New Products

Kaleidescape, the Silicon Valley firm that introduced the first dedicated movie server in 2001, today announced a new 4K movie player that supports Dolby Vision high dynamic range (HDR) and lossless audio, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. The move addresses the criticism that previous players were limited to the static HDR10 format.

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Priced at $3,995, the Strato V player is a single-zone device that works on its own or as part of a larger Kaleidescape system. It can store up to 10 reference-quality 4K movies on its solid-state drive and features a streamlined interface that has been optimized for navigating a small movie library.

The player is able to download a 4K movie during playback without sacrificing performance in as little as 10 minutes over Gigabit Ethernet, according to the company. To make room for new movies on a continuous basis, the system can be set up to automatically delete a movie 48 hours after playback.

To increase movie storage capacity, the Strato V can be grouped with the company’s Terra Prime movie servers; any number of players can be grouped with one or more new or existing Terra movie servers.

Kaleidescape says the addition of player-side decode for high-bitrate audio codecs provides flexibility to maximize sound quality with a range of downstream components. In addition to the new user interface, the Strato V features updated electronics and grounding topology.

“Strato V is perfect for new customers and those who have a TV or projector with Dolby Vision support, or older audio equipment that does not decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS:HD [Master Audio lossless audio],” the company said. “Strato C is perfect for current Kaleidescape customers who have a Co-Star configuration, or a large library of HD content.”

The Kaleidescape movie store offers thousands of 4K and HD titles, including movies, TV series, and concerts. Movies are available with lossless multichannel and object-based audio, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and about 100 titles are currently offered in Dolby Vision with more on the way.

The Strato V is housed in a black anodized aluminum and glass chassis. For more information, visit kaleidescape.com . To buy one, follow this link to Audio Advice.