Movie Updates

[thrillcat]

My 2 cents ... when there's a choice, I prefer a lossless 7.1/5.1 track to a subpar lossy Atmos track.

Andy

I’d agree. Using DTS Neural:X on a lossless 5.1 track is always preferable (to me) than a lossy Atmos track.

 

[StanfieldNC]

Lossless tracks always preferred here. To me, that is the top reason to prefer K over streaming.

 

[Broncowrangler]

Speaking exclusively for myself here; I always prefer lossless audio. I’m willing to take a hit on pq, but I need full fidelity on the audio front. Streaming PQ is quite serviceable these days, however the audio component still leaves a lot to be desired. I guess I’m more biased towards audio.

 

[jarp81]

I’d agree. Using DTS Neural:X on a lossless 5.1 track is always preferable (to me) than a lossy Atmos track.

Definitely agree with this. When I first got into 4K discs, the deciding factor if I would upgrade from the Blu Ray disc to the 4K was if it had an Atmos track. Honestly, now with up-mixing to Neural:X, I can’t tell the difference in some Atmos and 5.1 tracks. I find that I’m less of an Atmos snob now

 

[Furnace Inferno]

Agreed with everyone else I would rather the 5.1/7.1 loseless than a compressed Atmos, although a less compressed download from K would certainly be interesting to compare because I find even a basic DVD lossy mix far superior to the rubbish you get with streaming. For whatever reason every other digital store stream/download seems to be entirely geared towards soundbars and heavily reduced dynamics to improve clarity for the majority watching on TVs and tablets/phones than decent audio systems.

I’m convinced they must be doing something funny because DVDs don’t sound that bad, even comparing something like Aladdin on Disney+ you basically lose all low end compared to the Blu-ray and that is hardly a powerhouse soundtrack!

 

[LoveCinema]

Sounds like we've got universal agreement, and any lossy track would never be used. Curiosity satisfied. Thanks everyone!

 

[Kostas]

The following HD movies have been updated for Strato V compatibility in my system + Extras have been added to Friends Season 10

Dirty Pretty Things

An illegal Nigerian immigrant discovers a horrifying crime ring based out of the London hotel where he works. Thriller, Crime. Directed by Stephen Frears. Starring Audrey Tautou, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sergi López, and Benedict Wong. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

She's Out of My League

An airport security agent who lands a drop-dead gorgeous girlfriend does everything he can to keep her. Comedy, Romance. Directed by Jim Field Smith. Starring Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, T.J. Miller, and Mike Vogel. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

Friends (Season 10)

Rachel and Joey stay friends, Phoebe and Mike get married, Monica and Chandler adopt, and Ross's feelings for Rachel return. Comedy. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

The Skeleton Twins

Estranged twins try to rebuild their relationship when a suicide attempt reconnects them after 10 years. Comedy, Drama. Directed by Craig Johnson. Starring Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, and Ty Burrell. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

 

[Hunter67]

Agreed with everyone else I would rather the 5.1/7.1 loseless than a compressed Atmos, although a less compressed download from K would certainly be interesting to compare because I find even a basic DVD lossy mix far superior to the rubbish you get with streaming. For whatever reason every other digital store stream/download seems to be entirely geared towards soundbars and heavily reduced dynamics to improve clarity for the majority watching on TVs and tablets/phones than decent audio systems.

I’m convinced they must be doing something funny because DVDs don’t sound that bad, even comparing something like Aladdin on Disney+ you basically lose all low end compared to the Blu-ray and that is hardly a powerhouse soundtrack!

