Feedback Survey

Hi folks. I'm compiling some information for Kaleidescape, and I'd like to ask people visiting this thread that are either owners or prospective owners to share some feedback. Please take a minute and direct message me (or just post if you like) your answers to the following.

I am an: owner | prospective owner

For owners:

1. The top three things I like about Kaleidescape are...
2. The top three things I want to see changed/improved/fixed about Kaleidescape are...

For prospective owners:

1. The top three things drawing me to consider buying into Kaleidescape are...
2. The top three things I need to see changed/improved/fixed to get me to finally buy into Kaleidescape are...

Edit: Of course if you have less than three things, just share what you have. Extra credit to you if you want to list more than three.

Note: I have cross-posted this as is to AVS Forum as well and many of us migrate between both forums, so please only give a reply once.

Owner:
Top 3 things I like...

1. Ease of use (UI / single view across downloads and discs. Discs are still very important)
2. Amount of content available in the store (I've seen this grow a lot since I got involved Q3 2018)
3. The quality of both the hardware (Encore in particular) and the quality of the playback - there is nothing else that comes close
4. Support response times and quality of responses/help
5. Owner/dealer community
6. Lumagen integration

Top 3 things I want to see improve etc...

1. Some of the filter/UI options are limited. Would like to see more user configuration; sharing lists, ability to hide/show downloaded/disc content etc
2. If disc and/or Premiere is truly on its way out; then store content needs to grow substantially or some method to migrate Premier content into Encore. I have 1000 titles not available in store for instance
3. Integrate with Apple TV app - that way my family can see our K content alongside streaming content - saves me going "why are you watching this on Netflix, we have this on K" all the time
4. D2D pricing in the store - this is a big peeve of mine. I know this is really the studio's decision but double/triple dipping etc is BS. It actually puts me off buying
5. MoviesAnywhere
6. More Studios - HBO, Criterion, Arrow etc

TrackZ said:

Hi folks. I'm compiling some information for Kaleidescape, and I'd like to ask people visiting this thread that are either owners or prospective owners to share some feedback. Please take a minute and direct message me (or just post if you like) your answers to the following.

I am an: owner | prospective owner

For owners:

1. The top three things I like about Kaleidescape are...
2. The top three things I want to see changed/improved/fixed about Kaleidescape are...

For prospective owners:

1. The top three things drawing me to consider buying into Kaleidescape are...
2. The top three things I need to see changed/improved/fixed to get me to finally buy into Kaleidescape are...

Edit: Of course if you have less than three things, just share what you have. Extra credit to you if you want to list more than three.

Note: I have cross-posted this as is to AVS Forum as well and many of us migrate between both forums, so please only give a reply once.

Click to expand...

First top three:
1. Quality (content,product itself) are top of notch.
2.support are outstanding so u know ur investment will not be as ..gone with the wind every time my problem resolve.
3.connivance.

Second thing to change.
1.NBC universal and Fox immersive audio.
2.for me adding Arabic subtitle as the old store has many before hope i see more.
3.get PVOD is thing I wish to change in K and get kind of this services.

Finally thank you and for me k is my primary and best video source and willing to invest more by time such adding more storage and expand to room now just the theater and it’s my first choice




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Top things I love:

1. Ease of use
2. Quality of movie file (picture and sound- great to point out with specificity that the titles from the K store are of higher fidelity and quality than a 4K disc...), and
3. Convenience for buying movies.

Top things I would love to see improved or added:

1. Day-and-Date releases- Being able to watch a day-and-date release in my home would be really really cool, would pay $500 for the opportunity to watch a Grade-A (Star Wars, bond, Marvel Movie) on the day it is released in theaters.

2. Need more disk-heavy sets in the store. For example- recent Star Wars cartoons- they come in BluRay sets of like 9 disks, would be really awesome to be able to buy them in the store so I could continue to move away from the costar/premiere setup. I guess this is really just a request to grow the store as much as possible. K store is still missing any Beavis and Butthead content... big gaping hole there...

3. I would like to see options to fade out and fade in both picture and sound for scene sequences. For example- if I want to show a string of scenes I have linked together to "demo" the theater, I would like a 2 second fade-out of volume from the ending scene and fade back up to the next scene, and maybe fade-to-black and back to the next scene for the video with the picture but over three seconds. Would make scene transition much less jarring. Audio cues coming first lets the brain adjust to the incoming picture. A series of options could do this...

