What's this?

[Edward Nygma]

I was thinking the same, but then argued myself against, as it’s already in the cloud and could download rates cope with streaming the file?

I want it to be some cloud-based storage option, knowing good and well there's absolutely no chance it will be. Thus, this little marketing ploy is just going to end up with disappointment no matter what they actually announce. Not a smart strategy IMO.

 

[LoveCinema]

I want it to be some cloud-based storage option, knowing good and well there's absolutely no chance it will be. Thus, this little marketing ploy is just going to end up with disappointment no matter what they actually announce. Not a smart strategy IMO.

Do you mean that you want K to become a streamer? Basically a high-bitrate iTunes?

 

[thrillcat]

I want it to be some cloud-based storage option, knowing good and well there's absolutely no chance it will be. Thus, this little marketing ploy is just going to end up with disappointment no matter what they actually announce. Not a smart strategy IMO.

There's already a cloud-based storage option. The cloud being Kaleidescape's service, and it's included free for all owners.

 

[cardsdoc]

I want it to be some cloud-based storage option, knowing good and well there's absolutely no chance it will be. Thus, this little marketing ploy is just going to end up with disappointment no matter what they actually announce. Not a smart strategy IMO.

One of the whole points of K-scape is that it's not streaming so that's not going to happen. Playback needs to be local. It would be a mess at these bitrates. However if there was an option to stream lower quality on the go or to secondary rooms (in lieu of digital codes like disc) where quality isn't paramount that would be cool. But that's also unlikely as it would detract from hardware sales.

 

[OUTATIME]

One of the whole points of K-scape is that it's not streaming so that's not going to happen. Playback needs to be local. It would be a mess at these bitrates. However if there was an option to stream lower quality on the go or to secondary rooms (in lieu of digital codes like disc) where quality isn't paramount that would be cool. But that's also unlikely as it would detract from hardware sales.

Sony Pictures Core PureStream works well at these same bitrates with good Internet service. They say up to 80Mbps. PureStream is only available directly on certain Bravia TVs though and only for certain Sony titles.

 

[rafaelsmith]

I want it to be some cloud-based storage option, knowing good and well there's absolutely no chance it will be. Thus, this little marketing ploy is just going to end up with disappointment no matter what they actually announce. Not a smart strategy IMO.

Not sure I understand. Isnt that how K currently works? Anything that is not downloaded onto our local system is in the cloud? Unless you mean streaming from the cloud....no thanks...that is not what K is about.

That said...if I wanted to set myself up for disappointment no matter what they announce....my wish would be for day 1 releases with theaters.

 

[cardsdoc]

Sony Pictures Core PureStream works well at these same bitrates with good Internet service. They say up to 80Mbps. PureStream is only available directly on certain Bravia TVs though and only for certain Sony titles.

While I have very stable 1gig fiber I still wouldn't want to be at the mercy of fluctuations in internet speed at these bitrates. I think this goes against K's whole philosophy.

That being said I think even at the lower bitrates of a service like Apple TV+ video has become darn good but the audio takes the biggest hit still. If someone offered relatively high streaming video bitrates AND lossless audio for me it would make K-scape a much harder sell over something like that. There's probably not enough of a market though.

But as I mentioned if K offered a secondary streaming option at lower quality for travelling or non-critical viewing for owners of their hardware that would be great. Unlikley to ever happen though.

 

[OUTATIME]

As long as we're all dreaming.....my hope would be deals with the boutique labels doing 4k UHD doing physical releases (Arrow, Criterion, etc) that would allow Kaleidescape access to these releases. Very unlikely since these labels don't typically get digital rights and unfortunately Kaleidescape gets lumped into the digital rights group like streamers.

 

[Edgar]

As long as we're all dreaming.....my hope would be deals with the boutique labels doing 4k UHD doing physical releases (Arrow, Criterion, etc) that would allow Kaleidescape access to these releases. Very unlikely since these labels don't typically get digital rights and unfortunately Kaleidescape gets lumped into the digital rights group like streamers.

My hope is that it's something unique, which is why I joined the IMAX format AR train. Even though that's not ideal for my scope setup. I'd still enjoy seeing the full Dune even in a smaller square. I'll just scoot my seat forward a bit.

I really hope it's not streaming, or anything that's already done by another box.

I do however like your idea. Even though all those boutique movies are available on "another box," that box is very cumbersome. Whether it's a disc player or ripping the discs to a server, all of that still involves Retail Thunderdome to even get the discs in the first place.

