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.
The Kaleidescape Store
The Kaleidescape Store is an on-line store with movies, TV shows and concerts which are available for purchase or rental. The titles you purchase are stored in the cloud for you to download to your Kaleidescape System at any time on up to 5 systems. So if you have multiple homes that way you can share the same library with each of your homes. That way when you play a title which is locally stored the Kaleidescape way you are not subject to the vagaries of the internet in terms of quality playback of either video or audio. Another advantage is that if you delete a title from your Kaleidescape Server after you watch it you can download it again anytime. In fact you can delete and download as many times as you wish. In your home, or in each home if you have up to 5, each Kaleidescape system can distribute up to 10 4K Ultra HD movies or up to 15 Blu-ray quality movies to different rooms simultaneously. All of your movies are protected by cloud backup so you never need be concerned about losing a title. The system is also very robust in another way in that if your internet service is ever down you can still watch movies on your Kaleidescape system due to the local storage design of the system. As of October 2022 there are over 14,000 titles available for purchase and 9000 titles available for rental with more being added daily. Compare that to Netflix which typically has only 5000-6000 titles at any one time, and many of those titles are only available for a limited time. Whereas when you buy a title from the Kaleidescape Store it is in your on-line library permanently. MUSIC Of particular interest to us is that Kaleidescape has started to really expand their music offerings. You can see the various titles on offer here. For instance as of October 2022 there are over 400 Video Concerts available and that number continues to climb. In addition there are music documentaries, musicals, and opera available. For rock and pop, Eagle Rock is well known for their concert videos. You can see a great selection of them in the Kaleidescape Store here. Sony Music is another great source of concerts and you can their titles here. Universal Music Group too has some big names which you can see here. Stadium Media has more titles as well. For even more MVD Entertainment has an interesting mix of titles here. For classical, jazz, and dance there is a nice selection on EuroArts as you can see here. For more classical there is Opus Arte and you can see the available titles here.
S T R A T O C + T E R R A
KALEIDESCAPE STRATO C and STRATO V MOVIE PLAYER4K Ultra HD & HDR (High Dynamic Range) Video with Lossless Audio
Kaleidescape designed the Strato C and the Strato V 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 and Strato V play 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 V does all this with the addition of supportying Dolby Vision.
Strato C and Strato V plays 4K Ultra HD movies from a Terra Prime 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.
Both of 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. As of May 2024 there are even more!!
T E R R A P R I M E M O V I E S E R V E R
Terra Prime shown with two Strato C above
KALEIDESCAPE TERRA PRIME MOVIE SERVERHigh performance core for a single or multi-zone Strato system
The Kaleidescape Terra Prime 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 Prime 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 Prime coupled with Strato C players provides the best 4K Ultra HD performance and the most flexibility for future expansion.
A Terra Prime can simultaneously serve movies over a standard residential network to Strato C and Strato V players anywhere in the home. Once a movie is downloaded and stored on Terra Prime it can be enjoyed immediately from any player.
Kaleidescape’s proprietary KOS operating system enables Terra Prime to provide the advanced content protection required by Hollywood motion picture studios for their highest-fidelity movies.
Terra Prime 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 Prime with either 48TB or 72TB or 96TB of hard disk storage capacity. In addition there is the Terra Prime Solid-State server which utilizes 31TB of data center grade SSD storage. This server can utilize a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet network and enables the fastest downloads and the most simultaneous movie playbacks. This represents the state of the art in movie server performance as well as featuring low power draw and quiet operation. It and can download a Kaleidescape high-bitrate 4K movie in as little as four minutes and can hold about 500 4K movies. For even more storage capacity multiple Terra Prime Solid-State servers can be utilized. As a reference point a Terra Prime 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 Prime 96TB it scales up mathmatically such that it can typically hold approximately 1600 4K titles, over 2500 Blu-ray quality movies, or over 14,000 DVD quality movies. For those who want it all, up to four Terra Prime 123TB servers can be combined into a single system for a total storage capacity of 492TB. That's large enough to hold all the 4K and HD movies in the entire Kaleidescape movie store. If you'd like even more storage than that you can simply add additional Terra servers at any time.
C O M P A C T T E R R A P R I M E M O V I E S E R V E R
KALEIDESCAPE COMPACT TERRA PRIME MOVIE SERVER
Compact high performance core for a single or multi-zone Strato system
The compact Terra Prime 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 Prime 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 Prime servers. The Terra Prime Solid-State 8TB, Terra Prime 8TB and the Terra Prime 22TB are all indeed quite compact. With a half-width form factor and 1U height they can be placed most anywhere even in the tightest of quarters. They 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 Prime is a great option. In concert with a Strato C or Strato V, a Terra Prime also has the ability to play back and download movies simultaneously which is something Strato or Strato S alone cannot do. A Terra Prime with 8TB stores anywhere from about 130 4K to 240 movies with a typical mix of 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray quality and DVD quality titles. In practice we have typically been seeing about 100 titles or maybe more per 6TB though it depends on the file size for each title as they vary. A Terra Prime with 22TB stores about 350 4K titles. A Compact Terra Prime can be paired with either a Strato C or any of the prior Strato models. When paired with a Strato C or a Strato V, 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 Strato/Terra Prime Pricing
