Kudos: Kaleidescape’s unparalleled experience, Dolby Vision support, opens Kaleidescape to more projects
Concerns: No Wi-Fi
“A strong desire to achieve something high or great; an object of such desire.”
That’s the Merriam-Webster definition of “aspiration,” and there are few products in our industry that are as aspirational as a Kaleidescape system.
I’ve been covering, reviewing, selling, and owning Kaleidescape dating back to the early 2000s, so I’ve experienced all the company’s products, updates, and improvements, and it is truly one of the few products that virtually everyone would love to own. The only drawback — and the thing that makes it aspirational instead of acquirable to most — is the price.
With previous Kaleidescape systems requiring both a Terra Server and Strato C player, the lowest cost of entry into the Kaleidescape world started at just a nick under $9000, which was just too much for many people.
With the new Strato V Movie Player, Kaleidescape addresses the three major objections for most users, namely the price of entry, slashing that entry-level pricing by over 55%, bringing the cost of a fully working Kaleidescape system and experience to under $4000. Cheap? No. Obtainable? Absolutely.
If you’ve been on the fence about selling or spec’ing Kaleidescape into projects, the Strato V is designed to change your mind.
The Big Three
“The Big Three” refers to the most common objections from potential Kaleidescape buyers, namely, “It costs too much,” “I’m not a movie collector,” and “It doesn’t support Dolby Vision.”
Before the Strato V’s release (which doesn’t stand for a Roman numeral five, but rather V for “Vision”), the current Strato C movie player (which stands for “Compact,” and remains in the line) dates back to 2016. And for a company that lives on the cutting edge, eight years is a long time in a product’s life cycle. (Though one could argue their forward-thinking design has served the C so well, there was little need to upgrade.)
As mentioned already, the Strato V retails for $3995, which will open it up to a new world of clients and projects. In fact, Kaleidescape estimates that Strato V sales will likely have a near 50/50 split between new and existing owners. And while previously Kaleidescape was likely the single-highest-cost line item on a proposal, it will now likely be one of the “cheaper” components in a nice system.
In the streaming age, where there is such a glut of new content constantly rolling out, many people aren’t collecting movies like they used to. Content to watch once and move on, the idea of owning a system capable of storing thousands of titles feels like overkill. With its near 1 TB (technically 960 GB) solid-state drive, the Strato V stores around 10 4K HDR movies, which is a perfect amount for a non-collector. With its ability to download a film in about 10 minutes via a Gigabit network connection, you can easily purchase/rent and download a film (or three) before dinner, watch them immediately or plan for a weekend film binge, delete the content when you finish watching, and then add more.
Admittedly, I’ve never had someone mention the lack of Dolby Vision (DV) support as a reason for not buying, and the vast majority of my Kaleidescape installs have been in theater rooms with projectors that don’t even support DV. However, with MiniLED and OLED displays getting increasingly larger, and at this lower price, it is likely that many Strato Vs will be installed beyond the walls of dedicated theaters and projectors and connected to high-performing, DV-capable flat panels. And if for no other reason, it is hard to carry around the badge of “The Ultimate Movie Platform” if you lack a high-performance feature found on a sub $200 UltraHD Blu-ray or $50 streamer. Adding DV and its higher bit-depth and dynamic metadata for High Dynamic Range is the final performance box the Strato V checks.
Kaleidescape Overview
It’s hard to imagine any Residential Systems reader not being familiar with Kaleidescape, but here’s a 10,000-foot view of what makes Kaleidescape unique.
Kaleidescape manufactures components — servers and players — that connect across a standard residential Gigabit-speed network to play content (movies, concerts, TV series, etc.) that has been purchased/rented and downloaded from the company’s movie store. The Strato V is unique as it can work as a standalone player, not requiring a separate server.
Kaleidescape has consistently innovated and improved its system over the years, managing to stay relevant and cutting-edge through regular software updates to its proprietary kOS (Kaleidescape Operating System).
The company revamped its server lineup by introducing the Terra Prime, which incorporated a new board design for faster processing power capable of supporting up to 10 simultaneous full 4K HDR playbacks, a faster 2.5 GB Ethernet connection for 4K movie downloads in as little as eight minutes, and expanded storage up to 96 Terabytes.
