CEDIA 2017

Kaleidescape launched a new product at CEDIA called the Co-Star Switch which combines film library collections between the companies Strato and Premiere movie servers. Up until Co-Star, the two systems were completely separate, with movies stored on the Strato’s hard drive only viewable using the Strato’s on-screen interface, and movies stored on a Premiere server only visible using it’s interface. The Co-Star solves this issue in a simple yet ingenious way.

To handle 4K Ultra HD content, Kaleidescape developed the Strato movie player. To handle the massively encrypted UHD content as well as offer full HDMI 2.0a and HDCP 2.2 encryption, Strato was incompatible with the thousands of existing Premiere move server systems the company had been selling for over a decade. Owners of both systems needed to connect and use them separately, meaning that movie collections were completely separate.

To combine these systems, Kaleidescape developed the Co-Star switch. Installation is incredibly simple, with both Strato and Premiere (M700, M500, M300) players connecting to the switch, and the switch output runs to the AVR or display. The players are paired together in the Strato’s WEB browser and then the Strato takes control of the switch, automatically cycling to the correct input depending on location of content. The switching process is automatic an totally seamless to the viewer.

As an added bonus, the on-screen display for all content is handled by the Strato, presenting information in full 4K60 resolution.

The Co-Star Switch comes with two 1.5-meter HDMI cables fully tested to support 18 Gbps, and is available for purchase now for $495.