To configure a Kaleidescape system for your home cinema system you would mate one Strato C with the Terra of your choice. Strato C - $3995 Strato V - $3995 Compact Terra Prime Solid-State 8 TB - $9995 Compact Terra Prime 8 TB - $4995 Compact Terra Prime 22 TB - $9995 Terra Prime Solid-State 31 TB - $24,995 Terra Prime Solid-State 123 TB - $64,995 Terra Prime 48 TB - $15,995 Terra Prime 72 TB - $20,995 Terra Prime 96 TB - $26,995 Below are some Kaleidescape player/server configurations for your home cinema: BUNDLES Strato C or Strato V w/Compact Terra Prime Solid-State 8 TB Strato C or Strato V w/Terra Prime Solid-State 31TB Strato C or Strato V w/Compact Terra Prime 8 TB Strato C or Strato V w/Compact Terra Prime 22 TB Strato C or Strato V w/Terra Prime 48 TB Strato C or Strato V w/Terra Prime 72 TB Strato C or Strato V w/Terra Prime 96 TB THE EVERYTHING 4K SYSTEM - $96,000 Every 4K movie, 4K Video Concert and 4K TV Show pre-loaded on to two Terra Prime 96TB servers. Those who are interested can now receive every 4K movie available from the US Kaleidescape store (at the time of shipment) pre-loaded on to two Terra 96TB servers. The two servers are packaged with a Strato V movie player, thus allowing you to experience the ultimate in 4K right out of the box. Multiple Terra Prime Servers can be combined for more massive storage. For example: Strato V w/Terra Prime 96 x 2 Note: This setup could hold over 3200 4K titles Strato V w/Terra Prime 96 x 3 Note: This setup could hold over 4800 4K titles Strato V w/Terra Prime 96 x 4 Note: This setup could hold over 6400 4K titles Here are the various types of video files available from the Kaleidescape Store: 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: One Terra Prime can service multiple rooms by having a Strato C or Strato V movie player per room for multi-room capability. Please note that the above pricing is current as of August 2024 but obviously pricing and models are subject to change without notice over time.
Kaleidescape Premiere System
Kaleidescape 1U+ Movie Server
KALEIDESCAPE 1U+ MOVIE SERVER Stores and serves your favorite movies and concerts plus protects them with RAID-K The 1U+ Movie Server stores movies imported from Blu-ray and DVD discs. It can also store movies downloaded from the Kaleidescape Movie Store. A single 1U+ 36TB Movie Server can store up to 970 Blu-ray movies, or 5400 DVD quality movies. Multiple servers can be grouped into a single system to store many thousands of Blu-ray movies. The Kaleidescape 1U+ Movie Server provides fail-safe storage for your collection of movies, video concerts and TV Shows using a proprietary disk storage technology called RAID-K. If a hard drive should ever fail, the Kaleidescape System will continue to operate and no content is lost. The failed drive can be replaced without turning off the server or disrupting playback. Movies and concerts stored on a 1U+ Movie Server can be played on any Kaleidescape Premiere player in the home or yacht. For playback of content imported from a Blu-ray disc, the physical disc must be present in either an M500 Player, or in a Kaleidescape Disc Vault.
• Serves Blu-ray movies to up to 15 zones simultaneously • Serves DVD movies to up to 50 zones simultaneously • Up to four movies can be imported simultaneously
Kaleidescape 1U+ Movie Server with faceplate removed
Kaleidescape Premiere Component Pricing
1U+ Movie Server with 36TB of storage $17,9951U+ Movie Server with 18TB of storage $11,995M300 Player $4,995M500 Player $4,995DV700 Disc Vault (Remanufactured) $5,995 The 1U+ 18TB server stores up to 485 Blu-ray movies, or 2700 DVD movies. The 1U+ 36 TB server stores up to 970 Blu-ray movies, or 5400 DVD movies. In addition multiple 1U+ Servers can be combined for even more storage. The M300 is a Movie Player that is connected to a Movie Server via ethernet. The M500 is Movie Player which also has a DVD/1080p Blu-ray drive that is connected to a Movie Server. The DV700 Disc Vault stores 320 DVD/Blu-ray discs. Note: The Premiere line is the original Kaleidescape disc-based system. It is designed to utilize your existing DVD and Blu-ray discs. This generation of Premiere Movie Servers also supports the downloading of SD (DVD quality) and HD (Blu-ray quality) files from the Kaleidescape Store. However the Premiere system does not support 4K discs or files. If you presently have a Premiere system you have the option of adding a Strato/Terra combo to your system which will then allow for 4K UHD and 4K HDR movie file playback. This can be accomplished by adding a Co-Star. Please note that the above prices are current as of November 1, 2022 but obviously pricing and models are subject to change over time.
Accessories
CO-STAR SWITCHING Co-Star HDMI Switch Kit $695Kit includes the following: Co-Star HDMI switch 2 HDMI cables Co-Star Software License Co-Star software license for Lumagen Radiance Pro $495Co-Star software license for Crestron - single player $495Co-Star software license for Crestron - site license $4,995
REMOTESRemote (Backlit IR remote control for all players) $39Child Remote $39
RACK MOUNTSMini Player Rack-Mount Shelf (1RU, holds 2 players) $395 Kaleidescape Co-Star Rack Mounting Kit $135Terra Rack-Mount Hardware $195 Strato C Wall-Mount Hardware $49 Strato C & Compact Terra Rack-Mount Hardware $195 (1RU, holds 1 or 2 components) Please note that the above prices are current as of May 1, 2023 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 Kaleidescape 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 either 66 GB or 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.

Strato - Prior 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.

Installation Guides

Current Strato/Terra Models
Premiere Models
Disc Vaults
Prior Models
If you have any questions about either current or prior generation Kaleidecape configurations you are welcome to give us a call.