This was followed by the Terra Prime Solid-State, which supports up to 25 simultaneous full 4K HDR playbacks and blistering downloads in as little as four minutes.
There are several major differences between watching on Kaleidescape versus streaming.
- Kaleidescape is purpose-built with enterprise-grade hardware and bespoke software designed from the ground up for the sole purpose of delivering the highest-quality audio/video playback. The hardware’s reliability, uptime, and integration with third-party systems is unparalleled.
- All content is stored locally, so the experience is always consistent and never impacted by Internet speeds, outages, or other demands in the home.
- Unlike streamed content, which is heavily compressed, Kaleidescape titles play in video bitrates up to ten times higher than typical streaming rates, with file sizes comparable — and in some cases larger — to what is found on a physical disc. And instead of lossy audio provided by streamers, Kaleidescape downloads are in lossless Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master, many of which include Dolby Atmos and DTS-X immersive audio.
- The Kaleidescape movie store is the only digital retailer to provide titles with lossless audio and reference quality video, featuring hundreds of 4K titles not available on disc.
- The overall “Kaleidescape Experience” — from its iconic cover art view to bookmarking the best scenes/songs in a film/musical to sending automation cues for lighting, shading, seating, lens position, and screen masking, to jumping straight to the film’s beginning, Kaleidescape features tons of touches and flourishes that make for a superior overall user experience.
First Impressions
Straightaway, I noticed three things.
First was a visual, as the Strato V sheds the old silver finish from the previous generation and now sports a brushed-black anodized aluminum finish that looks sleek and high-tech.
Second, likely in consideration that the Strato V will be landing in the homes of first-time owners, there is now a handy two-sided setup sheet included to get you started. On one side are the steps for connecting and activating your system — both in standalone and grouped installs. There are also a couple of QR codes to take you to a variety of guides. The reverse side has seven “Installation Tips for Best Signal Quality.”
Third, there’s no Wi-Fi. Yes, I understand a hardwired connection is preferred — and maybe even required when streaming from a Terra server — but with Wi-Fi capable of reaching speeds in excess of 500 Mbps, that would certainly be enough for connection to the movie store to download movies in standalone mode, and would open up more install possibilities in existing rooms with no hardwired network connection.
Home Theater Week: A Demo Theater for Work and Play
Also, for the first time in its history, Kaleidescape has badged the Strato V’s rear panel with some logos other than its own, with the V sporting Dolby Vision, Atmos and DTS:X logos on the rear. I don’t hate it!
Included in the box are a Pixelgen Design 1.5-meter THX-certified HDMI cable, a 10-foot Ethernet cable, and an IR remote control.
Like the Strato C, the V could be wall-mounted using an optional bracket or housed in a panel like a VersaBox, or rack-mounted with an optional faceplate.
I had several questions about what the Strato V could and couldn’t do, how it compared to the Strato C, what systems it could pair with, etc., so I bombarded Kaleidescape’s long-suffering VP of engineering, James Kleist, with emails. Here are some of the key takeaways.
Since the Strato V is newer, handles DV, and can be used as a standalone system, why would someone buy a Strato C, which retails for the same price?
The Strato V cannot work with a legacy Premiere system that uses a Co-star to join libraries, and the Strato V lacks the second, audio-only HDMI output of the Strato C. (For more info, Kaleidescape has a thorough comparison chart on its support site.)
Can I link two or more Strato Vs together, letting them share their libraries like you could with the original Strato players?
No; the Strato V is designed to be standalone and can only share a local library when grouped with a Terra server.
If I’ve already purchased a title in 4K HDR, will there be an upcharge to get the DV version?
Purchases are based on resolution, not dynamic range. So, if you purchased the 4K HDR version, you will have access to the Dolby Vision version at no additional cost.
If I download a DV title to a Terra in a grouped system, will the DV content play on a Strato C?
Dolby Vision content will be downloaded to the Terra server and only visible/playable on the Strato V. A system with both Strato C and Strato V players will be prompted to download both the HDR and Dolby Vision versions. Note that Strato V will play SD, HD, 4K SDR, 4K HDR, and Dolby Vision, so you could just download the HDR version to save space and it would play on Strato and Strato V. Otherwise, downloading both the HDR and DV versions of a film would require twice the storage for the same movie.
What happens if I download the DV version and have a Strato V connected to a non-DV-capable display?
Strato V will do down conversion from DV to HDR, but not to SDR.
