New Kscape Products

[cinelife]

Any guess in terms of when Kaleidescape will release a new version to replace the Strato C?

Curious, what would you be looking for in a replacement for Strato-C?

Jim

 

[VPN]

Curious, what would you be looking for in a replacement for Strato-C?

Jim

Anything that could further improve the quality of the sound and the image.

 

[cinelife]

Very helpful, thank you.


Jim

 

[VPN]

Very helpful, thank you.


Jim

Well, let me give some examples:

1. Look at the extensive changes done to the AppleTV in order to create AppleTV X, with improved image.

2. Look at the changes done to the Innuos Statement to create the Innuos Statement Nexgen with much improved sound (I heard the comparison in the Munich High End).

3. Look at the changes made by Taiko that just announced the Taiko Olympus XDMI as the top of the line, above the Taiko Extreme.

I understand there should be much to do in order to improve the audio and video of the Strato C. Certainly in the power supply, but also other areas, looking at the examples above.

 

[DieZwei]

That has nothing to do with product improvement. Let these companies do their "tuning" and let Kaleidescape focus on the improvement of their overall solution.

 

[Completely Lawless]

Curious, what would you be looking for in a replacement for Strato-C?

Jim

1 - Dolby Vision (my second player will be paired with an 83" LG G3 in a 5.1.2 living room) so while I know it won't really help current projectors I would like to extend my content to OLEDs. And theater sized OLEDs are right around the corner in price accessibility and theatre sizes.

2 - Integrated small SSD drive allowing "seed-to-start" movies (so based on your historical download speeds you could purchase a movie, let it d/l the first couple gigabytes ... you watch almost instantly while it downloads the rest in the background, Not streaming, like I said, seed-to-start). That small amount of storage would be coupled/meshed with Compact Terra in the background for seamless environment (which I understand it already is today) but giving you all the performance of SSD speed downloads at a lower cost (than a Prime SSD) and offloading to Compact Terra disk for long term storage in the background.

3 - Improved UI especially when paired with Prime servers. I am new so might be mistaken, but does movie wall only show movies that are downloaded to your system? With the "seed-to-start" and fiber gigabit-plus Internet these days (Google Fiber offers 8Gb in my market now, AT&T 5Gb) all movies you own should be on the wall (if they aren't already) because with that solution they would effectively be immediately available.

If there is an embedded SSD drive I would hope they start moving towards 10GbE because as I mentioned, 2.5GbE will be quickly surpassed especially if file sizes grow because of DV content.

 

[Steve Bruzonsky]

Well, let me give some examples:

1. Look at the extensive changes done to the AppleTV in order to create AppleTV X, with improved image.

2. Look at the changes done to the Innuos Statement to create the Innuos Statement Nexgen with much improved sound (I heard the comparison in the Munich High End).

3. Look at the changes made by Taiko that just announced the Taiko Olympus XDMI as the top of the line, above the Taiko Extreme.

I understand there should be much to do in order to improve the audio and video of the Strato C. Certainly in the power supply, but also other areas, looking at the examples above.

I have 2 of the Appletvxs and absolutely love them, and they come with linear power supply.

I use Teddy Pardo linear power supplies with my Kaleidescape Strato Cs and Altos.

I use DJM Electronics Gigafoil v4s from the network switch to each of the above. (internally converts ethernet to optical and back to ethernet - industrial products for industry use primarily)

Last, I use a Fidilizer Ethernet 2 network switch (modestly priced upgraded network switch).

In my basement 65" LG OLED system, I have found this to maximize/improve audio video quality. My theater is being upgraded/renovated and will use this as well.

 

[Steve Bruzonsky]

I suspect that Kaleidescape will come out with a new model of the Strato C only when parts availability necessitates this - one would think in the next few years this will occur. Doubt they want to get into tweaks like I use as this ups the cost of the Strato C and may decrease new owners buying in.

 

[Substance]

1 - Dolby Vision (my second player will be paired with an 83" LG G3 in a 5.1.2 living room) so while I know it won't really help current projectors I would like to extend my content to OLEDs. And theater sized OLEDs are right around the corner in price accessibility and theatre sizes.