 

[rafaelsmith]

unfortunately Kaleidescape gets lumped into the digital rights group like streamers.

I really wish the studios would allow K to be in its own group...lumping it in with streamers is really holding back Kaleidescape IMO. Even if it meant more premium price for content.

 

[LoveCinema]

As long as we're all dreaming.....my hope would be deals with the boutique labels doing 4k UHD doing physical releases (Arrow, Criterion, etc) that would allow Kaleidescape access to these releases. Very unlikely since these labels don't typically get digital rights and unfortunately Kaleidescape gets lumped into the digital rights group like streamers.

Paramount retains digital rights to these releases and K doesn't have them. Monster Squad (Kino), The Dead Zone (Shout), Silver Bullet (Shout), Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (Shout), April Fool's Day (Kino), Looking for Mr. Goodbar (Vinegar Syndrome), Snake Eyes (Kino), The Keep (Vinegar Syndrome), D.A.R.Y.L. (Vinegar Syndrome), Barbarella (Arrow), and more.

I'm all for K getting access to more titles, but the fact is that there's literally hundreds of 4K catalog titles that K can get and hasn't (thousands for HD upgrades). I'd like that mountain to represent an influx of resources that let's K refresh their content catalog.

 

[cardsdoc]

I really wish the studios would allow K to be in its own group...lumping it in with streamers is really holding back Kaleidescape IMO. Even if it meant more premium price for content.

Yeah this never made sense to me. K is not a streamer. Maybe it's cheaper/easier to fold them into existing infrastructure.

 

[OUTATIME]

Another idea that is incredibly unlikely anytime soon and would take the cooperation of studios would be Kaleidescape being able to offer a new sound mix that is somewhere in the middle between a theatrical sound mix that theaters get and the near-field mix that we all get for home use. This would be a good fit for Kaleidescape as most users that would have the home theater speaker setup and calibration required to take advantage of this new mix would also likely have a Kaleidescape system.

But this could solve the problem of the trend towards home mixes being nerfed in LFE or less dynamic since they seem to be mixing for built in audio, soundbars, handheld devices, etc since that is where most of the users are at.

 

[ht guy]

Guessing that it’s something that would be of interest to non-current K owners (i.e.: not a bigger server, or new Strato S type device.)

 

[OUTATIME]

Paramount retains digital rights to these releases and K doesn't have them. Monster Squad (Kino), The Dead Zone (Shout), Silver Bullet (Shout), Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (Shout), April Fool's Day (Kino), Looking for Mr. Goodbar (Vinegar Syndrome), Snake Eyes (Kino), The Keep (Vinegar Syndrome), D.A.R.Y.L. (Vinegar Syndrome), Barbarella (Arrow), and more.

I'm all for K getting access to more titles, but the fact is that there's literally hundreds of 4K catalog titles that K can get and hasn't (thousands for HD upgrades). I'd like that mountain to represent an influx of resources that let's K refresh their content catalog.

I think I have a fair number of Arrow/Criterion UHD discs that are in house scans/restorations and they aren't available in 4K on any digital platforms. Those would probably be another layer of licensing vs your example where Paramount does it and retains digital rights and they are available digitally on other platforms like iTunes.

 

[jglowinski]

maybe a new 8k capable player? not that there are many titles available.

 

[Edward Nygma]

Not sure I understand. Isnt that how K currently works? Anything that is not downloaded onto our local system is in the cloud? Unless you mean streaming from the cloud....no thanks...that is not what K is about.

That said...if I wanted to set myself up for disappointment no matter what they announce....my wish would be for day 1 releases with theaters.

I'm not suggesting replacing local storage. I'm saying that with modern fiber connections, Kaleidescape could theoretically offer an optional cloud-playback mode (perhaps an add-on service in lieu of their exorbitant storage solutions) that streams the same high-bitrate video and lossless audio currently downloaded to local storage. Local storage would still remain the gold standard for reliability, obviously.

 

[thrillcat]

Kaleidescape could theoretically offer an optional cloud-playback mode

So, streaming.

 

[Edward Nygma]

So, streaming.

Not the way you are framing it. High-fidelity streaming. This coming from someone who will never own their ridiculous hard drives because of their insane prices.

 

[cardsdoc]

maybe a new 8k capable player? not that there are many titles available.

I did see a while back K-scape announced they joined some 8K consortium. IMO 8K has little benefit over 4k for the vast majority of viewing angles. I think you need to be over 60 deg horizontal viewing angle for 8K to be resolvable over 4K. So personally I hope they put their resources elsewhere.