combination of hardware and software that literally combines your Premiere and Strato libraries into a single entity. Using the 4K on-screen interface of the Strato you can browse and search a single movie library in glorious 4K Ultra HD at 60 frames per second. Should you select a movie that resides on the Premiere system, the Co-Star switch will intelligently switch you over to the Premiere player and begin playback of the movie. When you go back to your collections screen you have been intelligently switched back again to the Strato player. The Co-Star software is also available for cinemas using Lumagen RadiancePro video processors or multi-room systems using Crestron NVX video distribution.
Premiere Line End-of-Sale FAQ
Whatever it is you decide to do, or if you just want to talk through your options or how the discontinuing of the Premiere line may affect you please do just give us a call or drop us an email or even in this modern day and age request a virtual meeting! We will be glad to bring you up to speed. Alternatively you may be able to find answers to your questions in the short FAQ below:
Why is Kaleidescape discontinuing Premiere products?
Reduced consumer demand and challenges in sourcing parts have made it impractical to continue to offer components for Kaleidescape Premiere systems. Declining sales of DVD and Blu-ray discs have led to decreased interest in products that play movies in these formats. It has also become very difficult to procure certain parts necessary to manufacture products that play DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
Will Kaleidescape continue to offer support for Premiere products?
Yes. Kaleidescape will continue to offer technical support, hardware repair, and software releases, as necessary.
Will Kaleidescape continue to offer movie disc recognition for Premiere systems?
Yes. Kaleidescape will continue to support disc recognition for Premiere systems for DVDs and Blu-ray Discs.
Will Kaleidescape continue to offer music CD recognition for Premiere systems?
Kaleidescape will continue to support disc recognition for music CDs. However, recognition will not be provided for newly released music CDs after June 30, 2020.
Will Co-Star continue to be offered beyond July 31, 2020?
Yes. Co-Star enables a Strato system to be combined with a Premiere system so that a customer can access all of their movies using a single user interface. Both the Kaleidescape Co-Star HDMI kit, and the Kaleidescape Co-Star Software License for Crestron NVX and Lumagen Radiance Pro, will continue to be available.
Will Kaleidescape continue to provide hardware repair and replacement support for Premiere systems?
Yes. Repair and replacement support for in-warranty Premiere products will continue as before, and we will continue to make business-reasonable efforts to support out-of-warranty products, depending on parts availability. Repair and replacement costs will apply.
Will Kaleidescape continue to offer Disk Cartridges for Premiere systems?
Yes. Kaleidescape will continue to offer 6TB Disk Cartridges for the 3U, 1U, and 1U+ servers. 10TB Disk Cartridges will also be available for 1U+ servers.