Will all my existing content purchased from the movie store play back on the Strato V?
Strato V plays a different HD movie format than earlier Kaleidescape players. By launch, most but not all HD content in the store will have been transcoded to be playable on Strato V. More will come over time. The Strato V readiness report indicates movies that are playable on Strato V, movies that require an update to be playable on Strato V, and movies that are not yet playable on Strato V.
Honestly, I found the readiness report a little confusing to decipher. For one, I couldn’t just look at all my movies, but only at what was already downloaded, so I don’t have a complete picture of my entire collection. The report says that “All SD and 4K movie store content will be playable on Strato V,” but that leaves the door open for some HD content not being compatible. But realistically, if you’re buying a $4000 movie player, you are probably only going to be purchasing 4K content going forward.
In my report, it said 211 downloaded HD movies were not compatible with a DV or HDR10 display, and 258 were not compatible with an SDR display. For most of my incompatible films, I could either upgrade to 4K (51 titles) or downgrade to an SD (DVD quality) version (64 titles). Obviously, the prospect of watching a movie in SD on a flagship player is kind of a bummer, but the option is there. Of all of my films (close to 330), only eight titles were currently unplayable/not yet compatible, notably Breakfast At Tiffany’s, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Iron Giant, and Southpaw.
The takeaway? If you buy it/own it in 4K, it will play on the Strato V. If you already own it from Kaleidescape in HD, you can likely upgrade or downgrade to watch it. If you are purchasing a new film in HD, Kaleidescape no longer sells titles are incompatible with Strato V, so there is no worry.
I also headed over to the Kaleidescape online store and found that under the filtering option for browsing movies was a new “4K Dolby Vision” choice that lets you easily find what is available. Currently, there are over 150 titles with DV, including many new releases like Furiosa, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, IF, and Horizon An American Saga, along with a host of classic catalog bangers like The Hunger Games, John Wick, Mission: Impossible, Lord of the Rings, and the Star Wars franchise, along with many of the Marvel titles.
Setup
The Strato V can operate in two ways: standalone and grouped with a Terra server. I first went standalone, connecting to a 98-inch Sony LED display in my showroom. (For those connecting to a Sony, remember you need to go into the External Input setup and set the HDMI signal format to Enhanced (Dolby Vision), usually relegated to HDMI 3 and 4.)
Once connected and powered on, it was a simple process to register the player using my email address. Then an onscreen QR code pops up to prompt users to download the Kaleidescape app, which is not only a great way to browse and purchase/rent movies, but it offers another way to control the player.
Out of the box, the Strato V is a blank canvas as it doesn’t come pre-loaded with any content. Due to the smaller drive size, Kaleidescape is still discussing whether or not to preload the usual two documentary titles, and I’m voting they should. It’s nice to plug it in and see there is something there available to watch.
I quickly selected a handful of my films available in DV — I had 50 from my entire collection to choose from — and started downloading them to the Strato V’s internal drive. One thing I noticed was the odd differences in file sizes between HDR and DV. For some movies, it is just a couple of extra GB in size — Ford v Ferrari DV was 83.5 GB, compared to 81.5 for the HDR — and in others it was fairly significant — Top Gun: Maverick was 16.6 GB larger, and John Wick 4 was 27.3 GB larger. And the Mad Max: Fury Road DV download was actually .2 GB smaller.
Kaleidescape commented, “Dolby Vision titles can use the same video data with Dolby Vision metadata, making them similar in size. In some cases, we receive separate Dolby Vision video assets with metadata that can result in higher bitrates, and therefore larger file sizes.”
With my roughly 400 Mbps connection, movies took about 18–20 minutes to download. Thanks to the faster processing on board the Strato V, you can download a movie while watching another movie without any drop in speed or performance.
Pairing it with a Terra server was also a simple process that involved opening a web browser and logging into the Terra, clicking on the “Add a Component” button, which then displayed the Strato V, and hitting “Add.” If this is a new system install that will include a Terra, Kaleidescape recommends setting the Terra up first.
It is worth noting that when grouped with a Terra, the Strato V’s internal storage is no longer used, so anything that you had downloaded would have to be re-downloaded to the Terra to be viewable.
