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

[cardsdoc]

Actually, the Strato V introduced this issue with the addition of Dolby Vision files which can't be played by a Strato, Strato X, Strato S, or Strato C. With the expansion of players to include the Strato E and Strato M, people using legacy Strato players had to make a decision to store double files (halving their storage) or move to an all-new player environment. This situation has now been repeated with the Strato K, providing three different generations of players with their own unique formats (legacy Strato players can play HD files the two newer generations can't).

True. I guess it’s just amplified with the K and the new formats. Previously just choosing to download the HDR10 version was a reasonable compromise. Now with the K you surely want to download cinematic versions.

Personally I’m just running a standalone V in the theater that I also output to our living room system. If I ever upgrade I’d likely just sell the V and replace it. But I do feel some of the simplicity of the K-scape system is lost having to manage these file compatibility issues. It’s also the cost of pushing the envelope.

 

[rafaelsmith]

Actually, the Strato V introduced this issue with the addition of Dolby Vision files which can't be played by a Strato, Strato X, Strato S, or Strato C. With the expansion of players to include the Strato E and Strato M, people using legacy Strato players had to make a decision to store double files (halving their storage) or move to an all-new player environment. This situation has now been repeated with the Strato K, providing three different generations of players with their own unique formats (legacy Strato players can play HD files the two newer generations can't).

True, but the addition of DV was not as severe as one could just download HDR10 versions which would work on all players. The addtiion of Cinema 4k is a different level as it will require 2x storage in mixed player environments. With DV one could just choose to stick with HDR10 versions...and honestly really not miss out of much.

 

[DrNeal]

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.

Your is the first negative comment I’ve seen. What equipment do you have in your setup?

 

[Reezepees]

Your is the first negative comment I’ve seen. What equipment do you have in your setup?

You can read it in his review..

 

[Broncowrangler]

Your is the first negative comment I’ve seen. What equipment do you have in your setup?

Might be his first & last post. lol. But on a serious note I’m more concerned about the individuals who liked that post.

 

[Reezepees]

Could be..

 

[randman]

Thanks all for your responses. This definitely makes it a much more costly proposition than just getting a new Strato. If the servers were less expensive, then I would consider it but this information doubles the cost for me and that is out of my budget.

MadScientist

Probably 2.5x the storage to keep the non-cinematic and cinematic versions as compared to just the non-cinematic. If I were to upgrade to Strato K, not sure what I’d do with my Strato C. Outside of my home theater, I haven’t had the urge to use Kaleidescape in my secondary rooms. I suppose for the very rare scenario when one wants to watch a K movie on a secondary room, the Strato C will be ok. I think I would just keep cinematic versions in my Compact Terra, and on the very rare scenario when someone wants to watch a K movie in a secondary room, they can just download the non-cinematic version. Then later, just manually delete the non-C version. so, a bit of a pain having to manage this, but better to only need 1.5x the storage than 2.5x the storage.

TBH, most movies for me are just “watch once”, but it’s hard to get out of the habit of being a collector…

 

[DrNeal]

Probably 2.5x the storage to keep the non-cinematic and cinematic versions as compared to just the non-cinematic. If I were to upgrade to Strato K, not sure what I’d do with my Strato C. Outside of my home theater, I haven’t had the urge to use Kaleidescape in my secondary rooms. I suppose for the very rare scenario when one wants to watch a K movie on a secondary room, the Strato C will be ok. I think I would just keep cinematic versions in my Compact Terra, and on the very rare scenario when someone wants to watch a K movie in a secondary room, they can just download the non-cinematic version. Then later, just manually delete the non-C version. so, a bit of a pain having to manage this, but better to only need 1.5x the storage than 2.5x the storage.

TBH, most movies for me are just “watch once”, but it’s hard to get out of the habit of being a collector…

We are all so fortunate to have such problems

 

[Htjinus]

Your is the first negative comment I’ve seen. What equipment do you have in your setup?

I think I clearly mentioned my set up in my post.

 

[todo]

Nuremberg and Baby Driver C-DV/HDR10.

Now give me Revenent Pretty Please

 

[Htjinus]

Might be his first & last post. lol. But on a serious note I’m more concerned about the individuals who liked that post.

Thanks for your attention. I was just sharing my owner experience. I have been a Strato V owner since it came out and placed day 1 order on Strato K. Your setup might be higher or lower than mine. But if you have the same set up as I do, I will be curious to know your findings.

 

[rafaelsmith]

Might be his first & last post. lol. But on a serious note I’m more concerned about the individuals who liked that post.

Well I can only speak for myself but my Like of his post was not at all about my liking that he had a less that positive review...its that I like and appreciate him giving the feedback. Especially since his setup..while better than mine is as close than any feedback posts ive seen thus far so i found it relevant in helping to decide if the K would be worth the $$$$.

I Like reading all feedbacks...positive or not!

 

[Broncowrangler]

Thanks for your attention. I was just sharing my owner experience. I have been a Strato V owner since it came out and placed day 1 order on Strato K. Your setup might be higher or lower than mine. But if you have the same set up as I do, I will be curious to know your findings.

