Rumors have it that Escient will have on show at the upcoming ISE in Amsterdam the new Vision Series Media Management products that, given their specs from our sneak preview which include HDMI 1.3 In/Out and Video upscaling to 1080p, look to be tough competitors for the multimedia video server solutions from Kaleidescape and iMerge

The Escient Vision Series, with two versions of an all-in-one server/player, Models VS-100 and VS-200, as well as the VC-1 networked audio/video zone player (all with HDMI 1.3 capability), and the large-capacity VX-600 media server, offer the ability to play and import movies, videos, music, and photos throughout the home, all via a single intuitive interface.

Bill Carson, General Manager of Escient, noted: “Escient’s vision for the future is one in which people have an easy way to access and enjoy all their entertainment media throughout the home via a single intuitive interface, and our new Vision series products literally make this promise a reality. Most importantly, each new product in the series is designed to give custom installation professionals all the tools they need to bring their clients’ whole-home networked audio and video entertainment solutions.”

The all in one server/players are advanced hard drive-based components which come in two versions, the VS-100 which provides dual 500GB drives while the VS-200 provides dual 1TB drives. Both feature reliable RAID 1 redundancy. Advanced lifestyle-enhancing features include a front drive panel to import movies, video and music easily and simply.

The VX-600 media server is a NAS (Network Attached Storage) with a whopping 4TB (or 4000 GB….) capacity.

See you at ISE on January 29th for a close-up and more info!

Summary features of the VS-100 and VS-200 Media Server/Players

• Play DVDs
• Play CDs
• Import movies through the front panel drive
• Import videos through the front panel drive
• Import music through the front panel drive
• Automatic Disc Recognition
• High Definition user interface
• Dual internal 500GB or 1TB hard drives
• Reliable RAID 1 data mirroring
• Stores digital video, audio, and photos on the internal hard drive
• External Changer Support for DVDs and CDs
• Rhapsody Unlimited Music Service
• Video up conversion to 1080p
• Streams audio and video to Vision VC-1 networked clients
• HDMI 1.3 In/Out
• Gigabit Ethernet
• External Control via Ethernet or RS-232 adapter
• USB Mouse and Keyboard support

Summary features of the VC-1 Media Zone Player

• Play DVDs
• Play CDs
• Import movies to VS and VX servers through the front panel drive
• Import videos to VS and VX servers through the front panel drive
• Import music to VS and VX servers through the front panel drive
• Automatic disc recognition
• High Definition user interface
• Accesses digital video, audio, and photos from VS and VX servers
• Rhapsody Unlimited Music Service
• Video up conversion to 1080p
• HDMI 1.3
• Gigabit Ethernet
• External Control via Ethernet or RS-232 adapter
• USB Mouse and Keyboard support

Summary features of the VX-600 Media Server

• Expandable network storage for digital video, audio, and photos
• Deliver multiple simultaneous A/V streams to VS and VC clients
• 4 Terabytes of storage
• Gigabit Ethernet
• CIFS File Sharing
• Built-in rack mount ears
• Reliable RAID 5 data redundancy
• Hot swapable drives
• Built-in web interface for remote administration and monitoring
• EEDM – Escient Early Detection Monitoring