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

[LoveCinema]

I think it's completely fair to ask that the 1080p UI limitation be added to the Strato V FAQ on the K website.

 

[Spinn74]

FWIW, I too was shocked to see that Strato V does not output the UI at 4K. I have a PJ and therefore currently have no interest in upgrading from my Strato S, but have mixed feelings about the day I potentially do and am forced to downgrade to a 1080p UI. Maybe its just perception, but I completely understand the disappoint of others, especially when much cheaper devices are doing it.

Andy

Thank you.

I think it's completely fair to ask that the 1080p UI limitation be added to the Strato V FAQ on the K website.

couldn’t agree more. I’m happy that more people are speaking up.

 

[rafaelsmith]

What is gonna sting is we know how tech works....next year there will be a new chip not limited to 1080p for UI

 

[thrillcat]

That’s fair and maybe I did. I should have eased up a bit.

I just couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it after spending $4,000 on this. Never would I imagine in this day and age that a $4k player would render cover art in 1080. kScape I would have thought would know their audience.

Also, as I mentioned previously my $150 Apple TV can do it perfectly. The economies of scale response didn’t sit well personally. In my opinion this was a bad decision.

But can your $150 AppleTV play DTS?

 

[Spinn74]

But can your $150 AppleTV play DTS?

The Kscape audio and video are hands down superior to the Apple TV. The cover art isn’t.

 

[imfletcher]

What is gonna sting is we know how tech works....next year there will be a new chip not limited to 1080p for UI

This. So much this. The early adopter tax for sure. Like a “hardware rev B” that sneaks out a year later.
Not a hardware guy but also seems like there’s enough margin to support a separate off the shelf chip solely for the UI (although I’m guessing the idea of two diff chips for one output isn’t really a thing heh)

 

[Transepoch]

What is gonna sting is we know how tech works....next year there will be a new chip not limited to 1080p for UI

Or they'll have the time to finish developing a two-chip solution (if they can keep the movie Q&A team from abducting the engineers first.)

 

[josh]

I think it's completely fair to ask that the 1080p UI limitation be added to the Strato V FAQ on the K website.

It should also be disclosed very clearly on this chart as well: https://support.kaleidescape.com/article/Strato-V-to-Strato-C-Comparison-Chart

 

[DLCPhoto]

Has there been any recent improvement in the 1080p processing and appearance since the photos were taken in post # 31?

I initially thought the differences were minor, when just clicking on them in the post, but when I opened them in separate tabs, and zoomed in a bit, the differences were glaringly obvious.

I had just about decided to make my first entry into the KScape ecosystem with the Strato V, but with a 166" diagonal 2.40:1 screen, JVC NZ9/DCR/Extreme MK2, this does give me pause...

 

[LoveCinema]

I had just about decided to make my first entry into the KScape ecosystem with the Strato V, but with a 166" diagonal 2.40:1 screen, JVC NZ9/DCR/Extreme MK2, this does give me pause...

If you're on a JVC NZ9, you're not going to see any benefit from Dolby Vision and may be better served by a Strato C. I understand the draw of the new hot thing, but if the goal is to get into K and have the best experience you can on your projector and large screen, I highly recommend looking at some of the fantastic deals we're seeing on used hardware.

On this forum you can often find Strato C's selling with years of warranty for $1,500-$2,000(!!!). Small used Terras are going for $2,000-$3,000. The Strato S includes storage and sells used in the $3,500-$4,000 range. All of these make wonderful entry points to the Kaleidescape environment, compare favorably to the pricing of a new Strato V, and may offer better features/storage for your needs.

 

[DLCPhoto]

If you're on a JVC NZ9, you're not going to see any benefit from Dolby Vision and may be better served by a Strato C. I understand the draw of the new hot thing, but if the goal is to get into K and have the best experience you can on your projector and large screen, I highly recommend looking at some of the fantastic deals we're seeing on used hardware.

On this forum you can often find Strato C's selling with years of warranty for $1,500-$2,000(!!!). Small used Terras are going for $2,000-$3,000. The Strato S includes storage and sells used in the $3,500-$4,000 range. All of these make wonderful entry points to the Kaleidescape environment, compare favorably to the pricing of a new Strato V, and may offer better features/storage for your needs.

Thanks, and I've been thinking along the same lines. I don't need or want Dolby Vision for sure. But going with a different Strato requires some amount of storage, and with this type of gear, I'm a bit reluctant to go used (although I will take a look and see what's being offered).

I have a large disc collection, which I'm not planning on moving to KScape (other than perhaps a very small subset), so the plan was to use KScape for future purchases, rentals, etc. So I wasn't planning on wanting or needing a significant amount of storage.

I know they're working on making improvements to make the most of the 1080p UI, but I wonder how much better they can make it.

 

[josh]

Has there been any recent improvement in the 1080p processing and appearance since the photos were taken in post # 31?

I initially thought the differences were minor, when just clicking on them in the post, but when I opened them in separate tabs, and zoomed in a bit, the differences were glaringly obvious.

I had just about decided to make my first entry into the KScape ecosystem with the Strato V, but with a 166" diagonal 2.40:1 screen, JVC NZ9/DCR/Extreme MK2, this does give me pause...

@LoveCinema gave you the best answer on the main part of your question… and I agree that with that size screen you’re going to notice the UI resolution issues on the V. If you want that ultimate “wow” experience, then pick up a C or S for a projector-based system (non DV).

If you don’t care about the UI quality, and it’s all about the image on movies, then a V is nice for the compact size and standalone capability.

I have a large disc collection, which I'm not planning on moving to KScape (other than perhaps a very small subset), so the plan was to use KScape for future purchases, rentals, etc. So I wasn't planning on wanting or needing a significant amount of storage.

