Strato V: UI resolution limited to 1080, not 4k!

[beachbird]

I agree - no problem with the frustration of lack of feature or being disappointed- it’s the posts I’ve been seeing that criticize end users for being okay with it, or the company for charging too much for storage or specs, etc. I’m strongly considering purchasing the V - I’m a newb here and probably shouldn’t have started with this as my first post… I love the spirit of this board and the excellent resource it is for someone like me who is considering making an investment in this gear. I just always find it amusing when people get angry because something costs too much or criticize those who purchase it, especially when it’s a luxury product.

 

[DrTechBull]

i think the issue is that this new player was released and it was never disclosed (initially) that it did not have a GUI that was the same as all the other recent players. It's GUI was 1080p instead of 4K. Had it been disclosed in all the original materials that it had a significant change from the other recent Strato players, then of course no one would have a right to criticize the company for the features it chose to put into it.

But many users thought they were buying an "upgrade" to the Strato C because of the new DolbyVision capability, and they found out that the GUI was lower, which was a surprise. I personally don't think it's a huge deal (I bought a V), but I don't criticize users here for expressing their disappointment given that the change was not included in the specs.

Certainly doesn't warrant your calling people here "petty and entitled" for expressing their opinion on the matter.

Since you use Apple as an example... what if the new iPhone 16 was released with a lot of fanfare, and description of its capabilities, and people bought it and THEN found out that it could only support, say, wifi 4, not wifi 5+6 like the iPhone 15 does - a downgrade that was never disclosed to the early buyers. Some buyers may never notice, some may not care much, but if someone did expect their new phone to be have at least the capabilities of their old one, with no info from Apple about this, would you call those buyers "petty" for raising the issue and wondering why Apple never disclosed this change?

Very well said bro. 1080P UI is disappointing considering this model is released in 2024. It was bad engineering decision to keep UI limited to 1080p to be honest but other than that we need to appreciate what new Strato V delivers, it’s top notch player with HDMI 2.1 and Dolby Vision support. Hopefully Kaleidescape upcoming newer models will have stunning 4k UI like Strato C has. 1080p days are gone recently averages screen sizes are increased dramatically all over the world. K is still the king of home theater and its the ideal choice for home theater rooms where normally screens sizes start at 100+ inches.

 

[DieZwei]

If I wanted to get real complex, I could do some C4 programming, assuming all the control is there, to swap anamorphic modes between the K and the madVR when going between menus and content. I will do another experiment though to turn off madVR anamorphic and turn on K anamorphic just to see if the poster quality is nicer looking. I suspect if anamorphic squishing is only happening one time by either device, it won't make a difference.

No need to do control system programming for that. The Envy can do that internally as it can detect if the K menu or content is currently displayed and you can assign different profiles to it.

 

[Spankey00]

I understand the compromises and disappointment with the upscaleD UI. Xbox Series X launched with a 1080 UI that looked noticeably soft. It was eventually upgraded. If the V’s SoC can’t be upgraded I do hope the C’s will be around at least until a newer player comes out. The discounted C is a nice “compromise” to use with a projector. Each player has its tradeoffs. Still, would be nice not to have to make any concessions!

 

[cinelife]

.........I do hope the C’s will be around at least until a newer player comes out. The discounted C is a nice “compromise” to use with a projector.......

FYI, there is limited inventory, when they're gone, they're gone.

Jim

 

[Spankey00]

FYI, there is limited inventory, when they're gone, they're gone.

Jim

Boo!

 

[DLCPhoto]

FYI, there is limited inventory, when they're gone, they're gone.

Jim

Interesting - that's what I suspected.

Is it known, or can it be publicly confirmed, if another player will be added to the lineup, in addition to the Strato V, or will it be just the V for the forseeeable future?

 

[josh]

I bought a V and I'm not unhappy with it despite the issues with the UI resolution. I've decided I can live with it, though. I'm disappointed in the UI... but for the need I had in a vacation house for a standalone player without a big investment, it's fine. I get the full K experience at our full-time main house.

Like you, I'm definitely hoping there's a V-2 or some new version coming out that will have true 4K UI resolution. If that's the case, I hope they'll offer V purchasers a very reasonably priced upgrade. I can't imagine they aren't working on this already... though I have no information on that.

 

[Spankey00]

I could see a v-2 with an updated chip set in the future. Perhaps even offer some movie credits to original owners. I know it's not make or break, but it does have me holding off on buying. I'll just have to see the UI in person on a big screen to make a truly informed decision.

 

[cinelife]

Interesting - that's what I suspected.

Is it known, or can it be publicly confirmed, if another player will be added to the lineup, in addition to the Strato V, or will it be just the V for the forseeeable future?

