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NEWS: Strato V Player Announced

Who has actually received production (not review or pre-production) units?
 
I have approximately 2300 movies in a Strato / Terra system--mostly in 4K and HD, and only a few in SD. The Store indicates that 425 titles are not compatible as is. But, the most concerning tidbit is that "major" HD titles are not yet compatible. These include The Walking Dead (complete series), Damages (complete series), certain seasons of the Soprano's, Banshee and Boardwalk Empire, and numerous titles such as Wall Street, Indecent Proposal, The Illusionist, Alien Resurrection, Coach Carter, Carol and other "important" ones. Even some newer titles (circa 2022) are not yet compatible.

So, my questions are: When can we expect the HD titles that have not yet been updated to be updated to be compatible with the Strato V? And, is there any reason why all HD titles would not updated? I apologize if I missed the answer in this or another thread.
 
J.Green said:
From a post by Mike earlier in the thread:
Click to expand...
Thanks. @J.Green, Does this mean K is doing the update and is not dependent on studios for this? Also, am I getting it right that even even in future, Strato C will be able to play every HD title regardless of encoding, but there could be some HD titles that only SC can play and not SV. And all DV and HDR titles will be playable by SV, but SC can only do HDR.
 
20hertz said:
Thanks. @J.Green, ...Strato C will be able to play every HD title regardless of encoding, but there could be some HD titles that only SC can play and not SV. And all DV and HDR titles will be playable by SV, but SC can only do HDR.
Click to expand...
Strato C:
  • Can play all SD titles available on the store now and going forward.
  • Can play all HD titles currently available on the store regardless of whether they were encoded using the old method or the new
  • Will be able to play future HD titles that are created using our updating encoding method (either new titles or old titles that have gone through the conversion process to make them Strato V compatible).
  • Can play 4K UHD titles that are SDR or HDR10
  • Cannot play 4K UHD titles that are Dolby Vision
Strato V:
  • Can play all SD titles available on the store now and going forward.
  • Cannot play any current HD titles that were encoded using our old process.
  • Can play all current and future HD titles that were encoded using our updated process (either new titles or titles that have gone through the conversion process).
  • Can play 4K UHD titles that are SDR, HDR10, or Dolby Vision
 
Last edited:
gadgetman said:
snip

So, my questions are: When can we expect the HD titles that have not yet been updated to be updated to be compatible with the Strato V? And, is there any reason why all HD titles would not updated? I apologize if I missed the answer in this or another thread.
Click to expand...
I can't give you a firm timeline. In general, the answer to "why aren't they all updated" is: Time.
It takes time to run each title through the conversion process and then run the converted movie through the same quality checks that new content goes through with our Content team. These conversions are happening over and above the regular tasks of ingesting new content for the store.

As for why titles may not be converted, I'll simply repeat Mike's post from earlier in the thread:
MikeKobb said:
We're anticipating that the vast majority of titles will be able to be updated, and this work is ongoing, with tranches of titles being added regularly. It is possible that a small number of titles may not be able to be updated.

As an example, one of the possible reasons for a title to be incompatible with Strato V would be if it is using the VC-1 codec, which the new chip in the Strato V does not support. For most of those titles, we'll be able to source mezzanine files that we can encode appropriately, and we'll do that, starting with the most popular titles. If we can't get access to a mezzanine file, then that title may not be able to be updated. We did look at possibly transcoding those files, but we don't think the attendant loss in quality is acceptable.
Click to expand...
 
J.Green said:
I can't give you a firm timeline. In general, the answer to "why aren't they all updated" is: Time.
It takes time to run each title through the conversion process and then run the converted movie through the same quality checks that new content goes through with our Content team. These conversions are happening over and above the regular tasks of ingesting new content for the store.

As for why titles may not be converted, I'll simply repeat Mike's post from earlier in the thread:
Click to expand...
@J.Green I'm sure there is a process for deciding what HD movies get converted for Strato V usage first, but is there any way that the title Gravity and be prioritized to the top of the list?
 
