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

[gerald.d]

From what was said so far, no. The prior gen players will not play the new 4k Cinema format.

Nope, the V won't be able to playback the 4K Cinematic file, so you'll need both versions of the movie downloaded to watch on the different players.

Bummer.

Oh well, I guess 2x K’s are cheaper and easier to manage than having the space to download two versions of the same film

 

[lujan]

Correct. If you already own a 4K title, you can download the 4K Cinematic version at no additional cost.
The web store will now also inform you when there is a "version update" available. For example:
View attachment 10338

4K Cinematic titles are available in SDR, DV, and HDR10. Note, however, that we will only generate one HDR version in 4K Cinematic with the preference going to DV since Strato K and play the DV version and output it as HDR10 if necessary. So a 4K Cinematic HDR10 version will only be generated if a DV version is not available.
View attachment 10339

Yes, I got a notification on the "Digital Offers" location that there were 23 updates, and these were these new "Cinematic" updates.

 

[cal87]

The Strato M/C/E/V can all output at up to 4:4:4 chroma, but the source files they support are only 4:2:0 chroma, so that's just internal chroma upsampling, not actual additional chroma resolution in the file itself (like the new Strato K offers).

When you're referring to the Strato M player supporting 4:2:2 chroma, what's happening is the 4K 4:2:0 chroma source file is being downscaled to 1080p 4:2:2 chroma, so there's a bit of an advantage versus just downscaling to 1080p 4:2:0 chroma, but the other players could do that too, if set to a 1080p output and playing back a 4K file.

Don't the DV files have more chroma than 4:2:0?

 

[gerald.d]

This

Yes, I got a notification on the "Digital Offers" location that there were 23 updates, and these were these new "Cinematic" updates.

This is a little odd, no?

Why would you be offered updates that your current system could not play?

 

[JWort93]

Don't the DV files have more chroma than 4:2:0?

Nope, they are 4:2:0 as well (well the standard ones at least haha, these new ones are higher than 4:2:0). These DV profile 5 files are encoded in the 10-bit ICtCp color space though, instead of 10-bit YCbCr (like HDR10), and 10-bit ICtCp is roughly equivalent to 11.5-bit YCbCr, so they do have advantages with regards to things like color banding, but not color resolution that this higher chroma-subsampling enables.

 

[SimonSays]

I'm glad I held off on getting a Strato V (as it took a while to catch up converting HD content... Still 1 or 2 titles awaiting conversion).

For those that want to get an 8K file:

Velocitas Machina

A short film capturing stunning 8K image quality. Special Interest. Directed by Phil Holland. Starring Eric Lee Huffman. Purchase and download today in 8K.

www.kaleidescape.com

 

[thrillcat]

Mh, interesting. Would be good to get some 1st hand information from @J.Green on this.

From the FAQ page, emphasis mine:

Kaleidescape’s 4K Cinematic format preserves up to 100% of the color information in every pixel by distributing video with half (4:2:2) or full (4:4:4) chroma sampling resulting in:

• Color that looks richer, deeper, and more accurate
• Clean transitions without fringing or halos
• Sharper, more defined details in costumes, sets, and VFX

 

[lujan]

This

This is a little odd, no?

Why would you be offered updates that your current system could not play?

Not sure, but here is a screen shot. I'm guessing it is because they now have the "Cinematic" label and they are larger files than previous ones:

 

[J.Green]

Mh, interesting. Would be good to get some 1st hand information from @J.Green on this.

The 4K Cinematic titles are transcoded using a chroma sampling of either 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 depending on the source files we get from the studios. This compares to our 4K (non-Cinematic) transcodes which are done using a 4:2:0 chroma sampling.

 

[J.Green]

Not sure, but here is a screen shot. I'm guessing it is because they now have the "Cinematic" label and they are larger files than previous ones:

View attachment 10340

Based on what I can see in that screenshot, you are being offered upgrade pricing on content that you do not own in 4K (there's no ownership snipe on the corner and you're seeing prices). When you buy the 4K version, it includes the 4K Cinematic and the "regular" 4K version. If you don't have a Strato K, you would want to download the 4K SDR, 4K HDR10 or 4K DV rather than the 4K Cinematic.

The badging on the store (what you're seeing above) is simply showing you the highest quality available on the store.

 

[Edgar]

This is the perfect excuse to move my Strato C to the living room.

Everest indeed! Put me on the Strato K-2 list! (See what I did there?)

 

[josh]

This is the perfect excuse to move my Strato C to the living room.

Everest indeed! Put me on the Strato K-2 list! (See what I did there?)

you mean the upcoming version of the Strato K that goes back to having 2 HDMI outputs?
Yes, K2 would be the appropriate name for that (fictitious for now) player, for many reasons!

 

[thrillcat]

you mean the upcoming version of the Strato K that goes back to having 2 HDMI outputs?
Yes, K2 would be the appropriate name for that (fictitious for now) player, for many reasons!

No, that would simply add more confusion.

K2

A wild lawyer convinces his subdued friend to help him climb a legendary and dangerous mountain. Action, Suspense, Sports. Directed by Franc Roddam. Starring Michael Biehn, Frank Craven, Raymond J. Barry, and Hiroshi Fujioka. Purchase and download today in SD.

www.kaleidescape.com

 

[StoneColdNormal]

So if one purchases a Strato K for one room and keeps their Strato V/E in another room, then one would need to download both the 4K cinematic and regular 4K versions to their Terra server if wanting to have a movie available to play in both rooms. Having a mix of players in different rooms doesn’t make much sense anymore.

 

[josh]

This DOES all raise another strange forum issue. For literally decades now, many of us often just use "K" as a substitute for "Kaleidescape"... meaning the company, the ecosystem, the whole service... and now I can already see people (me included) just using "K" to refer to the Strato K player.
Already happened on another thread when someone used "K" for the company and I misread it as Strato K.

 

[DoubleDown]

I am not seeing 4K Cinema available on Batman Begins through the Kaleidescape app. Is that because I don't have a Strato K?

 

[thrillcat]

I am not seeing 4K Cinema available on Batman Begins through the Kaleidescape app.

The app doesn't seem to be showing anything 4K Cinematic yet, but they are all identified on the website.

 

[JWort93]

The app shows it if you updated to the new version released this morning, on iOS at least. Unsure about Android.

 

[DoubleDown]

Thanks. I see it now after updating the ios app.

 

[J.Green]

I am not seeing 4K Cinema available on Batman Begins through the Kaleidescape app. Is that because I don't have a Strato K?

The mobile apps (iOS and Android) have been updated to support 4K Cinematic. Ensure that you are running the latest version of the app (they just went live this morning)