The A/V Strato-Sphere

KALEIDESCAPE STRATO S MOVIE PLAYER

- Kris Deering

I’VE BEEN keenly aware of Kaleidescape since the company’s start when I first laid eyes on its beautiful onscreen interface at a high-end A/V store in Seattle. Since then, I’ve regularly encountered that same interface in the homes of my video calibration clients, in stores, and at trade shows. Back in Kaleidescape’s early days, when the only comparable media server was early Windows Media Center on home theater PCs, the company’s offering was not only innovative, but awe-inspiring. The home video world has changed drastically since then, and slick interfaces from the likes of Apple TV, Netflix, and others are now the norm. But Kaleidescape has also changed, with the company having now moved to a digital media experience that bypasses shiny discs in favor of internet-delivered content with audio and video quality on par with pre-recorded media.

THE PLAYER