News

DMi D&M Installation Announces Details of Escient Vision Series of Multi-Room AV Media Platforms (14/3/2008)

DMi D&M Installation, the dedicated CI division of D&M Europe, held the highly anticipated European launch of the Escient Vision(tm) Series of HD multi-room A/V servers at ISEurope 08. With the announcement of UK and European pricing, and the full system specification, DMi redefined the cost and performance expectations for CI server based entertainment systems.

At the same time DMi announced the introduction of a comprehensive range of Escient A/V multi-room network control products in the late spring, promising a complete in-house CI solution for high performance, multi-room A/V.

Commenting at the launch, DMi Manager Mark Perrins stated, "Escient Vision brings distributed video into residential environments with unrivalled ease of use and confidence in data storage. Vision also creates a price point never seen in a video-on-demand system before. And with free, automatic software updating, and the ease with which networks can be scaled with additional storage or players, the system is future proof."

Major features of the of the all-new digital media platform include:

* Completely new - from the ground up - high definition, A/V media platform for playback management and mass storage of movies, music and photos; comprising all-in-one servers, network attached RAID configured storage, network A/V client players * HDMI v1.3 connectivity and switching * Video upconversion of standard DVD content (up to 1080p) * Simple High Definition Graphical User Interface * Gigabit Ethernet networking; true multi-room performance * USB connectivity * Escient Fireball(tm) and Apple iPod(r) integration * Legal Bit for Bit DVD Importing * Forthcoming Network Control Products

Three component products comprise the Vision series:

VS Series stand alone and network media player and server * VS-100: Dual RAID 500GB Hard Drives up to 100 DVDs or 1000 CDs (wav) * VS-200: Dual RAID 1TB Hard Drives up to 200 DVDs or 2000 CDs (wav) * Up-converting DVD/CD combi-drive * HDMI Out / 4 x HDMI Switcher * Component / composite video / S-video / digital and analogue audio outs * Front and rear panel (2) USB ports * Two VS Servers can share media over home network

VX 600 expandable network media server * Expandable RAID5 storage * 4x Hot Swappable 1TB drives * Up to four VX-600s can be shared on one network * 2x rear panel USB ports * Escient Early Detection Monitoring (EEDM); constant monitoring, early detection and warning of disk error * 1U rackmount chassis

VC-1 network media zone player * Up-converting DVD/CD combi-drive * HDMI In / HDMI Out * Component/ composite video / S-video / digital and analogue audio outs * 2x rear panel USB ports * Up to 10 VC-1s can simultaneously play movies from a VX server * Up to 5 VC-1s can simultaneously play movies from a VS player/ server

With Vision, the robust, reliable mass storage and distribution throughout the home of movies and music, is more affordable than ever before; with pricing of £2,552.34 / €3,495.00 (RRP / SRP ex VAT) for the VS-100, £3,403.40 / €4,795.00 (RRP / SRP ex VAT) for the VS-200, £1,275.74 / €1,695.00 (RRP / SRP ex VAT) for the VC-1, and £4,680.00 / €6,495.00 (RRP / SRP ex VAT) for the VX-600.

The ease with which component products can be networked ensures investment in Vision is a scalable proposition, with potential expansion of storage to the equivalent of around 2400 movies, or extension of a network to 10 separate zones. Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 1.3 and USB connectivity provides support for full HD display products and future source components such as HD-DVD and Blu-ray(r) disc changers, as well as network integration with Escient Fireball digital music servers, Apple iPods, and connectivity with Macs and PCs.

With the back-up of DMi service and support throughout Europe and the guarantee of free system software upgrades from Escient, investment in Vision is an investment in the future of in home A/V entertainment.

www.dm-i.eu