NEWS: Strato V Player Announced

[Balthazar2k4]

Totally fair question. The answer is that Profile 7 (which would allow playing the HDR10 base layer) is not well-supported (or supported at all) by current system-on-chip designs. We obviously have to select a chip based on many factors, including performance, other necessary features, and so on, and there wasn't an option that met our needs that supported Profile 7. Profile 8 would have been a quality compromise, so that wasn't a good choice. Profile 5 delivers comparable quality to Profile 7 but with the limitation that there is not a backward-compatible base layer.

That is a fair response Mike. Frustrating for sure, but I understand the decision. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[MikeKobb]

To me, the above infers that a Strato V, when connected to an HDR only display, can play the DV file in HDR. If this is not the case, then that last line really needs to incorporate a reference to an additional download.

No, that is correct. The Strato V can play the Dolby Vision file as HDR10 for displays that only support HDR10.

 

[J.Green]

I think we need clarity of this item from the FAQ:

DO I NEED TO DOWNLOAD SPECIAL VERSIONS OF A TITLE TO SEE DOLBY VISION?​

Yes. To take full advantage of Strato V’s Dolby Vision playback capabilities, a Dolby Vision version of the movie must be downloaded to the system. In almost all cases, at time of purchase, the Kaleidescape store will automatically detect your Strato V player and download the correct Dolby Vision version.
When configured to minimize display mode changes, Strato V will convert HDR10 content to Dolby Vision format for playback on a Dolby Vision display.

If a Strato V player is connected to a display that only supports HDR10, then the player will play back in HDR10 on that display.
——-

To me, the above infers that a Strato V, when connected to an HDR only display, can play the DV file in HDR. If this is not the case, then that last line really needs to incorporate a reference to an additional download.

The last line of the entry is correct. A Strato V connected to display that only supports HDR10 will convert the a Dolby Vision title to HDR10 for playback.

One only needs to download a separate HDR10 version of a movie if they have a zone with a Strato or Strato C player since those players cannot play DV content.

 

[LoveCinema]

No, that is correct. The Strato V can play the Dolby Vision file as HDR10 for displays that only support HDR10.

Ok, so a Strato V player converts DV to HDR10 when necessary, but it is not playing an HDR10 base layer to do so. This is why a Strato V can play DV files in HDR10 but a Strato C cannot.

 

[StanfieldNC]

.

 

[Steve Bruzonsky]

So the Strato V has a ground pin, which the Strato C does not. And the Strato V has a "cleaner" HDMI output.

How does this translate for high end audio and video in some of our systems. If we were to play the regular HDR10 (not the Dolby Vision) version of the movie from the KStore, on both the Strato V and also the Strato C on the same system and compare audio and video quality using each player, would we notice any improvement with the Strato V.

Has KScape has any "beta" testers who have done this comparison?

I would imagine that when I get my dedicated theater system up and running soon with Sony 380, 14' wide 2.4 screen, Trinnov Alt32, etc, that I just might discern some difference - on the other hand, I suspect my Lumagen 5348 will also "clean" the HDMI signal jitter some so any audio or video improvement might be similar.

 

[Trevor]

Looks like the average DV encode bitrate is up 11% (7.2 Mbps) over an average KScape HDR encode. Quite an improvement - pushing quite a few catalog titles past their disc counterpart.

 

[MikeKobb]

Will audio format sorting be available too?

Filtering, yes. Not sorting.

 

[Ironman1718]

I’ve been waiting for this for along time as well. It didn’t take very long to sell my first V to a client. Also, I think this will be a great unit for us dealers as we can take this and show it off at a clients home. I always hated taking my terra and c… Too heavy

 

[rehr0001]

I’ve currently got a Strato S as my player along with a Terra for additional storage. If I add Strato V, can it play material saved on my Strato S?

 

[DieZwei]

I’ve been waiting for this for along time as well. It didn’t take very long to sell my first V to a client. Also, I think this will be a great unit for us dealers as we can take this and show it off at a clients home. I always hated taking my terra and c… Too heavy

That´s why have a Strato S.
I think the difference in UI between running in standalone mode vs. paired with a Terra server makes it a bit awkward for demo purposes as the client doesn´t get the "real" UI.

