I have an older 6TB Strato S (4K), and I’m considering upgrading to a Strato K. Does anyone know whether the Strato S can be used as storage for the K? I’d like to take advantage of that existing storage before adding a separate server later.
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NEWS: Strato K Movie Player with 8K capability and new "4K Cinematic" full-chroma & higher bitrate support
- Thread starter josh
- Start date
Can you please expand on the picture quality with examples?
brodricj
Well-known member
Strato C, bright areas of an image eg burning candle (Amadeus) or sun reflecting off water (Mama Mia) any detail in the bright field is all washed out. And blacks are crushed (M's jacket in Skyfall). With the Strato K that does not happen.
Thank you!
This is with 4K content into the same input as the Strato K, also with no other processing in between?
Good Afternoon! I too have a Strato S 6TB and asked basically the same question of Kaleidescape Support a few weeks ago. I received a response within 2 hours. The response was yes, provided I also had a Terra server in the system, and then the Strato K can play all compatible content regardless of where the content is stored. I don't think that one can group the Strato S and K in the system without a Terra server.
Hopefully, this helps.
brodricj
Well-known member
correct.
Is this comparing the Cinematic 4K to the regular 4K, or is this the exact same content on each? (The most obvious way for highlights/blacks to be improved is for them to have had a botched encode before, and to have re-encoded it for Cinematic, but if you're seeing this on the exact same file, then there's some other, weirder bug happening.)
brodricj
Well-known member
It's a general observation applicable to all content. HD, 4K, 4Kc.
RobT
Well-known member
This is interesting. From this description it sounds like the K is doing some tone mapping. Can anyone with more technical knowledge comment whether this might be the case?
I’m curious too. That sounds like tone mapping. Don’t have a Strato C to compare, from the Strato V I have, I couldn’t find meaningful improvement, certainly not tone mapping.
Not if (as they say) it's happening on SDR, it isn't. It'd have to be some other kind of processing bug.
brodricj
Well-known member
I've connected the C back to the projector. The K is definitely way better than the C with black detail, and with high contrast scenes. I point out also the K connects at 18Gbps but the C will only connect at 13.5Gbps (same cable). Overall my preference for watching movies is by the M700 player. The image quality is not too much of a sacrifice and multi-channel audio compared to 2.0 limitation with the K is way much better for the sought after immersive experience. I did buy an 8K certified HDMI audio extractor to get 7.1 PCM out of the K but I couldn't get it to work. The audio extractor would only pass video but there was no audio on the audio only output port. I do hope that Kaleidescape publish a list of compatible audio extractors for those Strato K owners who do not have 4K compatible AV processors.
You don't need an extractor, as that will still not give you the Atmos you're looking for. You need a quality splitter with a second scaled output. This will let you send the full signal direct to the projector/tv and a 1080p version to the processor (with the same atmos/digital signal retained)
I would recommend this one:
48Gbps 1x2 HDMI Distribution Amplifier
AC-DA-12X2 is an AVPro Edge one-input to two-output, 48 Gbps HDMI 2.1b distribution amplifier that flawlessly divides incoming HDMI signals up to 8K/60 fps into two separate output streams. Current 8K media consoles or 4K sources pass through HDMI 1 to a capable display, while downscaling may be...
www.avproglobal.com
I've used it to send Xbox and PS5 4k/120 direct while still retaining the same sound to an older AVR.
Kevin D.
brodricj
Well-known member
My projector has two inputs, one of them is used for 4K sources (of which I have three. K, C and AppleTV). I need to connect both the K, the C and ATV to that input. The C can connect to the AV processor via its HDMI audio output, but the K can not. I need a HDMI audio output from the splitter to the AV processor to give me multi-channel audio from the K. So that is a 3x2, right? Three 4K sources on the input, one 4K output to the projector, and a 1080P (or audio only) output to the AV processor.
My M700 gets connected to the projector via the other input.
Or I might just have to buy a new AV processor, but the sound of my Krell Foundation 7.1 is terrific I don't want to risk going backwards on sound quality. What might force the issue is I have just ordered a Magico Titan-15 and the SUB OUT channel of the Krell does not work. My Magico S-sub is connected the Esoteric Grandioso C1X preamp, meaning I'm sending the full range signal to my Magico M3. And for movies I can get a bit anxious about that. I'd rather only send >55Hz to the M3 but the present configuration that is impossible (because the Krell sub out doesn't work and the C1X has no bass management).
It sure is! I used to have one. Not enough things came with a audio HDMI output and the TVs only have a few HDMI inputs and eARC is terrible so I traded it in for an Anthem AVM70. You might prefer the AVM90. Either one is a significant upgrade from the Foundation, natively and more so with Anthem's Room Correction.
brodricj
Well-known member
Yes, AVM70 was on my radar to replace the Krell, but it has to sound better. The room correction will solve the full range signal to M3 problem. An alternative is Magico MXO but that is crazy money. I need to get surround sound working with my new K as the stereo soundtrack is just boring. Even though I'm using the Esoteric Grandioso D1XSE + C1X and the sound quality is off the Richter scale, but for no immersive audio experience.
I have been testing Strato K for a week now and want to add that I am really enjoying the cinematic titles. As others have mentioned, it varies by the source/movie but overall there is definitely an improvement. I watched Dune 1&2, Avatar 2009 and Blade Runner 2049 and they looked awesome.
I did brief comparison with UHD discs using Panasonic UB420 and the scene by scene differences may seem minor but I felt overall watching experience was better with Strato K. I would attribute this to higher bit-rate in my non-expert opinion. You can feel that the image is more stable during fast moving scenes and colors pops a little bit more. Given the option between K and regular UHD, I will always select K (unless there is huge price difference).
If you are watching at 77" or smaller setup, the improvements will likely feel less impactful or even negligible but it is definitely a material improvement for screens sizes 97" or higher.
Here is my setup: LG G5 97" OLED, Marantz AV10 (9.1.6 setup) and Strato K. Marantz has great video upscaling functionally, so does Strato K so I turned off upscaling in both by going to settings to truly check the impact of the Cinematic format. Not sure about the technical reason but colors did seem slightly different (or better) after turning off the upscalers so I left them off.
Overall if I'm glad that I upgraded from V and want to appreciate what K has done. They really pushed the envelope with this player and are the only one to do so I'm home media world.
I did brief comparison with UHD discs using Panasonic UB420 and the scene by scene differences may seem minor but I felt overall watching experience was better with Strato K. I would attribute this to higher bit-rate in my non-expert opinion. You can feel that the image is more stable during fast moving scenes and colors pops a little bit more. Given the option between K and regular UHD, I will always select K (unless there is huge price difference).
If you are watching at 77" or smaller setup, the improvements will likely feel less impactful or even negligible but it is definitely a material improvement for screens sizes 97" or higher.
Here is my setup: LG G5 97" OLED, Marantz AV10 (9.1.6 setup) and Strato K. Marantz has great video upscaling functionally, so does Strato K so I turned off upscaling in both by going to settings to truly check the impact of the Cinematic format. Not sure about the technical reason but colors did seem slightly different (or better) after turning off the upscalers so I left them off.
Overall if I'm glad that I upgraded from V and want to appreciate what K has done. They really pushed the envelope with this player and are the only one to do so I'm home media world.
The cinematic version of Blade Runner 2049 is being reported as being messed up with elevated blacks, a fix is incoming. So they either fixed it… you downloaded the incorrect version or the shiny new toy got you biased lol