You wanted answers, in this interview, I put questions you’ve all been asking to the new VP.
Jack Robinson: What is so special about the Kaleidescape Marine Movie Service?
EB Yacht owners expect the best-of-the-best. They want quality and excellence in every way possible. So, of course, they expect a wide selection of the highest possible quality content. This has been a challenge in the past. Buying and managing DVD and Blu-ray discs have traditionally been the responsibility of the Captain or ETO, and can be very time-consuming.
Kaleidescape offers the easiest-to-use solution for obtaining the latest and greatest movies from Hollywood studios in the best possible quality. Most of you have heard of buzz-words like “4K”, “Ultra High Definition (UHD)” and “High Dynamic Rate (HDR).” What this means is that compared to High Definition movies, the resolution of the movies is 4 times higher and as a result more detail in the movie is visible. That comes at a price. The size of the movies is much larger. When streaming movies, much of that content needs to be compressed as otherwise, the required bandwidth would be too high. This results in loss of details and compression effects.
In order to offer the best possible experience, Kaleidescape decided to use a different approach. Because Kaleidescape’s 4K/HDR and 4K/UHD have minimal video compression you can see greater detail in the movies. The sound is simply incredible with truly lossless audio, allowing the listener to hear every detail in the movie’s soundtrack. All these elements make watching movies a very immersive experience. Getting the best possible content was a challenge as simply downloading this kind of movie requires a lot of bandwidth, and when a yacht is out at sea bandwidth can be very limited.
Kaleidescape’s new Marine Movie Service makes it simple. It is the only Hollywood Studios-approved delivery mechanism, and it was designed with the crew in mind – how can we make the management and procurement of content as easy as possible? When purchasing the systems, they will come factory-loaded with content designated by the responsible Captain, ETO or other assigned crew member. That person can also use the same Marine Movie Service to purchase additional movies or carefully curated movie collections. Those movies are then shipped on a USB hard disk and automatically transferred when attached into a Kaleidescape Strato S movie player or Terra movie server
JR Why did Kaleidescape focus on the content services which it had ignored for a decade?
EB Obtaining content on shiny discs in territories where yachts operate has been very challenging for captains, ETOs and the crew. Yacht owners want interesting content in great quality for their yacht entertainment needs – and to enjoy leisure time with their family and friends. No one else was solving the problem because ultimately this requires a playback device that takes content protection and anti-piracy measures seriously and complies with the necessary copy protection methods for high-value content.
Kaleidescape is the first and only company to strike an agreement with the major Hollywood studios to distribute premium content to private yachts. This is a significant achievement because licensed content gives the best experience, including peace-of-mind. Kaleidescape’s Strato and Terra movie player and server comply with the rigorous security requirements set by the Hollywood studios, but the content delivery methods are also safe and secure. Kaleidescape is a unique and valued service provider for incredible Hollywood films and documentaries for yacht owners.
JR Could you describe the Kaleidescape experience – I hear that’s much more than just extremely high-quality picture and sound.
EB It is certainly much more than high-quality picture and sound. The Kaleidescape experience turns movie night into a truly social event. The fun starts with the pre-show entertainment, as you select that one movie everyone can agree on. Watch the cover art shuffle and reshuffle as Kaleidescape makes intelligent suggestions on movies based on genre, actor, or director. Play a few trailers, consult reviews, or share movie highlights with Kaleidescape Scenes, which lets you jump to the best parts of any movie. And as you’re all debating the selection, you can play a favourite song in a musical on your Kaleidescape system to have an engaging entertainment experience.
Now you are ready to watch the selected film. Wouldn’t it be nice if you experienced the same way the lights and curtains work in a nice movie theatre? At the beginning of the movie the screen masking or curtains are automatically set to the proper positions, the lights dim and the movie starts playing the correct aspect ratio. In most theatres, this work is done by a projectionist. The Kaleidescape system is capable of doing this all automatically because of the rich metadata which is actually created by the Kaleidescape team. This data accompanies its movies so that control automation systems can work in symphony to create the magical movie watching experience. Kaleidescape plays well with all control systems and with other luxury brands, thereby adding value to the rest of the quality gear in your yacht’s cinema room. When you press Play, the lights go down, and everything else works magically like a real cinema theatre, so you can relax and enjoy the movie.
For a truly cinematic experience in theatres with 2.35 screens, Kaleidescape offers CinemaScape. This advanced video processing technology eliminates the disruptive mode switches and anamorphic lens movements typically associated with 2.35 projection in home theatres. With CinemaScape, you can enjoy every film in it’s original aspect ratio—no waiting, no interruptions, no hassles. It’s all part of the Kaleidescape Experience.
JR What does it take to administer a Kaleidescape system?
