Kaleidescape Strato V Review: High-End Performance, Lower Cost

Kaleidescape is synonymous with premium movie servers that deliver an unparalleled viewing experience. Many users love the product, while some have raised points for improvement. Two areas often mentioned are the absence of Dolby Vision support and the higher cost of entry. While Dolby Vision may not be a critical feature for projector users, it’s one that TV owners—especially as TV sizes continue to expand each year—have been eager to see. The cost of Kaleidescape systems has traditionally required a bit of an investment, which can be a hurdle for some potential users.

With the recent introduction of the Strato V movie player, Kaleidescape is tackling both of these points. The Strato V movie player not only adds Dolby Vision support but also lowers the entry cost to $3,995—less than half of what it used to be. But beyond these key updates, what else distinguishes Strato V from its predecessor, Strato C? Let’s take a closer look.

Specifications

The Strato V movie player offers a more simplified setup for Kaleidescape systems, combining what used to require two components—a player and a movie server—into one. It supports true 4K Ultra HD playback with bit rates up to 100 Mbps and frame rates up to 60 fps. In addition to playback, Strato V includes a 960GB solid-state drive that can store around 10 4K movies in Standalone Mode, making it possible to use the player without a separate movie server.

For those who require additional storage, Strato V can still be used in Grouped Mode, where a movie server is needed. In addition to what its predecessor already supports, Strato V now includes Dolby Vision (both standard and low-latency) alongside HDR10 and a wide range of audio formats, including Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and Dolby TrueHD. Strato V also features updated electronics and a new grounding option to prevent ground loops.

Design

The Strato V movie player retains the sleek design of its sibling but now comes in a black anodized aluminum finish. It’s compact and lightweight, measuring 7.87-inches wide, 1.52- inches tall, and 10-inches deep, weighing in at 4.2 pounds. This makes it easy to attach to the back of a TV or mount on a wall if needed. The front panel features a minimalist design with a centrally positioned, backlit Kaleidescape logo, and a small power button discreetly placed at the bottom right.

Around the back, Strato V is equipped with a single HDMI 2.1 port, along with digital optical and coaxial outputs, an IR input, a USB 3.0 port, your connection for power, a service port, and two chassis ground connections. While it doesn’t support Wi-Fi, it includes a Gigabit Ethernet jack for network connectivity.

If the player needs to be located where no wired network is available, a wireless extender can be used to provide ethernet connectivity to the network. When the player is in standalone mode, the network is used for downloading movies and movie guide updates, so speed is not as critical. If attempting to use the grouped mode to a server, the network connection needs to support gigabit speed.

Setup

The installation process for Strato V is straightforward. Once connected to the internet via an Ethernet connection, the setup is pretty simple. Due to its compact size, Strato V uses an external power brick that just needs to be plugged in. I used the included THX HDMI cable to link the Strato V movie player to a Trinnov Altitude16 in my dedicated movie room and also tested it in my living room on a BRAVIA 9 TV to test the Dolby Vision features.

Once the player is powered on, a welcome screen appears, displaying the player’s serial number. On the left side of the screen, there’s a network tab, and below that, a continue tab. In the continue tab, you have a few options to choose from: setting the player as a standalone player, configuring it as a new system with a Terra movie server, or adding it as a new zone to an existing Kaleidescape system.

In Standalone mode, Strato V utilizes its onboard solid-state storage to hold approximately 10 4K titles. Movies typically download in about 8-10 minutes over a gigabit network, even while watching previously downloaded content. When operating in Standalone mode, Strato V must be activated as a separate system and plays movies stored locally on its internal drive. It cannot be combined with other Strato V units for additional storage. However, it can be converted to Grouped mode by adding a Terra Prime movie server.

I decided to use the Standalone mode for the first week and a half to fully test the player’s capabilities. After selecting Standalone mode and hitting continue, the activation page appears. Here, you can either enter your email address if you already have an account or create a new one. After entering my email address, I received a confirmation email to activate the player. Once confirmed, the player was ready to use.

Kaleidescape Store

The centerpiece of the Kaleidescape experience is its  Movie Store, which offers an extensive catalog of Ultra HD titles. The store features nearly 14,000 titles, with around 9,000 available for rental. About 700 of these UHD titles are not available on disc. There’s also the recent addition of concert titles that broadens the variety of content available.

Users can access the Kaleidescape movie store through the Kaleidescape app, directly on the website, or via the player interface. Personally, I find the app or website easier to navigate compared to the player interface.

The store allows for both purchasing and renting movies, with prices varying depending on the studio. Rental titles remain on your system for up to 30 days, and once playback begins, you have a 48-hour window to watch the title as many times as you’d like. A nice feature of Kaleidescape is that if you choose to purchase a movie you’ve rented within the 30-day rental period, half of the rental price is credited toward the purchase. This applies to normal rentals only and does not include premium rentals (rentals in the theatrical window - typically $19.95 or above, compared to $7.95).

For new releases, the system offers a pre-order option where movies are automatically downloaded onto the player the day before, and just after midnight on the release date, it’s ready for instant viewing.

Kaleidescape uses high-quality video files from studios and processes them with minimal compression, ensuring the highest possible fidelity. As a result, downloaded 4K Ultra HD and HDR content plays back at up to 100 Mbps with 10-bit color and up to 60 frames per second, often exceeding the quality of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.

This high fidelity is noteworthy given that a typical 4K Blu-ray disc, with a file size of 66GB, often requires additional compression to fit the film onto the disc. The Kaleidescape Strato V movie player doesn’t have these file size constraints and can download movies in full resolution. Since the content is stored locally, users benefit from consistent quality without the risk of internet-related interruptions.

