 A
DVD Server that allows users to store their entire movie collection on
hard disks, and to access any movie in their collection from any viewing
area in their home. A System consists of rack-mountable hardware
components, proprietary operating system software, and Movie Guide
Service. A basic System has one Server (with five disk cartridges for
storing up to 160 movies), one Movie Player, and one DVD Reader.
Additional cartridges can be added to the Server, up to a total of 12,
which is sufficient to store 440 movies. Additional Servers, Movie Players
and DVD Readers can be added to the System as required by each homeowner
to increase movie storage capacity, the number of viewing zones, and to
make it more convenient to import DVDs onto the Server(s). proprietary
operating system software enables the hardware components to communicate
with each other within the home, via the home Ethernet, and with Movie
Guide Service, via the Internet. The Movie Guide Service provides detailed
information about thousands of movies.
The System works by importing an exact replica of the DVD files onto
the server, including the copy protection. Since no additional compression
is applied, no quality is lost. The same bits are streamed to the Movie
Player located in any desired viewing zone. The content resides on
the Server and can only be played on the Players within the
home; it cannot be copied to PCs, rewritten to blank DVDs, or accessed via
the Internet. manufactures its products under license from the DVD
Copy Control Association,
Once the movies are imported, homeowners can have instantaneous access
to their entire movie library utilizing a proprietary user interface which
provides multiple ways to browse and select movies, play movies, jump to
favorite scenes, pause, resume, and exercise parental control over which
movies are available in each viewing zone. Each room can be configured for
individual preferences such as audio settings, the screen aspect ratio,
and parental control. Movies can be selected either by the on-screen movie
list sorted by title, genre, director, or actor; or users can peruse the
vivid cover art which appears on-screen and automatically shuffles similar
titles into view. Homeowners can even scroll through their
user-programmable favorites menu, a recommended movie list or a
pre-selected "watch-soon" list. The Movie Guide Service
can be controlled with current AMX, Crestron and IP-based touch panels, or
universal remote controllers.
The System has been designed for the anticipated widespread
availability of HD content. The capacity of the Server is sufficient for
storing large HD movies and the Movie Player hardware is designed to
support both 720p and 1080i video output.
Pricing will depend on the amount of movie storage as well as the
number of viewing zones. A base Server with sufficient storage for
160 DVD movies, a Movie Player for playback in a single zone, and a DVD
Reader for importing DVDs. The storage capacity can be easily expanded to
over 400 movies for less than $6,000 and an unlimited number of Movie
Players can be added for $3995 per zone.
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