EB Fortunately very little! All the content acquired is purchased from Kaleidescape and the owner’s account will retain the purchase records. When adding more movies, Kaleidescape will send the hard disk drive to the yachts, and the person responsible for the content on the yacht connects that drive into a Strato movie player or the Terra movie server. It will automatically trigger the transfer of the content to the system, and when completed, the content will become immediately available for playback, which can be controlled via the Kaleidescape mobile app on iPhone (Android coming soon), Kaleidescape iPad app, or the onboard control system interface, such as Crestron.
JR What kinds of yachts or yachting A/V rooms are best suited for Kaleidescape?
EB Kaleidescape makes it very easy to add a movie experience to any cabin or stateroom or the deck or entertainment salon in a luxury yacht. Kaleidescape offers options for a single viewing zone and this can be expanded to all the cabins within the yacht by adding a movie player for each viewing location. The new Marine Movie Service can also be combined with the existing Kaleidescape installations to upgrade one or all viewing zones to 4K Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Dolby Atmos or DTS:X experience, using Kaleidescape’s Co-Star solution.
JR Could Kaleidescape co-exist with another Video On Demand (VOD) solution that permits importing of customer content?
EB Kaleidescape is a very secure purpose-built system to deliver the best possible entertainment experience for purchased movies, TV-series and concerts. It can be integrated with control systems like Crestron, Control4, Savant, AMX, Josh AI and several others. These control systems can also be integrated with other VOD solutions like Apple TV, Roku or others allowing customers to display downloaded content on their mobile tablets, etc.. In such an ecosystem Kaleidescape can provide an Immersive entertainment experience and indeed co-exist with another VOD system
JR What is the biggest challenge in managing a Kaleidescape system and taking advantage of the marine movie service?
EB Many tasks onboard a luxury yacht have a specific person (ETO, AV/IT engineer, or other crew members) designated as the owner of that task. It’s necessary to have one person designated to be responsible for the yacht’s Kaleidescape system so that the system always has interesting and current content for its owner and guests.
With current mobile technologies, it is challenging to get hundreds of movies onto the system. Kaleidescape solves this issues by shipping the content on hard disks. When they arrive at the yacht they need to be connected to the Kaleidescape system while the content loads. This is, fortunately, a simple procedure, but it does need to be managed.
JR A lot has been said about Kaleidescape being a legal solution because it licenses content from the studios but some say “If you can get away with it who cares”. What are the three compelling benefits that I can share with my readers?
EB Obtaining premium content is the only way to have the greatest quality and peace-of-mind. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) works with various customs and intelligence agents to protect the intellectual property of its member studios. Purchasing content from legitimate sources offers several benefits:
- All the content offered by the Marine Movie Service has Kaleidescape-verified pristine quality audio and video that surpasses most movie theatres.
- Kaleidescape makes it easy for the Captain, ETO or crew to account for content purchases by budgeting these as a monthly operating expense. The store interface also offers a summary of all movie transactions in case you need to produce the manifest for customs.
- Restoring content purchased earlier isn’t ever a problem.
JR What can be said about Kaleidescape products and reliability or functionality in the marine installations?
EB Kaleidescape has been providing video solutions to the marine market for more than 13 years. Kaleidescape products have a long and proven track record as being reliable, predictable and legal.
JR What is Kaleidescape’s position with streaming – will it stream its movies on mobile devices? If not, why not?
EB Kaleidescape has always been about cinematic experience. It’s not possible to have a cinematic experience on a mobile device. There are so many solutions to watch movies on a mobile device and headphones, there isn’t a whole lot of value that Kaleidescape can offer in streaming. We let other solutions on the market do what they’ve been designed to do so that we can focus on offering a truly luxury experience and on displaying the movies the way the Director intended.
With thanks to Erwin Bosma,Vice President, International
Erwin Bosma is responsible for Kaleidescape’s International business comprised of the international residential and Marine segments. He is a technology sales executive with experience in home automation, internet of things (IoT), software, consumer premise equipment (set-top box and gateways), and semiconductor chips.
Previously he headed Greenwave System’s worldwide sales team. Prior to Greenwave, he was VP and Head of Sales for Savant’s consumer and builder business unit. Prior to Savant, Bosma held senior sales and business development positions at Philips Semiconductor, NXP, Trident Microsystems, and Entropic servicing customers that included Cisco, Motorola, Comcast, Charter, and Latin American service providers.
Originally from the Netherlands, Erwin started his career with Philips Research and Philips Semiconductors’ Systems Laboratory in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Bosma earned a master’s degree in Business Administrations from the University of Redlands, School of Business. He received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Hogeschool Venlo in The Netherlands.
Get in touch:
Erwin Bosma | VP, International Erwin Bosma <erwin.bosma@kaleidescape.com>
KALEIDESCAPE | 570 Maude Court, Sunnyvale, CA 94085, USA | +1 858.204.0979 | kaleidescape.com
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http://superyachttechnologynews.com2018/10/19/all-new-marine-store-launch-on-my-solo-kaleidescape-super-hd-content/