It’s all good. Just that my BS detector goes up any time I see a first time post which begins in a scintillating fashion.

You had the V since it came out, but you never felt like joining the forum? Anyways all the best with your HT journey.

 

[Patricio]

Getting mine installed tomorrow. Gear currently includes Strato V with server, Mad vr core MK II, Marantz cinema 40, JVC nz 900, 150 inch CinemaScope screen.

Swapping out the V for a K.

Strato K installed today. Before I start comparing non cinematic to cinematic 4k I clicked on the info button on mad vr and confirmed Project Hail Mary input from the K is at 4:4:4 on the cinematic 4k HDR version. Then I put on the 8K short film and noticed the input into the madvr from the K is coming in at 4k. I did follow the madvr set up guide, tried a different hdmi cable, bypassed the Marantz and got the exact same result. Any other troubleshooting ideas?

 

[MikeKobb]

Have you checked the Video Capabilities and Status option in your player's settings in the browser interface? That should give you some indication of why the player is outputting 4K rather than 8K (e.g., is it reported capabilities from the display, or an HDCP issue).

 

[DLCPhoto]

Strato K installed today. Before I start comparing non cinematic to cinematic 4k I clicked on the info button on mad vr and confirmed Project Hail Mary input from the K is at 4:4:4 on the cinematic 4k HDR version. Then I put on the 8K short film and noticed the input into the madvr from the K is coming in at 4k. I did follow the madvr set up guide, tried a different hdmi cable, bypassed the Marantz and got the exact same result. Any other troubleshooting ideas?

Hope you get this sorted out, and I'll be curious about your impressions on 8k output.

In case you're not aware, the 8k output from the Strato K would be 7680x4320, and the output from the Envy would also be 7680x4320. This would not use the full 4096 pixel panel width of the JVC's chip, so you'll have to turn Aspect to 'Zoom' in the JVC's settings, and the JVC would then do the upscaling to 8192x4320 to use the full panel width.

The reason for this is that the JVC does not recognize 8192x4320 as a valid input signal, so even if the Envy sent it, you would not get a signal on-screen. I played around with this a bit on my setup (somewhat similar to yours) a while back, and wasn't impressed by any improvements, but that was not with actual 8k input. So I am curious to hear what you find.

Edited to Add:

You'll also need the Core Premium Package to activate the 8k Input and Output capabilities of your Core MK2.

 

[Patricio]

Have you checked the Video Capabilities and Status option in your player's settings in the browser interface? That should give you some indication of why the player is outputting 4K rather than 8K (e.g., is it reported capabilities from the display, or an HDCP issue).

Yes my KS dealer did show me that page and I am looking at it now. It reads: This 8K Ultra HD capable player is currently connected to a display which reports no support for 8K Ultra HD (4320p) video modes. For the best possible experience connect this player to a display which is 8K Ultra HD capable. Dealer reached out to Mad VR after trying out a few different HDMI cables and bypassing Marantz. Waiting for Mad VR to respond.

 

[Patricio]

Hope you get this sorted out, and I'll be curious about your impressions on 8k output.

In case you're not aware, the 8k output from the Strato K would be 7680x4320, and the output from the Envy would also be 7680x4320. This would not use the full 4096 pixel panel width of the JVC's chip, so you'll have to turn Aspect to 'Zoom' in the JVC's settings, and the JVC would then do the upscaling to 8192x4320 to use the full panel width.

The reason for this is that the JVC does not recognize 8192x4320 as a valid input signal, so even if the Envy sent it, you would not get a signal on-screen. I played around with this a bit on my setup (somewhat similar to yours) a while back, and wasn't impressed by any improvements, but that was not with actual 8k input. So I am curious to hear what you find.

Edited to Add:

You'll also need the Core Premium Package to activate the 8k Input and Output capabilities of your Core MK2.

The Mad VR does in fact read Core MK 2 Premium on the system info on screen display when I hit the OK button. Waiting to hear back from the Mad VR team. Will give you my thoughts if and when we get this figured out.

 

[Imakeller]

Strato K installed today. Before I start comparing non cinematic to cinematic 4k I clicked on the info button on mad vr and confirmed Project Hail Mary input from the K is at 4:4:4 on the cinematic 4k HDR version. Then I put on the 8K short film and noticed the input into the madvr from the K is coming in at 4k. I did follow the madvr set up guide, tried a different hdmi cable, bypassed the Marantz and got the exact same result. Any other troubleshooting ideas?

You need to use HDMI 2.1 to transmit 8K. Using HDMI 2.0 18g on the JVC is not sufficient. That’s strange you aren’t getting 8K from the Strato K though.

 

[Patricio]

You need to use HDMI 2.1 to transmit 8K. Using HDMI 2.0 18g on the JVC is not sufficient. That’s strange you aren’t getting 8K from the Strato K though.

All cables are 2.1 8k rated. Are you saying I have to change a setting somewhere? Or thinking I was using a cable that doesn’t support 2.1?