It's funny that when I have to think about it, any improvement ideas I have with K are related to either new features or things that K is already doing...

Folks, I want to add that this is not just an academic endeavor for our own discussion. The information I can collect is to be categorized for presentation to and action by Kaleidescape directly.

I encourage folks to take the time to share your thoughts. Voice of the customer is really important. I also really want to hear from prospective owners that may be visiting here considering the product.

Likes
1. User experience / Interface
2. Store

Wants
1. Immersive audio for Fox and NBC. Essentially same audio as disks for all available movies.
2. Enable Movies Anywhere
3. Add the extras. Many times extras are missing. Keep the extras same as disks.

Ahmad78 said:

First top three:
1. Quality (content,product itself) are top of notch.
2.support are outstanding so u know ur investment will not be as ..gone with the wind every time my problem resolve.
3.connivance.

Second thing to change.
1.NBC universal and Fox immersive audio.
2.for me adding Arabic subtitle as the old store has many before hope i see more.
3.get PVOD is thing I wish to change in K and get kind of this services.

Finally thank you and for me k is my primary and best video source and willing to invest more by time such adding more storage and expand to room now just the theater and it’s my first choice




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Adding more 2 thing Something I love and well to see it in k

The integration of k with home automation is one of the key of have an cinematic atmosphere so must to add

As there are no digital rights give the ability to the owner to have an app that they can view there thing around the home or in tablets as they own the content and thx for people who point this kind of K internal digital right


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TrackZ said:

Hi folks. I'm compiling some information for Kaleidescape, and I'd like to ask people visiting this thread that are either owners or prospective owners to share some feedback. Please take a minute and direct message me (or just post if you like) your answers to the following.

I am an: owner | prospective owner

For owners:

1. The top three things I like about Kaleidescape are...
2. The top three things I want to see changed/improved/fixed about Kaleidescape are...

For prospective owners:

1. The top three things drawing me to consider buying into Kaleidescape are...
2. The top three things I need to see changed/improved/fixed to get me to finally buy into Kaleidescape are...

Edit: Of course if you have less than three things, just share what you have. Extra credit to you if you want to list more than three.

Note: I have cross-posted this as is to AVS Forum as well and many of us migrate between both forums, so please only give a reply once.

Click to expand...

Currently a recent owner of a used system (Alto/DV700 combo). My comments are as follows:

1. Ease of use and professionalism of the system. It looks like it belong in a dedicated theater and I enjoy most aspects of the interface, love the ability to have a music concert style session with the ipad app
2. Love the tie into the automation system. We use crestron in our house, and the lights, intermission functions, and child controls are great as we don't have line of sight to the equipment.
3. Ability to purchase movies from my home, and know that I will have a quality download available when I am able to watch with really improved sound quality. I also find the video quality amazingly sharp for the 1080P player and will be grabbing a Strato in the near future as our projector setup supports 4K.
4. I love the fact that through different collections and notifications older movies that I have forgotten about, never bought, or are indeed similar to other titles I had interest in are recommended and this has led to a lot of impulse purchases.

Top things I would like to see changed:
1. There is multiple ways to cut this issue up, whether it be Movies Anywhere or just pure zone player pricing. But as the hardware cost to me is quite extreme for a zone player (Strato-C), and it has been a struggle in our house to justify the next purchase. I am sure I will, but to me having some sort of local in-house streaming via an Apple TV app to other areas in the household would make us go full in and probably just grab a Terra. The reason I purchased a DV700 instead of a Strato, is that we always buy our children's movies on the Bluray/DVD + digital combo so that we have the most flexibility around the multiple TVs, Ipads in the house. I would be making all the purchased on KScape if I had access to these through other more economical options. MA is obviously something I would love having 100+ movies on it from pre-Kscape purchases, but that to me is not the only option.
2. The overall price increases over the past year have also stopped myself from adding the Strato in the short tem that I intended on purchasing local through my HT dealer. Most likely will grab a used one now, but hate the fact that I can't access my DV 700 currently with it (which will get to my 3rd area of improvement). It is also concerning that with a shift to cheaper hardware across the board and an all-digital store that the hardware has seen two price increases in the past year. Logic to me would dictate that they should be trying to drive store sales, and although I know a lot on this forum probably exceeded this, but our family has purchased about 120 movies since November.
3. Disc-to-digital pricing - I would have never bought the DV700 had there been decent digital to disc pricing for all the supported stuidos. We do have some movies of course that aren't available on the store, but for us we could have lived with that. Our issues is that we have almost 100 kids movies on blu-ray, with the majority getting the disney disc-to-digital pricing of 38 Canadian. I know this may not be a KScape issue, but I do find it difficult to see constant Itunes/Google play sales weekly when the alternative on KScape is 38 CAD. It's not apples-to-apples obviously, but some movies are just fine on the ATV.
4. Advanced Codes - no need to drill on this one as it is talked about ad nausea.