2 - Integrated small SSD drive allowing "seed-to-start" movies (so based on your historical download speeds you could purchase a movie, let it d/l the first couple gigabytes ... you watch almost instantly while it downloads the rest in the background, Not streaming, like I said, seed-to-start). That small amount of storage would be coupled/meshed with Compact Terra in the background for seamless environment (which I understand it already is today) but giving you all the performance of SSD speed downloads at a lower cost (than a Prime SSD) and offloading to Compact Terra disk for long term storage in the background.

3 - Improved UI especially when paired with Prime servers. I am new so might be mistaken, but does movie wall only show movies that are downloaded to your system? With the "seed-to-start" and fiber gigabit-plus Internet these days (Google Fiber offers 8Gb in my market now, AT&T 5Gb) all movies you own should be on the wall (if they aren't already) because with that solution they would effectively be immediately available.

If there is an embedded SSD drive I would hope they start moving towards 10GbE because as I mentioned, 2.5GbE will be quickly surpassed especially if file sizes grow because of DV content.

Interesting ideas. Here are my thoughts.

1- No arguments here. DV is surely nice to have. I am not sure how easy or difficult it would be to add DV to their entire catalog. Dolby will surely charge some licensing fees. Maybe the already high K pricing will absorb this or we will see pricing increase.

2- Having some server functionality on each player will tax the overall system performance once you go above 4 ”new SSD” player and servers in one system. This has been discussed recently. There would be way too much background processing which will likely bottleneck at the CPU before any benefits from the SSD. Technically, HDDs in the Terra servers are fast enough to “seed-to-start”. What happens if you lose internet connectivity during the download? I believe K takes reliability a lot more seriously than speed. I am not sure if they would go for “seed-to-start” because of this.

3- This is a great idea and a terrible idea depending on how much invested you are in the K systems. With a complete library on the GUI and the ability to watch movies immediately (or in minutes as currently in), who will buy the big servers? I am pretty sure K’s main revenue is the hardware sales, not the content (at least not yet) We have many users here with multiple Terra servers. How will they feel when their servers tank in value overnight?

Besides the above (ethical) issue, this also conflicts with K’s reliability statement. When I see a movie on my GUI, I know it is ready to play in seconds and it will not be interrupted during its entire playback. Betting on movies not downloaded on your server is a high risk. It may get stuck on updating the movie guide, or K servers are experiencing heavy downloads, or your ISP is having issues, can K guarantee you can watch your movies in minutes every time?

Currently, 10Gbe adapters are power hungry and generate a ton of heat. SATA SSDs in the Terra Prime SSD will saturate a 5Gbe adapter but barely. I mean while at it, they should go SFP28 or SFP100? I am kidding Sure, I will take any hardware upgrade if it won’t cost me more than what I need in terms of $$$, heat and power consumption.

 

[DieZwei]

When I see a movie on my GUI, I know it is ready to play in seconds and it will not be interrupted during its entire playback. Betting on movies not downloaded on your server is a high risk. It may get stuck on updating the movie guide, or K servers are experiencing heavy downloads, or your ISP is having issues, can K guarantee you can watch your movies in minutes every time?

I think that´s a good point: the availability of a movie that is not already downloaded locally is not within the influence of K. After it´s downloaded, it is.
I think it would be wise for K to not have the overall user experience at the mercy of the reliability of the infrastructure outside of the system (which it already is to a certain extend as you need a well working LAN in the first place of course).

 

[cinelife]

@Completely Lawless, thank you.


Jim

 

[shoptime]

Curious, what would you be looking for in a replacement for Strato-C?

Jim

I like keeping clutter to a minimum. With that said for me one thing that would be nice would be the ability to use third party apps, Youtube, Netflix, even watch my apple content. I get that some of that is its competition, but to have fewer devices and remotes to have to juggle would be nice.

A second feature that I don't know why they don't implement with the new faster download speeds, is viewing all my movies not just the ones downloaded. just maybe greyed out so I know they are not loaded. These systems are not cheap! I can't afford to buy enough storage for all my movies, but to be able to see them all, all at once would be great. What's the point of buying a movie if I forget I even have it?

 

[Rengozu]

Still holding out for 3D to eventually make its way to the Kaleidescape ecosystem. Lots of us are projector owners and it just makes sense.

 

[cinelife]

Still holding out for 3D to eventually make its way to the Kaleidescape ecosystem. Lots of us are projector owners and it just makes sense.

