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Strato Player - First impressions

Hi John,

No, this is not referring to internal decoding of lossless audio.

With the current software release (7.1), Strato does not yet output the lossless bitstream codecs (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X). It will instead output either the Dolby Digital or DTS "core"/"substream" that is associated with those formats. You can choose to output that audio as a (lossy) bitstream or have the player decode it to PCM, but we recommend the latter.

Support for bitstream output of those lossless codecs is planned for April. We have not announced a date for player decoding of those codecs.
 
MikeKobb said:
We still emit the aspect ratio triggers, so that motorized screen masking systems can adjust accordingly.
Click to expand...

Mike,

This feature is precisely what I was hoping Kaleidescape had. I will be securing a Seymour TAM 4-way masking system shortly and am specifically interested in having the motorized masking linked to the aspect ratio so it changes automatically. It is a 12' wide 16:9 native AR screen, which is also capable of 2:35 at 12' wide, and can *shrink* (I use the term humorously) down to both 16:9 & 2:35 at 10' wide as well.

How is this correlation between aspect ratio of movie, and aspect ratio of the screen made? How do I get that signal to my screen masking system? Currently planned: any movie with HDR (or, older than 5 years and in need of a smaller screen due to inferior video quality--Casino Royale comes to mind) would shrink the screen to 10' wide. Are there HDR triggers built into Kscape?

Please let me know--whether here on via PM. Thanks in advance!
 
BrolicBeast said:
Mike,

This feature is precisely what I was hoping Kaleidescape had. I will be securing a Seymour TAM 4-way masking system shortly and am specifically interested in having the motorized masking linked to the aspect ratio so it changes automatically. It is a 12' wide 16:9 native AR screen, which is also capable of 2:35 at 12' wide, and can *shrink* (I use the term humorously) down to both 16:9 & 2:35 at 10' wide as well.

How is this correlation between aspect ratio of movie, and aspect ratio of the screen made? How do I get that signal to my screen masking system? Currently planned: any movie with HDR (or, older than 5 years and in need of a smaller screen due to inferior video quality--Casino Royale comes to mind) would shrink the screen to 10' wide. Are there HDR triggers built into Kscape?

Please let me know--whether here on via PM. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I'm not an expert on iRule but you are limited with the two way communication. It can only read messages sent from Kscape when the app is running. If you have Kscape App loaded on iPad, the iRule app can't get status info from the Player.

You will be better off having a control system with a dedicated processor that can continuously receive information from KScape player. Personnally I use Control4 to get status message and change lens memory for my projector. In this case all devices communicate over IP. Look at the Kscape Support page for control modules from major automation companies. http://www.kaleidescape.com/support/control-systems/

In your example, the processor would probably get the info from Kscape over IP and then the processor would send either IR or RS232 to the Screen Masking control.
 
J.Green said:
There is not an iRule specific module available however the control protocol messages and commands are fully documented here:

http://www.kaleidescape.com/files/d...-System-Control-Protocol-Reference-Manual.pdf

There is currently no message that would report on whether or not the media being played is HDR or not.
Click to expand...

sbutter said:
I'm not an expert on iRule but you are limited with the two way communication. It can only read messages sent from Kscape when the app is running. If you have Kscape App loaded on iPad, the iRule app can't get status info from the Player.

You will be better off having a control system with a dedicated processor that can continuously receive information from KScape player. Personnally I use Control4 to get status message and change lens memory for my projector. In this case all devices communicate over IP. Look at the Kscape Support page for control modules from major automation companies. http://www.kaleidescape.com/support/control-systems/

In your example, the processor would probably get the info from Kscape over IP and then the processor would send either IR or RS232 to the Screen Masking control.
Click to expand...

Thank you both for your responses and thank you for including those great resources. I have given them a cursory glance and am getting a conceptual understanding of what may be required. I will, of course, delve much deeper into those documents when I have some time this evening.

Thanks again!
 
If you search the document John just linked, look for "GET_SCREEN_MASK", "GET_SCREEN_MASK2" and anything that says "CINEMASCAPE", for starters.

If you're using CinemaScape, you should use the CinemaScape mask events. If you're not, then the screen mask events are probably the ones you want.
 
All,

I will be receiving my strato in 10 days, but, one issue I seem to be having is slow downloads from the Kstore with my alto. I have it hooked up to a power line adapter and I'm getting anywhere from 7 to 15 Mbps download speeds. If I hook it up to wireless I'm getting even less. So, I went out and bought a wireless extender that I can hook up the alto to the extender using an Ethernet cable. That didn't work, the alto found the wireless network but for some reason the store couldn't contact the alto to download the recent movie. I currently have the latest Netgear router, I'm getting wireless download speeds near the router of 120mbs download and 70 to 80 upstairs in the media room. One movie is taking 6 to 7 hrs to download, not an issue late at night but what if I wanted to watch one in a couple of hours. Any thoughts? Thank you
 
Is there no way to get an Ethernet cable to that location? That would obviously provide the most robust connection.
 
Hi Mike,

No, that isn't an option. I want to blame the router but with the down load speeds I'm getting that cannot be the issue, I think.

Why can't I hook the alto or future strato to my wifi extender using an Ethernet cable? I'm currently doing this with my Apple TV 4 and roku 4. I can watch a 4K movie without buffering.