In general, I think there are two things that concern me in that streaming will continue to improve and the hope for long-term success of KScape should be on getting dedicated platform users increased while still providing the premium product they have. The price moves on the Strato suggest to me that this is truly going to an "elite of the elite" style system and that is a bit of a shame and could prevent the company from surviving long term. Perpetual revenue is important, and I would have thought the shift to a digital store would mean a focus on movie sales instead of hardware.

Secondly, the other part I find difficult is lack of communication, roadmap, etc... I know that companies avoid this as it sets expectations and customers get upset. But you have to also balance that with how many customers you are losing because there is limited information on the platform and the past issues are still remembered by dealers.

Hopefully we get some clarity on some of the consistent points raised on this forum. I really want KScape to be around in 20 years and for my entire movie collection to remain in that ecosystem.

Likes:
1. Ease of use of the overall system including Store and Mobile App
2. Support of product including K participation in this forum
3. Control System integration - very robust control protocols

Improvement:
1. K communications to dealers and customers
2. Advanced Audio Codecs for all movies when they exist (e.g. Dolby Atmos is on disc versions but not available in Store) as well as having extras available (same as disc versions - this is my wife’s major complaint!)
3. Movies Anywhere or some other way to access content remotely (e.g. mobile app allows playing movies on device)

Thanks for asking!

Like:
1: The whole concept
2: K support responsiveness
3: Quality of equipment
4. Multiple systems under one account(I have 5).

Would like:
1. Communication, roadmap(while managing expectations). Marketing is suboptimal. A lot of effort has to be put on promoting the concept, social media presence and the new products or studios they add.
2. Rentals
3. Studios providing some older titles or more content, i.e. many Eagle Rock concerts are missing and some form of digital rights for every studio
4. Advanced Audio Codecs
5. Foreign studios

Thanks !

Owner

Loves:

1. Simple, elegant user interface: I'm still amazed how many jaws drop when people use the interface for the first time. Unfortunately, most of my visitors have never heard of K and will not purchase due to pricing barriers, but seeing their reaction never gets old.
2. Superior video and audio: Despite a lack of Dolby Atmos/DTS:X on notable releases for some studios, the picture and sound on my Strato is second to none. As a result, there is a large subset of my library I won't consider watching anywhere else.
3. Control integration: Having recently installed an auto-masking screen, my family really enjoys no longer seeing the black bars (as a result of the K aspect ratio cues).

Wish list:

1. Add Movies Anywhere: My two kids rarely watch content on the K system unless it is with the whole family, and we'd like to have our entire library to watch elsewhere (e.g., on vacation, with family and friends, kids tablets, etc.). As a result, there is a definite reluctance to purchase many titles from the K store until they also transfer over to our MA library.
2. Add immersive audio tracks: When making a decision to purchase from the K store, not only is a lack of MA support a deterrent, I'm less inclined to pony-up for the latest HDR release when it does not include an Atmos or DTS:X mix (especially when the Blu-ray version does include it).
3. Better disc-to-digital pricing: A handful of studios offer little to no discount on disc-to-digital purchases (e.g., Disney, Bond movies), and I still keep an M700 connected to my Encore-only system to watch DVD discs I don't want to pay full-pop for again (for what it's worth, I even own the Blu-ray version in many cases but the Encore system cannot playback Blu-ray discs). I understand digital upgrade pricing is typically dependent on the studios, but it would be nice if the folks in this industry understood that they are only hurting themselves by not better protecting the investments in past content purchases we've all made. I for one would definitely purchase more digital content rather than accepting a sub-par experience with DVDs.

Like:

0. This community forum, great bunch of very friendly and knowledgeable guys here. Love the fact that k staff will also chime in on certain posts.

