K A L E I D E S C A P E

H O M E C I N E M A M OV I E S E R V E R S
Never, in the world of consumer electronics, have so few labored so mightily for so long to the benefit of so many as the founders of Kaleidescape. As Napster was once the legal bad boy of Audio, Kaleidescape took on industry associations and the courts for ten years before reaching an agreement that allowed them to continue manufacturing products that people had been enjoying throughout the long battle.
What does it do? It is a home theater or even a multi-room server system that will store and play back video and audio content through players connected to video projectors, flatscreens and their associated audio systems. It's wonderfully simple to use though extremely sophistiicated in terms of design and manufacture in terms of both hardware and software. The first time you fire up your system -- look at your video display and select the cover art icon of the movie you want to watch, have it start instantly with no wait, no FBI warning, no advertisement for Blu-ray technology, and no coming attractions -- by contrast you'll think you'd been previously living in the Stone Age.
It's that good. For more about Kaleidescape Movie Servers, you're welcome to contact us to learn more.
S T R A T O C + T E R R A
KALEIDESCAPE STRATO C MOVIE PLAYER4K Ultra HD & HDR (High Dynamic Range) Video with Lossless Audio
Kaleidescape designed the Strato C movie player to provide an immersive home cinema experience, with the potenial for better audio and video playback quality than is typcially experienced in most commercial theaters.
Strato C plays movies in stunning 4K UHD/HDR at up to 100 Mbps and 60 frames per second, with virtually no startup delay. Unlike streaming services, each movie is downloaded and stored on a hard drive, on either a Kaleidescape Terra movie server or another previous generation Kaleidescape Strato movie player that contains storage. Strato C can also play downloaded Blu-ray and DVD quality movies, Concert Video, and TV Shows upscaled to 4K using advanced upscaling algorithms.
Strato C supports lossless multichannel audio and plays high dynamic range movies on flatscreens and video projectors that can process open standard 10-bit HDMI 2.0a HDR. The Strato onscreen user interface is displayed in full 4K Ultra HD at 60 frames per second, resulting in fluid animation for a more stunning visual impact.
Strato C plays 4K Ultra HD movies from a Terra movie server, or a previous generation Strato movie player. You can start the movie instantly, or you can jump right to your favorite scene or song. If you have multiple video display devices in your home you can have a Strato C for each one such that multiple people can watch different movies, concerts or shows simultaneously in different rooms all of which can be played from a single Terra.
The Strato’s onscreen display provides access to the Kaleidescape movie store, the world’s only online source for movies with full-fidelity audio and video. The movie store offers a library of the finest content from Hollywood’s major movie studios, ranging from top new releases to iconic films spanning the past 100 years. The Kaleidescape movie store offers the best selection of 4K UHD titles with HDR support, and thousands of movies in full Blu-ray HD quality. These Blu-ray quality movies provide superb results when a Strato internally scales them up to 4K. Both Blu-ray quality and 4K Ultra HD movies are available with lossless multichannel and object-based audio, including Dolby Atmos or DTS:X. You also might be interested to know that as of June 2022 Kaleidescape had over 700 4K movies not available on 4K Blu-ray disc.
T E R R A M O V I E S E R V E R
Terra shown with two Strato C above
KALEIDESCAPE TERRA MOVIE SERVERHigh performance core for a single or multi-zone Strato system
The Kaleidescape Terra movie server stores high-fidelity movies on an array of enterprise-quality hard drives, without compression or loss of quality. In addition to storing movies, Terra provides caching, staging, and computing services that improve player performance, and enable scaling to a large number of players.
Kaleidescape Terra can also be the foundation for a multi-room Kaleidescape Strato system. A Terra movie server can support any number of Strato C players and is capable of serving up to 10 simultaneous 4K Ultra HD playbacks or 15 HD playbacks. In addition a Kaleidescape Terra with Strato C players provides the best 4K Ultra HD performance and the most flexibility for future expansion.
A Terra can simultaneously serve movies over a standard residential network to Strato S and Strato C players anywhere in the home. Once a movie is downloaded and stored on Terra, it can be enjoyed immediately from any player.
Kaleidescape’s proprietary KOS operating system enables Terra to provide the advanced content protection required by Hollywood motion picture studios for their highest-fidelity movies.
Terra is designed to continue operating even after a failure of one of the four internal hard drives. Then when the failed drive is replaced, its movies are automatically re-downloaded from your Kaleidescape Library in the cloud.
You can obtain a Terra with either 48TB or 72TB of capacity. As a reference point a Terra with 48TB can store around 1,440 movies in a typical mix of 4K, HD and SD titles. For a hypothetical all-4K library it would typcially store something like 720 to 800 titles. For a Terra 72TB it scales up mathmatically such that it can typically hold between 1080 to 1200 4K titles. Or with a typical mix of 4K UHD/HDR, HD (Blu-ray quality) and SD (DVD quality) titles it can hold on average say about 2160 movies. If you'd like even more than that you can simply add additional Terra servers at any time.
