Kaleidescape Strato V media player Review

Price

The Kaleidescape Strato V is available now through registered dealers, and retails in the UK for £5379, but in the US it will set you back less at $3995. While neither price can be considered cheap, it’s definitely more affordable than buying the Strato C player plus Terra Prime server.

The Strato C costs about the same but doesn’t support Dolby Vision and requires you to buy Kaleidescape’s Terra Prime server which is quite pricey. While you can still expand the storage of the Strato V by adding a Terra Prime, the extra cost rather defeats the whole point of buying one.

Design

• Excellent build quality
• Effective remote app
• Control over Ethernet

The Kaleidescape Strato V enjoys a stylish design with a sleek and very well-made chassis that uses a combination of a 3mm-thick black anodised aluminium body combined with a 3mm-thick black glass front that is so minimalist all you’ll see is an illuminated Kaleidescape logo.

The Strato V is silent in operation and includes a 960GB solid-state drive, along with a powerful system-on-chip (SoC). The unit is only 20cm wide, which might disappoint those who like their AV equipment full width, but there’s an optional faceplate for mounting in an equipment rack.

The rear connections are comprised of gold-plated HDMI 2.1 and coaxial digital audio outputs, along with an optical digital output. There’s also a gigabit Ethernet port, a USB 3.0 connector, an IR input, a service port, and a 12V input for attaching the included power adapter brick.

Unfortunately there’s no wireless connectivity, so you have to use a wired Ethernet connection for downloading movies, accessing the web interface, updating firmware and using the control app.

The included remote is small and simple but gets the job done. There’s no backlight, which can be annoying in a pitch black home cinema, but given Kaleidescape’s target market chances are you’ll be using a third-party control system over Ethernet like Crestron, AMX, Savant or Control4.

There’s also the Kaleidescape app (iOS or Android) which makes an effective controller, providing an alternative to the remote with its handy swipe function and access to the Kaleidescape store.

Features

• Scalable storage options
• Highest quality video
• Fully lossless audio

The Kaleidescape Strato V is designed to act as a high-end player that offers the best video and audio compared to any device on the market. To achieve this it supports every resolution up to 4K (3840 x 2160), and frame rates up to 60p. It also supports high dynamic range including HDR10 and Dolby Vision, plus lossless audio up to and including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

Unlike Ultra HD Blu-ray it doesn’t have to fit everything on a 100GB disc, so it can use larger file sizes, nor is it restricted to lower bit rates like streaming services and supports speeds up to 100Mbps. As a result, when you buy or rent movies, TV shows or concerts from Kaleidescape’s Movie Store you’re guaranteed the best possible picture and sound from a home cinema product.

The Strato V is primarily designed to operate as a standalone unit, which is why it has a built-in 960GB SSD. The downside is that the number of movies you can store at any one time is limited to around ten, and if you want to watch something else you have to download it. This may be an inconvenience, depending on your internet speed, but you can only watch one movie at a time.

If you would rather store your entire collection on a drive for instant access you can group the Strato V to a Terra Prime server. While doing so is obviously more expensive, and the built-in SSD is no longer available, the process is simple and won’t affect the Strato V’s performance in any way. It’s good to have the option to scale up the storage, even if you never actually need to.

User Experience

• Web-based interface
• Selectable aspect ratios
• Cataloguing your discs

The Kaleidescape Strato V is extremely easy to set up, only requiring you to plug in the power brick, attach an ethernet cable and connect to your display, AV processor or receiver. The brand even includes a THX-certified HDMI cable for this purpose, which is a nice touch. After you’ve connected the Strato V and powered it up, just follow the user-friendly onscreen instructions.

The initial options allow you to setup the Strato V as a standalone player, configure it as a new system with a Terra movie server, or add it as a new zone to an existing Kaleidescape system. When setup as a standalone player it operates independently, only playing movies stored locally on its internal drive, and can’t be grouped with other Strato V units for additional storage.

