Kaleidescape, the high-specification movie platform that offers a novel alternative to regular streaming services and 4K Blu-ray discs, has announced a new, lower-cost piece of hardware that looks to be its “entry-level” option for home theatre enthusiasts.
Unlike video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which stream movies and shows directly to your TV or projector on demand, Kaleidescape enables customers to download movies on to its special hardware before watching them. It offers access to thousands of films and TV shows via its online library, and by downloading them first – in reference quality – it not only eliminates the glitches with streaming, but provides even better quality than physical media, the company says.
It’s an intriguing concept but until now, it has always been very expensive, with the company’s most affordable Strato C costing thousands of dollars.
But with the Kaleidescape Stratro M, the company is introducing an entry-level media player that’s much more affordable. It’s less than half the price of the Strato C, in fact, but there is one very major flaw, in that it’s limited to just 2K resolution video, albeit at very high quality.
In other words, although it’s only a 2K media player, it’s just about the best 2K media player that money can buy, delivering “reference-quality” content that’s superior to Blu-ray, without the need to maintain a collection of discs.
There’s no doubt that the Kaleidescape Stratro M is aimed at a very niche audience, such as those with a home theatre setup that utilises a premium-quality HD or 2K projector, or perhaps an older, giant-sized TV that lacks 4K.
In any case, Kaleidescape argues that 4K media isn’t really necessary in many home theatre setups, especially where users may sit a fair distance from the TV or projector screen. The company states that the Strato M is perfectly adequate for a viewing distance that’s 1.5-times the size of your screen. So if your home theatre uses a 65-inch television and you’re watching from 130-inches or further, you really don’t need 4K resolution. But any closer than that and you’ll probably wish you had increased pixel density, and so an upgrade to the Strato C or a higher-end Strato V becomes “worth it”, the company says.
Of course, the Kaleidescape Strato M is perfectly capable of downscaling 4K content and adapting it so it can render it perfectly on any kind of display.
Other notable features include support for Dolby Vision and HDR10, plus BT.2020 colour and 4:2:2 Chroma. In terms of sound, it supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, enabling multichannel and spatial audio – though not with newer LG TVs, which now lack support for DTS codecs. According to Kaleidescape, the Strato M delivers “lossless audio” that will enable your speakers and amplifiers to recreate the audio effects just as the director intended, with crystal clear dialogue and full immersion in sound.
“Strato M opens up the Kaleidescape experience to a broader range of movie enthusiasts,” said Tayloe Stansbury, chairman & CEO of Kaleidescape. “And in larger systems, Strato M is great for secondary rooms, while reserving the flagship Strato V for main viewing areas.”
For those getting started with Kaleidescape, they’ll likely be able to make do with the Strato M as a standalone option, at least to begin with. It comes with an internal SSD drive with a 480GB capacity, which would be enough space to store around six movies. That’s only half as much as the more expensive Strato V.
You’ll have to download your movies from the Kaleidescape Movie Store, where they can be either rented or purchased outright. The average movie takes about 10 minutes to download over a gigabit Ethernet connection, and users have the option to automatically delete movies 48 hours after playback so they can make room for new downloads.
On the other hand, if you’re more intent on building up your own library of movies, you’ll be able to do so by investing in the company’s Terra Prime movie servers, which provide tons of extra storage, albeit at a heavy cost.
The Kaleidescape Strato M is on sale in the U.S. now, priced at $1,995 on Best Buy. That compares very nicely to the 4K Strato V, which currently sells for $3,995, and the mid-range Strato C, which is also 4K but has less storage capacity, priced at $2,995.
We don’t yet know how much the Kaleidescape Strato M will cost in the U.K., but the Strato V currently costs just under £5,400, while the Strato C sells for around £4,000. So if Kaleidescape follows the same formula and sells the Strato M for half the price of the Strato V, it should cost around £2,700 once it goes on sale over here.
To expand your movie storage capacity, you’ll want to invest in a Terra Prime server, where prices start at £5,900 for the smallest, 8 terabyte model, rising to £15,600 for the chunky 48TB server.
These prices are still not cheap by any means, but it’s good to see that Kaleidescape is looking to attract a wider audience for its offerings, which provide a compelling alternative to Blu-ray discs, especially for movie enthusiasts who prize their high picture quality.