1. Movie wall / navigation interface. Nothing beats it.

2. Ease of use. Love the concept of purchasing /downloading a movie earlier in the day and watching it in the same evening, with the knowledge that I’m getting a better audio and video playback quality than any streaming service and don’t have to flaff around with sticking a disc in a movie player. (Plus the misses can use it)

3. scripts / demo scenes. Having the ability to create demo scenes and scripts really is unparalleled. Theres nothing else quite like it available to the consumer.

wants :

1. Would be great to download DTS / Dolby demo content from the movie store. Currently one title is available for dealers only.

2. Lack of DTS:X and Atmos tracks

3.1 Expansion of disc to digital availability.
3.2 reward scheme e.g buy 10 movies get one free.
3.3 purchase K movie store credits as a gift
3.4 movie bundle purchases - e.g Star Wars collection

I want to add that if anyone is in a similar situation to Bauer89 where you are an existing owner of older products and have not upgraded to a Strato model, but are considering it, please let me know.

Thanks Track, keep up the great work!

Jim

Things I love:
1) The Interface. It's hands-down the best. Nothing like browsing your collection, finding new things, and also discovering old things you haven't watched for a while. It's fast, elegant, easy to navigate in a variety of ways. It's the best. You can teach it to someone in under a minute.
2) Reliability. It nearly never has a problem. It just works, all the time, every time. Stable, fast, responsive, and like 99.9% uptime that never requires a restart or reboot.
3) Integrates so well with virtually any control system. Whether it is iOS app or Control4 or Crestron or whatever, Kaleidescape has a deep driver support that offers unprecedented automation and control integration.
4) Convenience of adding movies. in the highest quality. I browse and buy them on my phone on the way home from work, and they are available to watch after dinner. Couldn't get any easier.
5) Pre-bookmarked scenes, extras, songs. I can't tell you how often I'll browse my collection and just sample favorite bits from different movies. And that I can create my own favorite scenes quickly and easily.

Things I'd like to see:
1) Full disc-based parity as regards audio quality and extras. Not getting the Atmos (or DTS:X) track is a massive bummer and I don't understand why other digital retailers can get this and Kaleidescape can't. Also that some titles don't get the extras is another bummer, especially when they are available digitally elsewhere and/or on the disc. For premium digital pricing, you should get the full disc-based experience.
2) Closer to disc-based pricing. The WB pricing is brutal. Also, when you can go and get a Bond 4K disc for $14.99 -- with all the extras and physical discs and digital copies -- it's tough to want to spend the $31.99 to get the movies without any of the added items...that's a big premium. I also wish Store pricing was closer in line to other digital retailers; I understand a bit of a premium for the premium file size, but sometimes it is 2-3 (or more) times the price.
3) I know it isn't their model, but I'd LOVE to be able to rent 4K HDR titles from the Store. There are MANY movies that I only want to watch once, and it is hard to justify the $25-37 price to buy it to do that. If I could rent it for $6-8 that would be FANTASTIC.
4) I know they don't set the Disc-to-Digital upgrade, but I wish there were a less "painful" way to go from DVD or BD to 4K. If the pricing was more reasonable, I'd be far more likely to upgrade more titles in my collection.
5) It would be nice to get a mobile. viewing option (or MA rights) to movies purchased at the store. But if I could have items 1-3 on this want list, I'd WAY rather have that.
John Sciacca

jmdls said:

Things I love:
1) The Interface. It's hands-down the best. Nothing like browsing your collection, finding new things, and also discovering old things you haven't watched for a while. It's fast, elegant, easy to navigate in a variety of ways. It's the best. You can teach it to someone in under a minute.
2) Reliability. It nearly never has a problem. It just works, all the time, every time. Stable, fast, responsive, and like 99.9% uptime that never requires a restart or reboot.
3) Integrates so well with virtually any control system. Whether it is iOS app or Control4 or Crestron or whatever, Kaleidescape has a deep driver support that offers unprecedented automation and control integration.
4) Convenience of adding movies. in the highest quality. I browse and buy them on my phone on the way home from work, and they are available to watch after dinner. Couldn't get any easier.
5) Pre-bookmarked scenes, extras, songs. I can't tell you how often I'll browse my collection and just sample favorite bits from different movies. And that I can create my own favorite scenes quickly and easily.