My current understanding is that the V will be the only new player in the Strato/Terra line going forward. Obviously, this could change, but not likely in the near term.

Jim

 

[Surge]

I can't find a single reason to "upgrade". As I've said many times before, the need is for better image and audio quality. I have a million dollar system and when you have minimized the noise floor, it's apparent that the K-scape has a very noisy HDMI output.

 

[josh]

I can't find a single reason to "upgrade". As I've said many times before, the need is for better image and audio quality. I have a million dollar system and when you have minimized the noise floor, it's apparent that the K-scape has a very noisy HDMI output.

Curious - are you talking about improvements needed to the hardware or to Kaleidescape-specific encoding issues on their movies?

 

[Surge]

Curious - are you talking about improvements needed to the hardware or to Kaleidescape-specific encoding issues on their movies?

Hi Josh,
Hardware. There is no effort made to reduce jitter and noise. The Strato ships with a cheap switching power supply.
If you go deep into building a world class A/V system, you soon realize that AC noise and digital noise (jitter) matter - a lot.
At this price point, the K-Scape products are not competitive. They are trading on the larger file size but Apple, and others, are using better and better compression algorithms. In fact, my modified Apple TV “X” has better image quality than the Strato.

The fact that the menus on the new model are not even in 4K is just dumb. But the bigger issue is that no effort seems to have been made to reduce noise.

 

[FenceMan]

Hi Josh,
Hardware. There is no effort made to reduce jitter and noise. The Strato ships with a cheap switching power supply.
If you go deep into building a world class A/V system, you soon realize that AC noise and digital noise (jitter) matter - a lot.
At this price point, the K-Scape products are not competitive. They are trading on the larger file size but Apple, and others, are using better and better compression algorithms. In fact, my modified Apple TV “X” has better image quality than the Strato.

The fact that the menus on the new model are not even in 4K is just dumb. But the bigger issue is that no effort seems to have been made to reduce noise.

Could you please explain to me where the jitter in your system comes from and why it needs to be reduced? What exactly is introducing this jitter and how is Apple TV X removing it?

 

[Surge]

This is a huge discussion and I would love to elaborate but many existing websites do a much better job than I can. Jitter is introduced by every digital device. When you move bits from point A to B or process data, you add noise and jitter.

 

[FenceMan]

This is a huge discussion and I would love to elaborate but many existing websites do a much better job than I can. Jitter is introduced by every digital device. When you move bits from point A to B or process data, you add noise and jitter.

And the Apple TV X is able to fix this issue?

 

[Surge]

And the Apple TV X is able to fix this issue?

Yes, significant reductions in jitter and noise. You can read more about it on their website.
This is nothing new. Digital music streamers have demonstrated the benefits of noise and jitter reductions for a decade, at least the good ones.
Why K-scape is not addressing it is to their detriment.
Look: I own both a Strato and the ATV-X. I almost never use the Strato. I get better image quality from the ATVX.
If you have a very revealing, high end system with a low noise floor, things like jitter and digital noise make a noticeable difference.

 

[Furnace Inferno]

So let me get this straight, you are saying a few mods to an Apple TV make it capable of turning heavily compressed streamed content and lossy audio to both look and sound better than UHD’s and Kaleidescape with lossless audio and far higher bitrates…

You are obviously entitled to your opinion but when people describe their product as being “magic”I’m out. I’m glad you are enjoying it though even if I couldn’t disagree more .

 

[FenceMan]

So let me get this straight, you are saying a few mods to an Apple TV make it capable of turning heavily compressed streamed content and lossy audio to both look and sound better than UHD’s and Kaleidescape with lossless audio and far higher bitrates…

You are obviously entitled to your opinion but when people describe their product as being “magic”I’m out. I’m glad you are enjoying it though even if I couldn’t disagree more .

I try to be open minded but no one has ever been able to explain to me how or why this works.

We live in a very cool time, lossless captures can be made of video outputs. IF there was some visible difference between a modified Apple TV X and a Strato it would be incredibly easy to prove - losslessly capture the output of both and use a program like diff checker to analyze the two captures and show you if there are any differences. To this point no one has done this. Every time I ask someone they tell me I should do it. So I am supposed to disprove their crazy claims? I am not the one making the claims, the people making the claims should be proving they DO work instead of counting on someone else to prove they DO NOT work. Inevitably the excuse will be you cannot capture them or the capture is not accurate or blah blah blah. It's an argument as old as the hobby itself and no amount of reason or science or frankly common sense will ever convince some people to not waste their money on snake oil.

 

[Surge]

This is a waste of time. When K-scape goes under, don’t whine and complain about “why” it happened. This is why it happened. The product is essentially irrelevant and obsolete. And the customers propping them up are actually causing more harm than good.