This is my only real disappointment. I never did get a good reason why it couldn't be implemented, the oft-repeated "it's going away" was the standard answer, but it is true that many manufacturers have been backing away from adding a 3D function to there displays and players, which makes it more likely we'll never get that support. I 've had dozens of clients ask as well, and I'm one dealer! Studios continue to release films (theatrical releases) in 3D, and the quality has improved to a level that it's much more enjoyable to watch now than it was in the early years. I own about 300 titles in 3D, and they look incredible with the latest higher lumen projectors. With my kids, 1 out 3 viewings is in 3D.

Jim

 

[DieZwei]

I own about 300 titles in 3D, and they look incredible with the latest higher lumen projectors. With my kids, 1 out 3 viewings is in 3D.

Yeah, we also have a couple of clients who still like 3D very much.
One of them has one of our modified Christie M-4K25 installed and gets 100nits through the 3D glasses on a 184" screen. So effectively, he´s enjoying 3D at the same brightness as he does with SDR content.

 

[Completely Lawless]

This is my only real disappointment. I never did get a good reason why it couldn't be implemented, the oft-repeated "it's going away" was the standard answer, but it is true that many manufacturers have been backing away from adding a 3D function to there displays and players, which makes it more likely we'll never get that support. I 've had dozens of clients ask as well, and I'm one dealer! Studios continue to release films (theatrical releases) in 3D, and the quality has improved to a level that it's much more enjoyable to watch now than it was in the early years. I own about 300 titles in 3D, and they look incredible with the latest higher lumen projectors. With my kids, 1 out 3 viewings is in 3D.

Jim

What movies are some of your favorites?

I recently purchased the XPAND system for my Sony projector but have only watched Avatar for surprisingly, my first 3D film ever.

I bought about ten discs but would like to see some of the best offerings.

 

[cinelife]

Yeah, we also have a couple of clients who still like 3D very much.
One of them has one of our modified Christie M-4K25 installed and gets 100nits through the 3D glasses on a 184" screen. So effectively, he´s enjoying 3D at the same brightness as he does with SDR content.

Nice! As you educated me as to what we are actually getting with the 380, 100nits sounds great for 3D!

Jim

 

[DieZwei]

Nice! As you educated me as to what we are actually getting with the 380, 100nits sounds great for 3D!

Jim

Yes. SDR content is mastered for 100nits and this (well, mostly a bit more like 120-130nits) is what we´re also calibrating our high-lumen installations for with reduced laser output. So that means with 100nits in 3D, you actually get the same brightness the SDR version was mastered for. So finally, with the high-lumen projectors available, you can get beyond the "3D is nice, but always darker than the 2D version"-law.

 

[cinelife]

What movies are some of your favorites?

I recently purchased the XPAND system for my projector but have only watched Avatar for surprisingly, my first 3D film ever.

I bought about ten discs but would like to see some of the best offerings.

You noted Avatar
Jaws
Alita
Dredd
Kong Skull Island
Antman
Aquaman
Prometheus
Ghostbusters
Mad Max
X-Men
Wrath of the Titans
many more, and a bunch of animated films, look them up, they're all good.


Jim

 

[Substance]

This is my only real disappointment. I never did get a good reason why it couldn't be implemented, the oft-repeated "it's going away" was the standard answer, but it is true that many manufacturers have been backing away from adding a 3D function to there displays and players, which makes it more likely we'll never get that support. I 've had dozens of clients ask as well, and I'm one dealer! Studios continue to release films (theatrical releases) in 3D, and the quality has improved to a level that it's much more enjoyable to watch now than it was in the early years. I own about 300 titles in 3D, and they look incredible with the latest higher lumen projectors. With my kids, 1 out 3 viewings is in 3D.

Jim

It might be an HDMI chipset issue. I believe Strato C was developed during the HDMI profile 1.4 to 2.0 transition (2015?). HDMI profile 1.4 needed revision A to include 3D support. HDMI profile 2.0 included “optional” support for 3D but earlier chipset may have ignored this. Around this time, 3D was dead (again). Perhaps, K decided to design the Strato C around what’s available rather than wait for later chipsets. I remember this was the reason Jim at Lumagen designed the Radiance Pro’s I/O section modular.