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NEWS: Strato K Movie Player with 8K capability and new "4K Cinematic" full-chroma & higher bitrate support

Downloading 'Fifth Element' in Cinematic DV and Cinematic HDR - will give both of them a spin to observe which version is better.
Fifth Element 4K UHD was a big improvement but still looks dated - I am hoping Cinematic will put some life back into this reference movie.
 
Downloading 'Fifth Element' in Cinematic DV and Cinematic HDR - will give both of them a spin to observe which version is better.
Fifth Element 4K UHD was a big improvement but still looks dated - I am hoping Cinematic will put some life back into this reference movie.
I have this in my K collection as well, so stoked that it (along with The Long Walk) received the cinematic treatment. Up until this point, the UK Studio Canal edition 4k disc has been the reference; better encode/grading across the board. But I’m really intrigued with the new cinematic version.

Let us know your thoughts.
 
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I have been hanging on every word you’ve said about the Srtato K on your podcasts. I ordered mine early, but not early enough, so as you know there is very little hands on reviews. Yours are always honest and in depth.
In fact your original Kaleidescape podcasts got me started with Kaleidescape and I have loved every moment of it.
Thank you Jeremy.

I mentioned this on my podcast last week, but I had a couple of enthusiasts come visit for demos a week ago Saturday. We demoed everything on the Strato K and had them experience both of my rooms. I showed them the same clip in Minecraft in 4KC vs. not that I had showed my family. Both were clear they could see a positive difference in 4KC for all the reasons that have been covered. I very remain pleased with what the K and 4KC brought have us.

Looking forward to Mando and He-Man, both hopefully hitting this week!
 
I’ve spent considerable time directly comparing the Strato K with my Strato V in a dedicated theater using a JVC NZ800, Seymour acoustically transparent screen with masking, Trinnov Altitude 32, and an 11.4.8 speaker layout. I tested multiple 4K Cinematic titles, including Top Gun: Maverick, Project Hail Mary, Avatar 3, F1, Moana, Jurassic World, Avengers: Infinity War, Mission: Impossible 8, and Super Mario Galaxy. In my room, I found no meaningful or repeatable improvement in sharpness, detail, compression, HDR, or overall image quality versus the Strato V. Dolby Vision titles still showed 4:2:2 media/output, while 8K output was simply 4K upscaling at 4:2:0. The only obvious difference was Moana, which looked oversaturated and more like a title-specific Dolby Vision color issue than a genuine improvement. At this point, I’m disappointed and struggling to justify the $5,000 upgrade.
 
Downloading 'Fifth Element' in Cinematic DV and Cinematic HDR - will give both of them a spin to observe which version is better.
Fifth Element 4K UHD was a big improvement but still looks dated - I am hoping Cinematic will put some life back into this reference movie.
I’ll be checking this one out too when I get home from work today. The original 4K UHD was the first movie I saw in 4K way back in 2017. I then upgraded to the SC disc for DV, then got another copy in the Luc Besson set. Now it’s 4K Cinematic. I feel this is one of those movies that I am always happy to rebuy. 8K next?
 
I’ve spent considerable time directly comparing the Strato K with my Strato V in a dedicated theater using a JVC NZ800, Seymour acoustically transparent screen with masking, Trinnov Altitude 32, and an 11.4.8 speaker layout. I tested multiple 4K Cinematic titles, including Top Gun: Maverick, Project Hail Mary, Avatar 3, F1, Moana, Jurassic World, Avengers: Infinity War, Mission: Impossible 8, and Super Mario Galaxy. In my room, I found no meaningful or repeatable improvement in sharpness, detail, compression, HDR, or overall image quality versus the Strato V. Dolby Vision titles still showed 4:2:2 media/output, while 8K output was simply 4K upscaling at 4:2:0. The only obvious difference was Moana, which looked oversaturated and more like a title-specific Dolby Vision color issue than a genuine improvement. At this point, I’m disappointed and struggling to justify the $5,000 upgrade.
Just sell it for what you paid for it.
 
Seeing all the hype and excitement surrounding Fifth element I also got sucked in…lol. I just did a mini A/B of Fifth element (couple of scenes) on the V (DV) and K (C-DV). I also checked out the Studio Canal 4k disc on my Magnetar 900 mk2. From my brief adventures I feel the C-DV stands out and imho, is the definitive version.