C O M P A C T T E R R A M O V I E S E R V E R
KALEIDESCAPE COMPACT TERRA MOVIE SERVER
Compact high performance core for a single or multi-zone Strato system
The compact Terra is designed for cinephiles eager to invest in the Kaleidescape experience as a step up from the prior Strato models, with substantially greater speed and scalability. With the power to download feature-length 4K movies in as little as 10 minutes, the compact Terra will provide the same experience as larger Terra servers plus allow the flexibility to add playback zones and grow movie collections over time by adding additional Terra servers. The Terra 6, Terra 12 and Terra 18 are indeed quite compact. With a half-width form factor and 1U height it can be placed most anywhere even in the tightest of quarters. It can also be easily remoted into any other space in your home wherever an ethernet connection can be made available. In some installations it can even be placed directly behind a flatscreen. Plus it is powerful enough to serve up to five simultaneous 4K UHD playbacks. For those who already own a Strato or Strato S and want to increase their current storage, download speed, and scalability, adding a compact Terra is a great option. In concert with a Strato C, a Terra also has the ability to play back and download movies simultaneously which is something Strato or Strato S alone cannot do. A Terra with 6TB stores 90 to 180 movies with a typical mix of 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray quality and DVD quality titles. Or if you were going with all 4K content a Terra 12 can store up to 90 titles. In practice we have typically been seeing about 100 titles per 6TB though it depends on the file size for each title as they vary. A Terra with 12TB stores 180 to 360 movies with a typical mix of 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray quality and DVD quality titles. Or if you were going with all 4K content a Terra 12 can store up to 180 titles and oftentimes more like 200 titles. A Terra with 18TB stores 270 to 540 movies with a typical mix of 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray quality and DVD quality titles. Or if you were going with all 4K content a Terra 18 can store up to 270 titles and oftentimes more like 300 titles.. A Compact Terra can be paired with either a Strato C or any of the prior Strato models. When paired with a Strato C, since both are half-width 1U units, with the optional faceplate that combines them, as shown above, they only occupy a single 1U rack space which means that toghether they are a mere 1.75" high and 19" wide.
Kaleidescape Configurations
Below are some Kaleidescape player/server configurations for your home cinema*** Strato C = $3995 Compact Terra 6 TB = $4995 Compact Terra 12 TB = $7995 Compact Terra 18 TB = $9995 Terra 48 TB = $17,995 Terra 72 TB = $23,995 BUNDLES Strato C w/Terra 6 TB = $8990 Strato C w/Terra 12 TB = $11,990 Strato C w/Terra 18 TB = $13,990 Strato C w/Terra 48 TB = $20,990 Strato C w/Terra 72 TB = $26,990 In additional multiple Terra Servers can be combined for more massive storage. For example: Strato C w/Terra 72 x 2 Note: This setup would hold up to 2400 4K or 3900 HD titles or 21,600 SD titles Strato C w/Terra 72 x 3 Note: This setup would hold up to 3600 4K or 5850 HD titles or 32,400 SD titles Strato C w/Terra 72 x 4 Note: This setup would hold up to 4800 4K or 7800 HD or 43,200 SD titles Here are the various types of video files available for Kaleidescape: UHD & HDR means the downloaded movie files are 4K Blu-ray video quality or better HD means the downloaded movie files are Blu-ray video quality or better SD means the downloaded movie files are DVD video quality or better Note that additional Strato movie players can be added for multi-room capability. ***Please note that the above individual prices and package prices are current as of July 1, 2022 but obviously pricing and models are subject to change over time.
Kaleidescape: The Filmaker's Choice
Kaleidescape can be found in many fine homes as well as yachts worldwide. In particular many Hollywood directors, actors, and studio executives have a Kalediscape movie server in their home. One example is Martin Scorsese and here is what he said about being a longtime owner: “Kaleidescape is an essential part of my life and has been since 2007. It’s allowed me to curate a great library of films over the years, to cross-reference titles and follow my own threads—in other words, to have a treasury of cinematic history at my fingertips. And these days, when movies are routinely devalued and streamed in forms that are often compromised, I’ve come to value Kaleidescape more than ever. From the presentation of uncompressed 4K to the meticulous attention to every aspect of the film as the director intended it, Kaleidescape is grounded in a true and deep love for the art of cinema. Frankly, I don’t know what I’d do without it.”