StanfieldNC said:
@J.Green I'm sure there is a process for deciding what HD movies get converted for Strato V usage first, but is there any way that the title Gravity and be prioritized to the top of the list?
Click to expand...
Yes there's a process, no Gravity probably can't jump the queue.

In my earlier post that John quoted just above, I gave one example of a reason that a title might not be compatible (incompatible codec). But there are multiple other factors, all technical stuff that I'd prefer not to get into here. A given movie might have one of these factors, or it might have multiple factors that make it incompatible.

Essentially what's happening is that our conversion tools are being upgraded progressively, with each update able to handle more of those factors. Every time the tools are updated, we can handle another tranche of content, and that tranche will be processed in popularity order (most popular first, obviously).

So, at this point, content that hasn't been converted yet either:

  • Is in an incompatible codec, so we have to secure a mezzanine source and encode it, or
  • Has a combination of those other factors that the tools don't yet handle.
I believe Gravity falls into that second group. Work on the conversion tools is ongoing, with a regular cadence of updates, so once we reach the point where the the tools can handle it, I would expect that it will be processed early in that tranche based on its popularity.
 
Just like to thank everyone for the dialogue and in particular, as I see it, the quality and the openness of the answers. I admit to being more confused rather than clearer halfway through the thread (I glaze over on the format/AV tech side typically and my head was spinning) but as the dialogue has progressed things have become clearer thanks to the Q&A. Much appreciated.
 
Oldred said:
Just like to thank everyone for the dialogue and in particular, as I see it, the quality and the openness of the answers. I admit to being more confused rather than clearer halfway through the thread (I glaze over on the format/AV tech side typically and my head was spinning) but as the dialogue has progressed things have become clearer thanks to the Q&A. Much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Agreed!
 
MikeKobb said:
I believe Gravity falls into that second group. Work on the conversion tools is ongoing, with a regular cadence of updates, so once we reach the point where the the tools can handle it, I would expect that it will be processed early in that tranche based on its popularity.
Click to expand...
Meanwhile, Gravity is rumored for a 4K UHD (Dolby Vision + Dolby Atmos?) later this year. The race is on!
 
jonAV1 said:
Amazing having a company represented on the forums. Love Kscape.
Click to expand...
Agree! It's been truly impressive how much time and effort the Kaleidescape team has put into communicating to the community here on this forum.

Of particular note, @MikeKobb and @J.Green have spent countless hours over the past 2 days personally (and patiently!) responding to so dozens of posts, questions, and PMs here at what must be an unbelievably busy and stressful time for them.

Thanks also to @AmandaDavis for her contributions, presence, and ongoing support here, and to @tayloe for his support of the forum. And there are many others working behind the scenes for KOF members when questions and issues are posted here, some of whom we know but who wish to have a less public presence here, so a blanket thank you to all of them as well.
 
Interesting aside, we've had more new members join the forum in the last 48 hours than any other 2 day period. It likely means that many lurkers here decided they finally needed to jump into the conversation, but it may also be an early indication that Kaleidescape is already getting a boost in attention and a broadening of their market. Bodes well for the future! 🎉👍

... and welcome to all the new members of the forum!
 
Long time lurker… first time poster… (I think?)
This really has a been a great thread. I’ve been following since the teaser last week and I want to personally thank everyone so far, Kaleidescape and it’s fans for continuing great conversation.

Strato V may be what it takes to get a lot of new curious people to jump on in to K. $9K price of entry down to $4K? That’s a win. Need more storage and want the added features, it’s still $9k and you get DV with HDMI2.1. Another win in my book!

For me it may be what it takes to replace my Strato S and Compact Terra with a new Terra Prime and V player. 🙃

I’ve been following along closely to the changes, questions and answers, everything to me makes perfect sense. From the simplified UI, to the SoC in standalone mode to becoming simply a player when paired with a Terra. I see no downside to this new offering. I can’t see many new to K customers needing a Co-Star, so the fact the V isn’t compatible with it is nearly a moot point IMO.

Back to lurking.. I am just as excited for all you to share your reviews as you are to receive new goodies 🤣
 
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