Escient Vision Series Preview

Escient stunned us by showing off its highly anticipated Vision Series Media Management products which will begin shipping in February, 2008. These new products provide users with the ability to play and import all their movies, videos, music, and photos using the front-panel drive and home network. If you read between the lines you'll see why we might be excited. It looks like the days of including a DVD changer in an Escient system may be over. The Vision Series products including 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 ship with HDMI 1.3 and there is also the large-capacity VX-600 media server which removes the need for an external DVD changer. All told, the new system provides consumers with an elegant new solution for managing, accessing and enjoying movies and music throughout the home, all via the intuitive Escient interface.

The VS100 and VS200 are hard drive-based components with RAID backup that let users store, manage and stream all their movies, music and photos to a host of devices within their home network. The Vision Series line permits access to the Rhapsody music service’s extensive music catalog and offers exclusive content from MTV, VH1 and CMT and professionally programmed Rhapsody Channels.

This is a huge departure for Escient, since it mean that the Escient Vision Series makes it possible for users to essentially rip their DVDs and watch a DVD on the HD projector in the theater. Escient is promoting all of the necessary caveats to the legalities behind this, but the system is the first (for them) which allows video playback at this level and without requiring external changers.

The VS-100 and VS-200 all-in-one server players and the VC-1 networked audio/video zone player all feature HDMI 1.3 support and upscaling to 1080p. All three also feature external control capability via Ethernet. The VS-100 provides dual 500GB drives while the VS-200 provides dual 1TB drives, configured in RAID 1 "mirror" for redundancy. The VC-1 is a high-performance networked audio/video zone player that can stream audio and video from Vision servers, allowing playback of music, movies, and photos from any room of the home. Finally, the large capacity media server, Model VX-600 features four 1TB drives in a RAID 5 configuration and provides virtually unlimited storage expansion capability for Vision VS and VC devices. The VX-600 provides advanced early detection monitoring systems for reliable installations in any networked home.

Escient’s Vision Series products are scheduled for shipment in February 2008 at the following suggested retail prices: VS-100 (SRP: $3,999), VS-200 (SRP: $5,999), VC-1 (SRP: $1,999), VX-600 (SRP: $7,999).

For more information please visit www.escient.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.