As with all Kaleidescape systems, the Strato V — in standalone or grouped mode — supports integration with a host of third-party control systems, including Control4, Crestron, Josh.ai, RTI, Savant, and URC. The system can also communicate directly with Lutron HomeWorks and RadioRA3 systems for shade/lighting control based on triggers embedded into films by the Kaleidescape movie team such as movie starting, credits starting, aspect ratio, etc. This is done via a “Lighting & Shades” tab where you simply select the Lutron processor to pair with and assign virtual switches with preset cues to each playback event (playing movie, intermission pause, credits roll).
Performance
Movies begin playing in just a couple of seconds after hitting start and then look and sound fantastic. All the bookmarked scene options are available, making it easy to find the most iconic moments from films and give great demos. Using the web interface, you can also create “Scripts” that string multiple scenes together into a presentation.
In standalone mode, the Strato V sports a new streamlined interface that has been optimized for navigating a small movie library. This is a new “Row Collections” view, which is broken into New, Paused, Played, and Favorites, which offers a very simple and clean way of browsing the 10 or so films on board. Why a Favorites when there are only 10 movies? Good question. That’s because after a movie has been watched, it is moved to the Played collection and marked for auto-deletion after 48 hours when space is needed to automatically make room for new content, and a favorited movie won’t be deleted. Once a movie has been purchased, you can download, watch, delete, and redownload a movie as many times as you like at no added cost.
Generally, when I’m watching Kaleidescape content, it is on my Sony 4K laser projector, which doesn’t support DV, but it was great that I could download the DV version of the movie and then have the Strato V convert it to a compatible HDR10 version my projector could play. The on-screen details screen that pops up displays a badge to show the film’s download quality.
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When connected directly to my Sony OLED, the Strato V grabbed the correct capabilities of my display and output the DV metadata. What I noticed is that colors — specifically the RGB primaries — had more saturation. The fiery orange-reds from Mad Max Fury Road or the sizzling lightsabers in Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker just looked a bit more vibrant and richer. With DV’s increased bit-depth, images also just looked a bit cleaner, and specular highlights like bright flashes of chrome, lightning streaks, or sunlight had a bit more shine.
Is DV a night-and-day difference? No. HDR10 image quality is still outstanding looking on the Strato V. Does it offer an uptick in video performance? Yes. Is it what you’d expect a flagship video player to offer? Absolutely.
The improved audio quality over streaming is also worth noting, with all Kaleidescape 4K and HD titles featuring lossless audio versus the heavily compressed lossy audio by streamers. Granted, having a brand-new set of SVS Ultra Evolution LCRs across the front and a Trinnov Altitude 16 in the mix doesn’t hurt, but the level of immersion and deep bass delivered by a Kaleidescape soundtrack is noticeably better, and the signal you should be sending to a flagship system.
While the Strato V is “fully operational,” it is missing one feature that system owners (raises hand) have come to enjoy, and that is on-screen access to the movie store and the ability to watch trailers. Never fear, this is coming, and Kaleidescape plans to add it in a release in the fall of this year.
There’s no point bandying it about: The Strato V delivers the same, outstanding Kaleidescape experience, along with the same stellar performance I’ve come to expect from all of the company’s products. With the added Dolby Vision support and wallet-friendlier $3995 retail, I expect the Strato V to find itself in many new homes with many new owners. Lucky them!
650-625-6100; KALEIDESCAPE.COM
Product Specs:
- 960 GB SSD Drive stores approximately 10 4K movies in standalone mode
- Playback of 4K Dolby Vision, 4K HDR10, 4K SDR, HD, and SD Quality
- Supports Dolby (Atmos, TrueHD, Digital/Plus, MAT PCM), DTS (X, HD Master, HD High Resolution, Digital), and PCM (up to 7.1ch, 96/24)
- All content securely downloaded from Kaleidescape movie store
- Can download full 4K movie in appx. 10 minutes over Gigabit network
- Can be grouped with Terra server to enable additional storage
- Full third-party control system support including Crestron, RTI, Savant, Control4, URC, Josh.ai, and Lutron
- Connections: Inputs: Gigabit Ethernet, IR mini-jack, USB 3.0 (future), USB (service), chassis ground; Outputs: HDMI 2.1, Toslink digital, Coaxial digital, 12-volt power
Dimensions and Weight:
7.87 x 1.52 x 10-inches (HxWxD); Weight: 4.2 pounds