One of the differences between streaming versions vs Kscape/disk besides being lossy, most of them have Dolby dialnorm enabled.
For example The Crow (2024) DD+ Atmos dialnorm setting is 14dB lower, meaning you would need to turn the volume up 14db to match the k/disk version, A Quiet Place Day One DD+ Atmos dialnorm is 15db, almost all movies on Disney Plus have a dialnorm setting of 4db

 

[Furnace Inferno]

One of the differences between streaming versions vs Kscape/disk besides being lossy, most of them have Dolby dialnorm enabled.
For example The Crow (2024) DD+ Atmos dialnorm setting is 14dB lower, meaning you would need to turn the volume up 14db to match the k/disk version, A Quiet Place Day One DD+ Atmos dialnorm is 15db, almost all movies on Disney Plus have a dialnorm setting of 4db

I did try pumping the volume up on the Disney+ ones but they still never sound close to equal. Aladdin is the main one I can think of because I was comparing to the Blu-ray for picture quality as I was curious if HDR adds anything to the hand animated ones when I was thinking about updating. It’s not particularly difficult source material either but take one of the main song numbers Prince Ali with Abu as the Elephant, the stomping and bashing open the door, almost no bass on the Disney+ version but on the Blu-ray it’s not crazy but it’s a very significant difference.

I was watching Rings of Power recently on Amazon again wasn’t wowed by the audio, I’ve compared Star Trek HDR on AppleTV to the Blu-ray again missing all the low-end and that has a load in the opening and I normally push the stream higher in volume to compensate and it doesn’t bring it back.

On my system at least streaming audio is just not comparable to any physical disc volume matched or not, it just seems like they compress the low and high end so it can be played on anything and increase intelligibility across all hardware. Even the Atmoused Disney UHD disc tracks aren’t as bad! Unless it’s an issue with the Firestick but then Amazon Music Unlimited gives me plenty of bass through it both with lossless and Atmos tracks although the latter are a lot quieter upping the volume then does bring them back.

 

[ZeroDarkFuga]

I did try pumping the volume up on the Disney+ ones but they still never sound close to equal. Aladdin is the main one I can think of because I was comparing to the Blu-ray for picture quality as I was curious if HDR adds anything to the hand animated ones when I was thinking about updating. It’s not particularly difficult source material either but take one of the main song numbers Prince Ali with Abu as the Elephant, the stomping and bashing open the door, almost no bass on the Disney+ version but on the Blu-ray it’s not crazy but it’s a very significant difference.

I was watching Rings of Power recently on Amazon again wasn’t wowed by the audio, I’ve compared Star Trek HDR on AppleTV to the Blu-ray again missing all the low-end and that has a load in the opening and I normally push the stream higher in volume to compensate and it doesn’t bring it back.

On my system at least streaming audio is just not comparable to any physical disc volume matched or not, it just seems like they compress the low and high end so it can be played on anything and increase intelligibility across all hardware. Even the Atmoused Disney UHD disc tracks aren’t as bad! Unless it’s an issue with the Firestick but then Amazon Music Unlimited gives me plenty of bass through it both with lossless and Atmos tracks although the latter are a lot quieter upping the volume then does bring them back.

I wish K-Scape would be able to get Rings of Power Season 1 and 2, would purchase automatically.

@MikeKobb and @J.Green , is there any chance of K getting Amazon original movies/series like these? Or no deal with Amazon negotiated or in the works in the foreseeable future?

 

[LoveCinema]

I wish K-Scape would be able to get Rings of Power Season 1 and 2, would purchase automatically.

@MikeKobb and @J.Green , is there any chance of K getting Amazon original movies/series like these? Or no deal with Amazon negotiated or in the works in the foreseeable future?

K already has a deal with Amazon and gets the movies/series that Amazon Studios puts out for digital sale (also MGM, which Amazon owns). Road House (Remake), The Tomorrow War, Jack Reacher, etc. Of course, subject to all of the standard "K decided to pass or get lower quality" stuff, which definitely affects Amazon/MGM (Saltburn, American Fiction, Road House all missing HDR; Jack Reacher in HD instead of 4K, etc.).

The primary issue here is that Amazon is not making Rings of Power available for digital sale. They're keeping that one as a streaming exclusive for the time being, which makes sense as I believe it's their biggest attraction to the service currently.

 

[Furnace Inferno]

Although locking the Atmos behind a paywall now, bastards! I’m not paying an extra £2 a month for DD+ Atmos that’s for sure, at least the ads aren’t too egregious.

 

[ahard]

I’d agree. Using DTS Neural:X on a lossless 5.1 track is always preferable (to me) than a lossy Atmos track.