I also found the V Dolby vision file to be slightly superior to the previous older version. I dunno if they updated the regular 4k (Dolby vision/HDR) as well, cause it definitely looked refreshed. I had a hard time separating it from the Studio Canal 4K disc which is (or was) the reigning champ. That’s really good news for V/E/C, if they are simultaneously updating all editions along with cinematic.
 
I’ve spent considerable time directly comparing the Strato K with my Strato V in a dedicated theater using a JVC NZ800, Seymour acoustically transparent screen with masking, Trinnov Altitude 32, and an 11.4.8 speaker layout. I tested multiple 4K Cinematic titles, including Top Gun: Maverick, Project Hail Mary, Avatar 3, F1, Moana, Jurassic World, Avengers: Infinity War, Mission: Impossible 8, and Super Mario Galaxy. In my room, I found no meaningful or repeatable improvement in sharpness, detail, compression, HDR, or overall image quality versus the Strato V. Dolby Vision titles still showed 4:2:2 media/output, while 8K output was simply 4K upscaling at 4:2:0. The only obvious difference was Moana, which looked oversaturated and more like a title-specific Dolby Vision color issue than a genuine improvement. At this point, I’m disappointed and struggling to justify the $5,000 upgrade.
It's helpful to see posts like this. I've been a bit suspicious of the near universal euphoria. I'll probably still end up getting one eventually, but I want to have realistic expectations about it.
 
Interstellar Cinematic DV - what a great picture, the best way to watch this movie, like watching it first time (I have watched it several times before).
I am loving CDV deleted CSDR and CHDR10...on all movies ...
 
Interstellar Cinematic DV - what a great picture, the best way to watch this movie, like watching it first time (I have watched it several times before).
I am loving CDV deleted CSDR and CHDR10...on all movies ...
I find the 12-bit (11.5 according to Dolby) 4:2:2 CDV works better than the 4:4:4 10-bit CHDR10 on my 4KM15 as well. Gradations look cleaner with CDV when watching the Crime 101 credits.
 
Interstellar Cinematic DV - what a great picture, the best way to watch this movie, like watching it first time (I have watched it several times before).
I am loving CDV deleted CSDR and CHDR10...on all movies ...
CDV is the way to go imho. How did you find the audio on cinematic? The audio for interstellar is badass in any case.
 
I previewed some scenes on The Fifth Element. I compared the Cinematic DV on Kaleidescape to the Sony disc from the Luc Besson set in 4K DV and the Studio Canal disc in 4K DV. The Cinematic version was the best, a subtle improvement on the great Sony disc. The SC disc has less refined grain to my eyes. In isolation, all three look great. I gave away that original stand alone Sony UHD that only had HDR10, but I remember it didn’t look as good as the Studio Canal disc, so if you’re coming from that, the Cinematic will be even more of an upgrade. Since I had the discs, the purchase price was only $4.92–the cheapest format upgrade yet for something I’ve already bought so many times.
 
CDV is the way to go imho. How did you find the audio on cinematic? The audio for interstellar is badass in any case.
Audio is superior on the K - Playing Fifth Element Ripped Disc on the Uoogos the beginning scenes bass is loud and boomy as compared to CDV on the K is loud but very defined.
A agree with you CDV is the way to go... my VP is Lumagen 5348 which cannot resolve 4:4:4 feeding HDR 10 to it means the Lumagen would have to downscale the Chroma to 4:2:2 and anyway I have always preferred how DV 'looks' and in Cinematic it is just to my taste.
It would be best to set your Strato K to passthrough Chroma - In one of the podcasts they were bragging how the K received 4:2:2 and upscaled to 4:4:4 as output - not the right way to do it IMHO.
 
I find the 12-bit (11.5 according to Dolby) 4:2:2 CDV works better than the 4:4:4 10-bit CHDR10 on my 4KM15 as well. Gradations look cleaner with CDV when watching the Crime 101 credits.

Wilson - what VP are you using? Please note my comments above.
 
Wilson - what VP are you using? Please note my comments above.
I have a Lumagen 4xxx, which can't take advantage of 4:4:4 input, and am waiting for the Artisan.
 
I have a Lumagen 4xxx, which can't take advantage of 4:4:4 input, and am waiting for the Artisan.
Very good chance even with the Artisan you may stick with CDV which has higher bit depth (more important than Chroma) and if you like the look of DV.... Jim Peterson prefers DV over HDR10 for Lumagen DTM.
Enjoy, we have such great options available - lucky us.
 
It’s definitely a little better and i guess that’s good enough and may continue to improve. All i know is everyone of them is better than the disc, some slight and some more easily identifiable.
 
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