CE Pro May 2022 - 60

CE Products
FIELD TEST
SPECS
Performance &
Conclusions
After integrating the
Kaleidescape system and
navigating some pre-loaded
content, I watched " Wrath of
Man, " a new Jason Statham
movie. I immediately noticed
how much deeper the images
and richer the colors looked
vs. the streaming content I
watch most of the time.
On the audio side, the
DTS:X soundtrack sounded
much more dynamic, less
compressed and much louder
than I get from streaming
and broadcast content.
Checking out some live
music videos on the Kaleidescape
system, I watched
" Def Leppard: Hysteria O2, "
" Eric Clapton: Slowhand
at 70 " and the " Bohemian
Rhapsody " Live Aid scene.
It was interesting to hear
the approach each video
took toward the audio mix,
facilitated by the bit-for-bit
precision. In the Def Leppard
video, the audio was mixed
as if the listener were in the
middle of the crowd with lots
of space. The Clapton mix
was much more traditional
and treated like a standard
multichannel sound stage.
The Queen Live Aid recreation
was in between.
Meanwhile, the Live Aid
scene is a good torture test
for video processing with its
camera panning the massive
stadium crowd. As the camera
moves across the screen,
it is easy to induce motion
artifacts and I didn't see any
noisy sequences.
Kaleidescape's excellent
user interface helped me
to navigate the variety of
60 | CE Pro May 2022
The app provides info
such as percentage of
download completion,
system status and more.
content stored on the Terra
12. The company's kOS allows
users to choose within
their " My Movies " library to
browse using an alpha list,
cover art or by their movie
collections. The interface
also enables " Kaleidescape
Store, " " Parental Controls "
and " System " access.
The system provides information
such as what percent
of a movie is downloaded
and approximate time left
to complete. Trying the
download process, I rented
" F9: The Fast Saga " and via
my Access Networks and
Comcast 600Mbps broadband
service it took about
20 minutes for the two-hour,
20-minute movie in 4K with
HDR and Dolby Atmos.
I did experience some
momentary dropouts with
several movie titles and after
trying to solve the problem
by swapping out unmanaged
switches, I contacted
the Kaleidescape
team.
Using the remote
capabilities of
its platform, the
engineering team
was able to determine
the issue was
HDMI related.
First we swapped
the cables between
the Strato C and my
Onkyo receiver, but
that did not work.
Kaleidescape then
suggested that I run
an HDMI cable from
the HDMI Audio Only
output of the Strato C to my
receiver and another HDMI
cable directly to my projector.
This resolved the issue. After
going through this troubleshooting,
I determined
the high-bandwidth content
produced by the Strato C
and Terra 12 was too much
for the video processing
technologies incorporated
into my few-years-old AVR.
With the video dropout
issues solved I was able to
watch " F9: The Fast Saga "
without a problem. The nice
thing about the Kaleidescape
Store's rental options is
that the owner has 30 days
before the rental expires.
This window gave me plenty
of time to address my system
issues and watch the movie.
I'll add that it looked and
sounded fantastic, reaffirming
my initial thoughts about
the ultra-high quality of the
system, which, in addition
to the UI, streaming services
just can't match.
Kaleidescape
Strato C Movie
Player & Terra
Server
Strato C Movie Player
facilitates playback
of content stored on
company's Terra line of
servers
Kaleidescape offers 6TB
Terra 6 and 12TB Terra 12
models
Strato C and Terra server
take up just 1 RU of rack
space
Strato C and Terra 6/
Terra 12 support lossless
downloads and playback
of AV content
Products support formats
that include Dolby Atmos
object-based audio, as
well as 4K video with high
dynamic range
Runs on its proprietary
kOS operating system
MSRPs depend on
system configuration
kaleidescape.com
CE PRO
VERDICT
PROS: Strato C and Terra
servers deliver pristine audio
and video content; footprint
is small and rack friendly;
User interface flexible and
easy to navigate
CONS: Not a " con, " but
more a point of emphasis
that any weakness in HDMI
chain could compromise
performance; products like
AVRs and cabling should be
verified for compatibility
to reliably handle the high
bitrate capabilities
cepro.com
http://www.kaleidescape.com http://www.cepro.com
CE Pro May 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro May 2022