^^This. I use DTS Neural:X when there isn't a lossless Atmos track for a movie on K. The lossless just has more dynamic range than the lossy and I'll take all of that dynamic range all day every day over lossy.

 

[ahard]

I’m convinced they must be doing something funny because DVDs don’t sound that bad, even comparing something like Aladdin on Disney+ you basically lose all low end compared to the Blu-ray and that is hardly a powerhouse soundtrack!

I've found the same thing when comparing Dune on streaming versus K.

 

[erixon1138]

The Equalizer 2

Changes in this update:

• Added audio track: English (PCM Stereo)

The Equalizer 2

McCall uses his unique fighting skills in a quest for personal vengeance after a group of thugs kill his friend. Action, Crime, Drama. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Starring Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Melissa Leo, and Bill Pullman. Purchase and download today in 4K HDR with Dolby Atmos audio.

www.kaleidescape.com

 

[Kostas]

The Equalizer 2

Changes in this update:

• Added audio track: English (PCM Stereo)

The Equalizer 2

McCall uses his unique fighting skills in a quest for personal vengeance after a group of thugs kill his friend. Action, Crime, Drama. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Starring Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Melissa Leo, and Bill Pullman. Purchase and download today in 4K HDR with Dolby Atmos audio.

www.kaleidescape.com

Added in DV as well.

 

[Kostas]

The following HD movies have been updated for Strato V compatibility in my system

Friends (Season 1)

Six young New Yorkers relate their adventures and misadventures together while hanging out at the local café. Comedy. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

Friends (Season 3)

Rachel and Ross go on a "break," Chandler and Joey adopt a duck and a chick, and Phoebe meets her half-brother. Comedy. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

Incompetent officer Frank Drebin commits gaffe after heinous gaffe while working to foil an assassination plot. Comedy, Crime. Directed by David Zucker. Starring Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, and Ricardo Montalban. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

Sliding Doors

A simple twist of fate drastically alters the course of a London woman's life. Comedy, Drama, Romance. Directed by Peter Howitt. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, and Jeanne Tripplehorn. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

Django Unchained

A slave turned bounty hunter and his German emancipator ride off to rescue his wife from the clutches of a villainous plantation owner. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kerry Washington. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

 

[lujan]

Since I saw this last post, I decided to check and it seems they fixed the HD version for download unto the Strato V for “Insidious Chapter 2”. I bought the whole collection but only watched the first one because I was waiting for this before continuing to watch the others.

 

[Kostas]

The following HD movies have been updated for Strato V compatibility in my system. Added Extras(in SD) for Ben Hur

Friends (Season 9)

Monica and Chandler try to get pregnant, Rachel wavers between Ross and Joey, and Phoebe falls in love. Comedy. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

True Grit

To bring the outlaw who killed her father to justice, a headstrong girl scours Choctaw territory with a notorious U.S. Marshal. Western, Drama. Starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

Stand by Me

A writer reminisces about the time that he and his childhood pals set out to find a dead body. Drama. Directed by Rob Reiner. Starring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

Ben-Hur

A friend's betrayal sends Ben-Hur to the slave galleys, vowing to return for revenge. Epic, Adventure, Drama, Classics. Directed by William Wyler. Starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, and Stephen Boyd. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

After changing the past creates a gritty alternate future, The Flash teams up with a more violent Batman to restore his timeline. Directed by Jay Oliva. Starring Justin Chambers, C. Thomas Howell, Michael B. Jordan, and Kevin McKidd. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

 

[Kostas]

The following HD movies have been updated for Strato V compatibility in my system.

Life Is Beautiful

A father keeps his son's hopes up in a concentration camp by pretending it's all an elaborate game. Drama, Comedy, War. Directed by Roberto Benigni. Starring Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, and Giustino Durano. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

No Country for Old Men

A poor hunter becomes the target of an emotionless killing machine after finding a stash of drug money near the Rio Grande. Drama, Crime, Thriller. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, and Woody Harrelson. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com

Scream 4

Sidney's return to Woodsboro to promote her autobiography sets off a new wave of murderous slayings. Horror. Directed by Wes Craven. Starring David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and Emma Roberts. Purchase and download today in Blu-ray quality.

www.kaleidescape.com