 

[baltz]

Can the Strato V output a DV download as SDR? I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere, so I assume not.

 

[David23]

I’ve been waiting for this for along time as well. It didn’t take very long to sell my first V to a client. Also, I think this will be a great unit for us dealers as we can take this and show it off at a clients home. I always hated taking my terra and c… Too heavy

The downside will be a potential client won't get to experience the full UI with just a V. The UI is a big part of the K experience.

 

[J.Green]

I’ve currently got a Strato S as my player along with a Terra for additional storage. If I add Strato V, can it play material saved on my Strato S?

Any of the content stored on the Strato S that is compatible with the Strato V will be playable as long as your Terra is online as well. Strato V cannot group with a system comprised solely of Stratos or Altos so if you power down the Terra, the Strato V will drop to a lobby screen until the Terra is back online.

 

[ZeroDarkFuga]

Any of the content stored on the Strato S that is compatible with the Strato V will be playable as long as your Terra is online as well. Strato V cannot group with a system comprised solely of Stratos or Altos so if you power down the Terra, the Strato V will drop to a lobby screen until the Terra is back online.

Is there a list of HD titles that Strato v cannot play due to the new encoding but Strato c and below can?

I.e what number of potential HD titles currently cannot be supported by Strato v?

I am still not understanding this issue clearly, as it seems high level to me that one would have to keep a Strato c (or lower) in a rack for a select # of HD titles until Strato v catches up to all HD titles for new encoding?

 

[J.Green]

Is there a list of HD titles that Strato v cannot play due to the new encoding but Strato c and below can?

I.e what number of potential HD titles currently cannot be supported by Strato v?

I am still not understanding this issue clearly, as it seems high level to me that one would have to keep a Strato c (or lower) in a rack for a select # of HD titles until Strato v catches up to all HD titles for new encoding?

There is a Strato V Readiness report available on the store that will look at your owned content and report on what titles you own that are compatible with Strato V and what titles will require updates or upgrades. You can find it at:
Kaleidescape Movie Store
NOTE: You'll need to be logged into your store account to access this report.

 

[baltz]

There is a Strato V Readiness report available on the store that will look at your owned content and report on what titles you own that are compatible with Strato V and what titles will require updates or upgrades. You can find it at:
Kaleidescape Movie Store
NOTE: You'll need to be logged into your store account to access this report.

Is it just a matter of time before all titles are converted? Or, is it possible that some titles will never be converted?

I’m also curious about the technical reason for this, but I understand if you can’t say. I’m wondering if it’s related to titles originally sourced from Blu-ray Disc vs mezzanine files.

 

[thrillcat]

There is a Strato V Readiness report available on the store that will look at your owned content and report on what titles you own that are compatible with Strato V and what titles will require updates or upgrades. You can find it at:
Kaleidescape Movie Store
NOTE: You'll need to be logged into your store account to access this report.

Is this a VC-1 thing?

 

[JWort93]

There is a Strato V Readiness report available on the store that will look at your owned content and report on what titles you own that are compatible with Strato V and what titles will require updates or upgrades. You can find it at:
Kaleidescape Movie Store
NOTE: You'll need to be logged into your store account to access this report.

Is there any way to see this report based on all your purchased titles, and not just what is currently downloaded to the system? The wording in the report makes it sound like it's only listing titles that are currently downloaded on your system, not all the titles you own.

 

[HarperVision]

Dolby Vision relies on additional metadata as part of the content file. This metadata is just not included in a HDR10 file, so that doesn´t make any sense IMHO. The other way (DV=> HDR10) is possible as the DV file contains more data than the HDR10 file, hence it can be downconverted.
But the other way round? I´m wondering what this conversion actually does other than triggering a DV flag for the display...

Dolby chipsets in these types of players have what’s called a CMU (Content Management Unit) designed to take in raw video that’s not in DV format yet (SDR, HDR10).

In the mastering realm, it’s a hardware device for ingesting these formats for the mastering engineer to do his magic and trim passes.

For something like DV disc and media players, this is software baked into the chipset and it does a rudimentary job of converting those SDR and HDR videos to DV format.

This is the basis of what makes LLDV using something like an HDFury a good alternative to the much more expensive video processors like Lumagen and madVR for tone mapping.