Gadgetwise: Review: Kaleidescape Cinema One Media Server

Real estate is an expensive commodity in New York City.

I’m referring to the area known as the living room, which can become clogged with a multitude of Blu-ray and DVD discs, and the devices needed to play them. Is there really room for another media player?

Kaleidescape thinks so. The company, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has created a novel way to combine content and those players into a single device, the Cinema One server, which stores and plays movies and TV shows.

Kaleidescape sells high-definition digital movies on its web store that can be downloaded to the Cinema One, which has a four-terabyte drive that can hold up to up to 600 DVD- or 100 Blu-ray-quality movies. For film fans who already own a big collection of movies, the server can also play Blu-ray and DVD discs.

But all that convenience comes at a price, and in the case of Cinema One, it’s $4,000. I told you real estate was expensive.

Cinema One has some helpful features that ease the sticker shock. Movies are ready for immediate playback, minus all the trailers, marketing pitches and F.B.I. warnings. You can even create bookmarks for your favorite scenes. In fact, you can compile those scenes into a playlist, like Al Pacino’s greatest screen moments or the greatest parodies of Al Pacino’s greatest screen moments.

The easy navigation on Cinema One is beneficial, especially if you actually have 600 movies stored on the device. You can search by title, director, actor or genre, and Cinema One catalogs all the cover art, synopses, bookmarks and extras.

The server comes with two remotes, one with far too many options (do I need a Pause button and an Intermission button?) and a child remote with chunky, colorful buttons. When the child remote is used, the on-screen display switches to a simple interface that offers only the movies parents have approved.

Setup is a breeze. I plugged the server into my TV and router, and it booted up right away. DVD or Blu-ray discs played as soon as I popped them into the server, but downloading took more patience. Kaleidescape does not currently offer access to its store through the Cinema One; you have to visit the store through a web browser or an iPad app. Once a movie is purchased online, it will automatically start downloading to the device.

But the wait for a download was interminable — about eight hours per movie through my broadband Internet service, but this will vary based on your provider and router. And because the movie files are so large, streaming is not an option. Kaleidescape says it offers high-quality content; streaming compresses the files, and therefore the audio and video quality suffers. The company concedes that streaming could be possible in the future, but until then, you have to buy your movies well before you want to watch them.

Kaleidescape says it has about 5,000 movies through agreements with only two studios, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate, but is in talks with others to add more options to its library. The movie I downloaded, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” was pristine. Middle Earth never looked so glorious and gritty, or Cate Blanchett so luminous.

Movies cost $7 to $10 each, although new releases are a little higher, $15 to $20 each. And the company is offering 50 free movies with the purchase of a server through Dec. 31.

In the end, it comes down to price and options. The Cinema One server is intended for film aficionados who want to upgrade their home theater experience. The device is found typically in expensive homes and yachts, but Kaleidescape is working toward reaching a mainstream audience. For instance, the Cinema One is now available at Best Buy’s Magnolia home theater centers. But until Kaleidescape lowers the price and offers more movie choices, the device is still a luxury product.