After selecting the relevant mode, you then either enter your email address if you already have a Kaleidescape account or create a new one. After entering your email address you’ll receive a confirmation email to activate the player. I found the web-based interface was my preferred option for the initial installation phase because it provides easy access to the Strato V’s setup menus.

In terms of the initial settings you can leave most at their defaults because the Strato V will read the EDID from your display, receiver or processor and optimise accordingly. If like me you use a 2.35:1 projector screen you can select the aspect ratio manually. This feature not only formats the interface and menus for the wider aspect ratio, but also automatically rescales 1.85:1 content.

When it comes to Kaleidescape’s Movie Store the US version offers a wider choice, with new films often added months before they’re released on disc. The UK version’s choice isn’t as impressive, and films take longer to be added. I appreciate studio agreements differ from territory to territory, but given the store is the main feature it’s a bit frustrating if you live outside the States.

One final feature is the option to catalogue your physical Blu-ray and DVD disc collections into a digital format. Just connect an external disc drive via USB, and the Strato V enters Recognition Mode. Insert a disc into the drive and the Strato V will catalogue it, showing the title in the store under Digital Offers and sometimes even offering a discount for the digital version.

Performance

• Slick and intuitive interface
• Superb picture and sound
• Impressive upscaling
• Flawless playback

The Kaleidescape Strato V is an excellent media player thanks to an intuitive user interface, and highly responsive operation. The Ready to Play page has titles from the store along the top, a second layer shows the unwatched titles currently on the internal drive, followed by a layer of paused movies, then played movies, and finally any movies you’ve marked as favourites.

However, the Strato V doesn’t show you all the films you’ve bought on its home page, only those on the internal drive. If you want to see your complete collection you’ll need to go to your account on the Movie Store, but this helps keep things uncluttered on the home page. Unless you mark a title as a favourite the system automatically deletes the oldest played content to free up space.

When you click on a title you get information about it, along with options to play, pause or choose a specific scene. When something is playing you can also press the up button on the remote and see additional information such as audio options and subtitles.

The process is seamless, with no issues playing, pausing or stopping movies. It’s also worth pointing out that the Strato V runs completely silent and very cool in operation. I found deleting existing films off the internal drive and downloading new ones onto it to be straightforward.

The process of buying titles from the movie store couldn’t be easier, and you can access it via the Kaleidescape website, through the player’s interface or even using the app. There are thousands of titles available for purchase or rental, some of which haven’t even been released on 4K disc yet.

If you decide to rent the title it remains on your system for 30 days, and once you begin watching it there’s a 48-hour window. If you like the film and decide to buy it within the 30-day rental period, half the rental price is credited towards the purchase.

The speed of download will depend on your internet connection – if you’re lucky enough to have gigabit speeds you can download movies in around 10 to 15 minutes. Unfortunately I live in the countryside and only have speeds of 50Mbps, so it took about two hours to download a movie.

When you buy a title it might offer 4K Dolby Vision and 4K HDR10 versions, but even if your display doesn’t support Dolby Vision you still download the former. The Strato V will automatically output whatever your display is capable of handling based on the initial reading of its EDID.

Kaleidescape’s use of larger file sizes and higher bit rates results in stunning images that are at least as good as the equivalent UHD disc, if not better. I watched a number titles, and the picture quality is stunning. The 4K images are sharp and detailed, the HDR10 or Dolby Vision is delivered precisely, and the overall presentation is free of any compression artefacts or other issues.

The audio is equally impressive, with full lossless support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X object-based formats. While streaming services may offer Atmos, it is usually delivered via lossy Dolby Digital, but with Kaleidescape you’re enjoying the full lossless experience you get with Blu-rays.

The Strato V’s upscaling is impressive, producing a clean and well defined picture with lower resolution content. The same applies when automatically re-scaling 1.85:1 content within the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which is seamless and results in an image free of any scaling artefacts.

Should you buy it?