Kaleidescape Video Quality
There are two ways of viewing the highest quality video image in a home system: either utilize a Kaleicesacpe movie server or play a Blu-ray disc. Either of these two sources can deliver higher quality video as compared to streaming which has more lossy compression. Something that most people aren't aware of is that the movies files downloaded from the Kaleidescape Store can be larger, higher quality files than even those on some 4K Blu-ray discs. Reason being, unlike 4K Blu-ray discs which have a maximum file size of 100 GB per disc, there is no upper limit on file size for a Kaleicescape movie. Some examples include: The Ten Commandments 4K Blu-ray disc is a BD100 (which means it is limited to 100 GB)Kaleidescape 4K download file size is 127.1 GB
Spartacus 4K Blu-ray disc files size is 92 GB Kaleidescape 4K download file size is 107.4 GB
Avengers: Endgame4K Blu-ray disc is a BD66 (which means it is limited to 66 GB)Kaleidescape 4K download file size is 104.7 GB
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker4K Blu-ray disc comes on a 66 GB disc (which means it is limited to 66 GB) Kaleidescape 4K download file size is 80.8 GB
Avengers: Infinity War 4K Blu-ray disc comes on a 66 GB disc (which means it is limited to 66 GB) Kaleidescape 4K download file size is 86.3 GB
Lawrence of Arabia4K Blu-ray has been split between two discsKaleidescape 4K download file size is 115.3 GB
Gandhi4K Blu-ray has been split between two discsKaleidescape download file size is 103.4 GB
Planet Earth II4K Blu-ray release is split between two 66 GB discsKaleidescape 4K download file size is 165.3 GB
Blue Planet II4K Blu-ray release is split between three 66 GB discsKaleidescape 4K download file size is 193.2 GB
Ford v Ferrari4K release comes on a 66 GB disc (which is limited to 66 GB)4K download file size is 82 GB
Die Hard4K Blu-ray BD-66 (which means it is limited to 66 GB)The Kaleidescape 4K download file size is 71 GB
Kaleidescape Audio Quality
Just as with video auality, if you'd like to experience high quality audio for a movie or a concert video there are two choices, either play it on a Kaleidescape server or use a Blu-ray disc. Either alternative is far better than streaming audio quality due to the lossy compression utilzed for streaming. Kaleidescape can deliver an identical bit-for-bit copy of the studio master audio in various lossless formats up to and including object-based Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive formats. With an audio bitrate which is typically 10x higher than streaming services, Kaleidescape can dramatically elevate the level of sound quality feeding your surround sound processor, amplifiers and speakers. Experience the difference in sound quality that you will hear not just in the ground-shaking rumbles of some blockbuster but also in the transporting power of each subtle sound or the emotionally moving music of a wonderful soundtrack.
Having been a Kaleidescape dealer since 2005, we are quite knowledgeable with regard to their complete line of movie servers. If you'd like to know more please email or give us a call as we'd be happy to help you choose the configuration that's right for you.

Discontinued Models

STRATO & STRATO S MOVIE PLAYER4K Ultra HD & HDR (High Dynamic Range) Video with Lossless Audio
Kaleidescape Strato & Strato S combines all the color and crisp detail of true 4K UHD & HDR with stunning sound and the convenience of Internet delivery. Kaleidescape designed the Strato S movie player to provide an immersive home cinema experience, with better audio and video playback quality than most commercial theaters.
Strato & Strato S plays movies in 4K UHD at up to 100 Mbps and 60 frames per second, without any startup delay. Unlike streaming services, each movie is downloaded and stored on the internal hard drive. In addition Strato S can play downloaded HD (Blu-ray quality) and SD (DVD quality) movies in 4K using advanced upscaling algorithms.
Strato & Strato S supports lossless multichannel audio and plays HDR (high dynamic range) movies on flatscreens and projectors that can process open standard 10-bit HDMI 2.0a HDR. The Strato S onscreen user interface is displayed in full 4K Ultra HD at 60 frames per second, resulting in fluid animation and a stunning visual impact. The Strato came with either 6TB or 10TB of internal storage. Whereas the Strato S came with either 6TB or 12TB of storage so they they that can store 180 to 360 movies with a typical mix of 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray quality movies, and DVD quality titles.
The Strato & Strato S’s onscreen display provides access to the Kaleidescape movie store, the world’s only online source for movies with full-fidelity audio and video. The movie store offers a library of the finest content from Hollywood’s major movie studios, ranging from top new releases to iconic films spanning the past 100 years. The Kaleidescape movie store offers the best selection of 4K Ultra HD titles with high dynamic range support, and thousands of movies in full Blu-ray HD quality. These Blu-ray quality movies provide superb results when Strato scales them up to 4K. Both Blu-ray quality and 4K Ultra HD movies are available with lossless multichannel and object-based audio, including DTS:X and Atmos. For more storage and faster download speeds, a Terra can be added to either the Strato the Strato S. If you have any questions about either current or prior generation Kaleidecape components you are welcome to give us a call.