The best streaming alternative to 4K Blu-rays just got a lot cheaper – and now supports Dolby Vision

Kaleidescape is well known for its high-specification movie players, devices that compete with the very best 4K Blu-ray players and best streaming devices . Its Terra Prime Solid State Movie Server may be the very best movie system you can buy, but it's also terrifyingly expensive at nearly $14K (around £11,000 / AU$21,000) for the server and movie player. If that's a little beyond your budget, the new Strato V Movie Player is more affordable. It's still a premium product but it's less than a third of the price.

The new player works as a standalone device as well as part of a wider Kaleidescape system, and it can store around 10 4K reference quality movies on its internal SSD. There's a new streamlined version of the firm's interface (see below), which we've previously praised; this version has been refined to make it more suitable for smaller libraries rather than entire movie servers. And it has Dolby Vision and lossless audio for a truly immersive home theater experience.

Kaleidescape Strato V Movie Player: key features and price

As we said in our review of the Terra Prime system, "Kaleidescape setups can be found in the home theaters of the rich and famous, but they are also a fine fit for more modest installations... it’s a truly unique system, and its performance, design, and features are unmatched by anything on the market." With the Strato V, the cost of entry is now considerably lower.

The Strato V has gigabit ethernet that's capable of downloading a Kaleidescape 4K movie in 10 minutes during playback without any performance hit, and downloads can be set to auto-delete 48 hours after playback so you don't run out of SSD space. You can group one or more Strato Vs with Terra movie servers.

Kaleidescape says that every signal has been carefully upgraded with higher quality as well as better robustness, and the player connects to the Kaleidescape movie store for 4K and HD movies with lossless multi-channel and object-based audio in both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. There are currently over 100 Dolby Vision titles with more coming soon.

There are two versions of the Strato: the Strato V, which is for new customers, and Strato C, which is designed to connect to existing Kaleidescape systems. The recommended retail price for the Strato V is $3,995 (around £3,100 / AU$5,900). You can find out more on the Kaleidescape website.

You might also like

• The best 4K Blu-ray players 2024: Ultra HD marvels chosen by our experts
• I tested Blu-ray vs Netflix and Disney Plus on the same movies, and the biggest difference surprised me
• 4K Blu-ray isn't dying despite Disney and Best Buy's efforts - it's more important than ever