Download times for movies on the Strato V movie player can vary based on your internet speed. With Cox Gigabit Internet, which offers speeds up to 1 Gbps, I found the download process to be fairly quick. In my experience, most movies take about 10 to 14 minutes to download.

Kaleidescape offers a unique feature called cataloging, which allows you to convert your physical Blu-ray and DVD disc collection into digital format. Strato V supports this feature, and to use it, you’ll need an external disc drive. The process is simple: connect the drive to your Strato player via a USB cable and ensure both devices are powered on.

Once connected, the Strato enters "Recognition Mode," indicated by the front logo blinking three times. Insert a disc into the Blu-ray drive, and the Strato begins the cataloging process. It typically takes about 10 seconds for DVDs and 15 seconds for Blu-rays. When the process is complete, the disc is automatically ejected, and you can see the title in the Kaleidescape store under Digital Offers, often with a discount applied for the digital version. I’ve discussed my experience with this feature, and you can read more about it in my previous article  here.

If you'd prefer to keep a title from being automatically deleted, you can go to the "Collections" tab in the movie's menu and mark it as a favorite. This will not only prevent deletion but also add the movie to a separate "Favorites" row on the home screen. If you start and stop a movie, you'll see a "Paused" row on the home screen, so you can easily pick up where you left off.

To evaluate the video and audio quality of the Strato V movie player, I used some of my usual demo scenes. One example that stood out is "Avengers: Infinity War." The Kaleidescape store offers this movie in Dolby Vision, whereas the 4K Blu-ray version is only available in HDR10. To compare, I looked at the Dolby Vision version on Kaleidescape alongside the only other place you can find a Dolby Vision version, which is Disney+.

One area where the difference was particularly noticeable was in the details of Black Panther's suit. The extra clarity was evident in the finer details of the suit, as well as in the grass and trees during the final battle with Thanos. The picture quality on Kaleidescape appeared to have much more detail compared to the streaming version. Not only was the picture quality better, but the Dolby Atmos track on Kaleidescape offered a more dynamic experience as well. At the time of this review, the Kaleidescape store offers around 200 Dolby Vision titles, with more expected to be added in the future.

One of the subtle advantages of owning a system like Kaleidescape is evident in situations like the other night when I wanted to watch the new movie "Twisters," which won't be available on 4K Blu-ray for some time. Instead of going for the usual iTunes rental, I decided to rent it on Kaleidescape for the same price, but with better quality. The movie downloaded in just 9 minutes.

After watching several movies on the Strato V movie player, I noticed another difference which is how cool the system runs. With the Strato C, the player would often be warm to the touch after a movie. Strato V remains noticeably cooler, likely due to its new processor and updated internal design.

One question I had going into this review was whether a Dolby Vision title would still work on an HDR10 display. To test this, I first had Strato V connected to my Dolby Vision display, then moved it to my movie room, where the projector only supports HDR10. I'm happy to report that you don’t need to download a separate HDR10 version. The player converts Dolby Vision to HDR10, making it convenient, especially if you have multiple units with displays that have different capabilities.

After about a week and a half of using Standalone mode, I decided it was time to test out Grouped mode. Grouped mode is activated when Strato V is connected to a system that includes a Terra or Terra Prime movie server. Once grouped, Strato V automatically deletes all movies stored on its internal storage, disables that storage, and switches to playing movies stored on the server.

Initially, I thought switching between modes might be a bit complicated, but I was pleasantly surprised by how simple it was. There are a few ways to switch modes, but I opted to use the web interface. At the bottom of the main page, there's an option to add a movie server. After clicking the "Add" button, the system quickly found the server on my network. With a simple confirmation, Strato V automatically switched to Grouped mode, displaying all the movies stored on the Terra server.

As I was testing the Grouped mode, I wondered if the player’s performance would differ from the Standalone mode, but I found it to be just as responsive and quick. Navigating through the menus in Grouped mode is almost an identical experience compared to how it was in Standalone mode but with one key difference. In the options for viewing your collection, the list view can now display both the title and the poster, rather than just a list of movie titles as seen on the Strato C. While the poster wall can sometimes feel overwhelming with a large collection, this new view offers a cleaner and more organized layout.

Conclusion

Strato V has been an outstanding player throughout my testing. Its responsiveness, combined with the addition of onboard storage, and the ability to play back Dolby Vision marks a significant advancement, addressing key features that many users have been asking for. The ability to easily switch between Standalone and Grouped modes without compromising performance adds to its versatility.

While the price remains on the higher side at $3,995 without a server, it’s clear that Kaleidescape has worked to offer a more accessible option without sacrificing the quality the brand is known for. For those who are serious about their movie-watching experience and want the best possible playback, Strato V delivers exceptional performance at a more reasonable price point than it used to be.

FAQ

Is it possible to use Strato V and Strato C players together in the same system?

In grouped mode, a Strato V player can be linked with a Terra Prime movie server that also includes one or more Strato C players. However, only the Strato V movie player will be able to play downloaded Dolby Vision content.

Can multiple Strato V players be used together?

Strato V players cannot be directly grouped with other Strato V players; they need a server to form a group. Without a server, each player functions independently in standalone mode. However, there are no restrictions on the number of Strato V players that can be grouped with a Terra Prime movie server.

Is the Strato V movie player replacing the Strato C player?

No, customers can now choose between Strato V or Strato C based on their specific needs.