You should consider getting a USB boy ray layer to attach for cataloging your discs into your kaleidescape account. Then you’ll see all kinds of discounted offers to go digital or upgrade your movies to HD or 4K.

 

[DLCPhoto]

@LoveCinema gave you the best answer on the main part of your question… and I agree that with that size screen you’re going to notice the UI resolution issues on the V. If you want that ultimate “wow” experience, then pick up a C or S for a projector-based system (non DV).

If you don’t care about the UI quality, and it’s all about the image on movies, then a V is nice for the compact size and standalone capability.


You should consider getting a USB boy ray layer to attach for cataloging your discs into your kaleidescape account. Then you’ll see all kinds of discounted offers to go digital or upgrade your movies to HD or 4K.

Thanks for the input, and I appreciate the honest opinion on the UI resolution on my large screen.

I'm really conflicted here, and not sure which way to go. Will mull it over for a few days.

Assuming I do go with one or the other, yes, the plan is to get a BD player to take advantage of sales and add a selection of my disc collection to KScape. I have over 800 titles, and in retrospect, quite a few could have been streamed, or rented, as I'm not interested in watching them again!

 

[DLCPhoto]

I have heard that if you pair the Strato V with a Terra server, you do get the full 4k UI - is that correct?

 

[MXT]

I have heard that if you pair the Strato V with a Terra server, you do get the full 4k UI - is that correct?

Strato V + Terra gets you the "full" UI (vs the "limited" standalone UI), but the Strato V always renders the UI at 1080. That is my understanding.

 

[Substance]

I have heard that if you pair the Strato V with a Terra server, you do get the full 4k UI - is that correct?

It appears the issue lies within the chipset. It doesn’t have the ability to output the UI beyond 2K. It is unknown if the chipset manufacturer has any plans to make any changes regarding this limitation. It is rare an engineering design choice is without a valid reason. There might be an hardware limitation that the designer chose to output UI in 2K. It is also possible they rushed the development and didn’t have time to polish the UI code.

 

[DLCPhoto]

It appears the issue lies within the chipset. It doesn’t have the ability to output the UI beyond 2K. It is unknown if the chipset manufacturer has any plans to make any changes regarding this limitation. It is rare an engineering design choice is without a valid reason. There might be an hardware limitation that the designer chose to output UI in 2K. It is also possible they rushed the development and didn’t have time to polish the UI code.

Thanks for confirming what I thought would be the case. Other posts in this thread have indicated it is a hardware limitation, although they say they can improve on it with software updates. I wonder how much of the gap they can close with processing.

 

[MXT]

Thanks for the input, and I appreciate the honest opinion on the UI resolution on my large screen.

I'm really conflicted here, and not sure which way to go. Will mull it over for a few days.

Assuming I do go with one or the other, yes, the plan is to get a BD player to take advantage of sales and add a selection of my disc collection to KScape. I have over 800 titles, and in retrospect, quite a few could have been streamed, or rented, as I'm not interested in watching them again!

For what it's worth:

I recently upgraded from a Strato S to a used Strato C + Compact Terra because I wanted faster download speeds. A Strato V + Terra would also provide fast download speeds. However, I plan to move from a flat-panel to a JVC projector and 124" screen next year. So I didn't see much extra value in the V, and a used C with some warranty remaining is less expensive and has the sweet 4K UI.

 

[Substance]

Thanks for confirming what I thought would be the case. Other posts in this thread have indicated it is a hardware limitation, although they say they can improve on it with software updates. I wonder how much of the gap they can close with processing.

The chipset firmware is unlikely to be accessible to Kaleidescape. Kaleidescape’s hands are tied on this.

Can they influence the chipset manufacturer to revise their code? Difficult to know but probably unlikely based on the quantities they are purchasing. The chipset manufacturer most likely already closed books on this and diverted their efforts on developing their next generation chipset. It will take some convincing to have them go back and make any further effort on an existing product unless it is a “major” bug fix. Placing a very large order could be convincing but what quantity qualifies an order “very large”? 100k semiconductors? 250k?

Kaleidescape can apply some sharpening to add “faux” 4K look. This means their software will look for drastic contrast changes between successive pixels to detect edges. Once an edge is detected, the sharpening algorithm boosts these drastic contrast changes further. When overdone, this method causes halos around objects. They also call this ringing. Newer more powerful chipsets allow some interpolation to spread these halos over some pixels and make them more gradual.

 

[DLCPhoto]

The chipset firmware is unlikely to be accessible to Kaleidescape. Kaleidescape’s hands are tied on this.

Can they influence the chipset manufacturer to revise their code? Difficult to know but probably unlikely based on the quantities they are purchasing. The chipset manufacturer most likely already closed books on this and diverted their efforts on developing their next generation chipset. It will take some convincing to have them go back and make any further effort on an existing product unless it is a “major” bug fix. Placing a very large order could be convincing but what quantity qualifies an order “very large”? 100k semiconductors? 250k?

Kaleidescape can apply some sharpening to add “faux” 4K look. This means their software will look for drastic contrast changes between successive pixels to detect edges. Once an edge is detected, the sharpening algorithm boosts these drastic contrast changes further. When overdone, this method causes halos around objects. They also call this ringing. Newer more powerful chipsets allow some interpolation to spread these halos over some pixels and make them more gradual.

All very good points. It's likely not possible, but if they would allow the UI to be output in 1080p, I could let my madVR Envy handle the upscaling. It does a pretty good job, avoiding many of the problems you're talking about

But as I said, it's likely not possible. And more of a work-around than an actual solution.