Thanks for the response,
Michael
 
I want to take a quick step back to your original question. You said:

So, I went out and bought a wireless extender that I can hook up the alto to the extender using an Ethernet cable. That didn't work, the alto found the wireless network but for some reason the store couldn't contact the alto to download the recent movie.
Click to expand...

If you're hooking up the Alto to the extender using an Ethernet cable, what do you mean when you say that the Alto "found the wireless network"?
 
Found or connected to the network. It showed an IP address but wouldn't connect to the store. Now their might have been an issue with the store that evening. Tomorrow I will hook it back up to the extender to see if the issue is still there. Thank you,
 
You're trying to make your extender a bridge, does it support that feature? Solving poor wireless signals with extenders cut speeds in half, best case scenario. Powerline adapters, I'd rather pretend the internet was never invented than use one. If I couldn't get an actual hardwired ethernet connection to an Alto, I would try point to point Moca with a set of Actiontec adapters if you've got an RG6 available or a dedicated wireless bridge with a pair directional Ubiquiti devices. They used to sell a set called an airwire with 300mbps throughput and no configuration, but I think its been disconnected.
 
Applemike68 said:
Hi Mike,

No, that isn't an option. I want to blame the router but with the down load speeds I'm getting that cannot be the issue, I think.

Why can't I hook the alto or future strato to my wifi extender using an Ethernet cable? I'm currently doing this with my Apple TV 4 and roku 4. I can watch a 4K movie without buffering.

Thanks for the response,
Michael
Click to expand...

In my previous house, I tried every kind of internet delivery option there was. Powerline Ethernet (surprisingly, this provided enough bandwidth for online gaming back when I was a gamer), Ethernet ports in a Wi-Fi extender module, running a temporary cable from the location of my router to the room I needed higher speeds, and finally (and the most effective): changing the location of the router.

Based on my experience, there are two options I see for you:

1) Get your service provider to relocate your internet router (and required cabling outside of the house) to the room that houses your A/V rack.

2) Order a 1000 spool of Cat-6 cable, walk the cable from your router location to your AV rack, cut, and terminate both ends. Keep the cable rolled up in the room with your router, and when you need to download movies, walk the cable to your Kaleidescape unit, plug in, queue the movies up, and download (suggest doing this overnight so wife and kids don't trip). Once done, walk the cable back to the room with the router.

Option 1 is the best option in my experience, as the power line Ethernet you use for the rest of the home's internet will still work--only the location of the adapter-router connection will change. I think it cost me a couple hundred bucks for the technician's visit to change router locations, but it was so worth it. But, Option 2 has worked for me in the past, where truly fast speeds were required and my need of true high speed was infrequent.
 
Thanks for all the responses, I was looking at my previous downloads from the Kstore and a few months back I had an apple Time capsule AC with an apple extreme located at my AV rack. Funny thing, I was downloading movies within 1.5 hrs. Recently I changed to the newest netgear router and now I'm getting 7 hour downloads but much faster wifi throughout the house....How can this be???

I will have time to play with it over the weekend and report back. Maybe I try a different router or call Comcast and have them re-wire so I can move the router to the movie room.
 
If you can't get a tech to get the modem relocated, I second Funky Weasel's suggestion of a dedicated wireless bridge. Ubiquiti has a product called the Rocket M2 (also M5) which is a 2.4GHz (5GHz) wireless device which can be configured for a wireless bridge. It has a 2x2:2 stream radio, so throughput is very good. You connect one to the rack with a switch, and one to your router, and configure them to talk just between each other. Works well. There are other Ubiquiti units, too, but in most residential applications, the Rocket will do fine, and with power supply antenna and mounting bracket, they run about $150 each. There is a YouTube video which is very clearly done, and will guide you through the setup procedure.
 
thanks for all the responses about ethernet/wireless connections...My bigger issue right now is my new Strato. I have a Strato and an Alto, I need to know how everyone is connecting their equipment. I have A JVC RS500 HDMI into a Anthem 1120 AVR (HDMI in 1) Strato HDMI into Anthem HDMI 1...I'm not getting 2160 per the setting in for the Strato...Both the JVC and RS500 are 2.0, what is the issue, my cables? UGH...Any thoughts? Thank you, Now to start drinking..:)
 
naylorman32 said:
Just want to let everyone know, the Ethereal cables I am using are showing I get the full 4:4:4 with no issues whatsoever. (5 foot and 16 foot cables)

https://metrahometheater.com/ethereal/cables/hdmi/mhx-series.html

Now as far as I know, there isn't any 4K60 UHD content in the store yet (right?), but using the HDMI capabilities tab in the browser interface, it shows I am good to go with the full spectrum of capabilities.
Click to expand...

Could you please share exactly which model of cable you got? We'd love to try it.

Also, to confirm, when you're on the onscreen display, you're seeing the HDMI Capabilities tool show 8-bit color, 60fps and 4:4:4 color sampling, and everything looks fine on screen?
 
MikeKobb said:
Could you please share exactly which model of cable you got? We'd love to try it.

Also, to confirm, when you're on the onscreen display, you're seeing the HDMI Capabilities tool show 8-bit color, 60fps and 4:4:4 color sampling, and everything looks fine on screen?
Click to expand...


So i am using the MHX - HDME2, and HDME 5.

And yes about all those specs. Now the Deep Color shows 24-bit (no) when watching the UHD content.

With 1080P content, I get 30-bit(yes).
 
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