Things I'd like to see:
1) Full disc-based parity as regards audio quality and extras. Not getting the Atmos (or DTS:X) track is a massive bummer and I don't understand why other digital retailers can get this and Kaleidescape can't. Also that some titles don't get the extras is another bummer, especially when they are available digitally elsewhere and/or on the disc. For premium digital pricing, you should get the full disc-based experience.
2) Closer to disc-based pricing. The WB pricing is brutal. Also, when you can go and get a Bond 4K disc for $14.99 -- with all the extras and physical discs and digital copies -- it's tough to want to spend the $31.99 to get the movies without any of the added items...that's a big premium. I also wish Store pricing was closer in line to other digital retailers; I understand a bit of a premium for the premium file size, but sometimes it is 2-3 (or more) times the price.
3) I know it isn't their model, but I'd LOVE to be able to rent 4K HDR titles from the Store. There are MANY movies that I only want to watch once, and it is hard to justify the $25-37 price to buy it to do that. If I could rent it for $6-8 that would be FANTASTIC.
4) I know they don't set the Disc-to-Digital upgrade, but I wish there were a less "painful" way to go from DVD or BD to 4K. If the pricing was more reasonable, I'd be far more likely to upgrade more titles in my collection.
5) It would be nice to get a mobile. viewing option (or MA rights) to movies purchased at the store. But if I could have items 1-3 on this want list, I'd WAY rather have that.
John Sciacca

Click to expand...

“ don't understand why other digital retailers can get this and Kaleidescape can't.”

That’s my thoughts exactly before the streaming service not provide an atmos it was understand as the digital devision separate than the physical disc devision but since all the stream service provide and have it already why they don’t bring it to k hope and will always be optimistic that k will find the right path and get it as NEW HOPE bring that to the store


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ahmad78 said:

“ don't understand why other digital retailers can get this and Kaleidescape can't.”

That’s my thoughts exactly before the streaming service not provide an atmos it was understand as the digital devision separate than the physical disc devision but since all the stream service provide and have it already why they don’t bring it to k hope and will always be optimistic that k will find the right path and get it as NEW HOPE bring that to the store


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

I understand more details now behind the logistics and challenges of the lacking immersive audio. I can tell you definitively that Kaleidescape wants that gap plugged and over with as badly as we do. Suffice to say, there's a lot behind the process they do, coordination required, and working relationships with the studios to make things happen and unfortunately things in this regard have not been simple.

TrackZ said:

I want to add that if anyone is in a similar situation to Bauer89 where you are an existing owner of older products and have not upgraded to a Strato model, but are considering it, please let me know.

Click to expand...

We are in a similar situation to Bauer89. We have a Premier 3U with a M700 disc vault.

Loves:
1. Interface
2. Ability to store movies in a off the web location
3. Control system integration

Wish List:
1. Web based digital licensing (i.e. MA) or the ability to download titles to an iPad. We have two young kids and we need digital licensing and we are not going to buy it twice. We would love a Terra server but without this we will not be upgrading. If our Premier system fails and cannot be repaired cost effectively we will switch to streaming services via AppleTV and TiVo.
2. More disc to digital availability.
3. Rentals for one off movies

Todd

Owner:

Likes:
1. Elegant and easy to use interface
2. Outstanding audio and video quality
3. Pre-bookmarked scenes, songs, extras, etc. Also Love the ability to add own scenes.

Wants:
1. More options to play content. For example, ability to play scenes from all content randomly, or random songs, etc. Filters with the random play would also be great.
2. Online store pricing closer to disc based pricing.
3. More affordable 4k option for upgrade from Premiere line - not planning to upgrade anytime soon

Owner
Strato S 12TB and DV700/Alto combo

Loves:
1. The overall experience UI, ease of use.
2. Amount of 4K UHD/HDR titles include the store that are not offered on disc, knowing we are getting the best presentation possible.
3. The amount of 4K UHD/HDR movies that have larger files than there disc counterparts.

Improvements:
1. Movie Anywhere, I have over 250 movies that I need to port into Kaleidescap, also I share a Vudu account with family and would love for titles purchased in Kaleidescape Movie Store to port to Movies Anywhere so they will port to Vudu so I don’t have to rebuy them.
2. Missing Studios: HBO (4k game of thrones and westwor), Epix, Shout Factory, Criterion, Vinegar Syndrome, Blue Underground, etc.
3. Movies that are either 4K UHD/HDR on either disc or digital but are only HD on Kaleidescape.
4. Collections (buy all Bonds together for lower price).
5. More Sales.
6. Wish I could buy a 10 TB Terra and add 10TB drives as needed.