The Home Cinema Alliance - Tech Talk Podcast

The Streaming vs Physical Media vs Kaleidescape Showdown

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Stuart and Simon discuss the merits of streaming services versus physical media and high-end digital platforms, such as Kaleidescape, offering insights into the significant quality differences and how to achieve the best viewing experience based on your setup.

• Streaming services offer convenience but deliver only about 1/3 of the video quality (16Mbps vs 48-58Mbps) and 1/7 of the audio quality compared to physical media or Kaleidescape
• Physical media continues to deliver superior quality, but faces an uncertain future, with Panasonic recently discontinuing its 4K Blu-ray player line
• Kaleidescape systems provide streaming-like convenience with physical media-equivalent quality, making them ideal for dedicated cinema rooms
• Sony projectors have returned to the market with a new 5100 model, ending their brief pause in European distribution
• The hosts share personal updates, including Simon's Vegas trip, where he experienced the Sphere and Dolby Live theater
• Gaming discussions include impressions of Doom New Age, Tales of Kzera Zao, and the new Xbox handheld system

If you're enjoying this podcast, please give us a thumbs up or like wherever you're watching or listening, and leave a comment to help the podcast attract new people. We'd love to hear how you're watching your media in your setup!


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Speaker 1:

Hi and welcome to episode 3 of the HCA Tech Talk podcast. I'm your host, stuart Burgess, and today with me is my co-host, as normal, simon Gregory.

Speaker 2:

Hi, so Si what have you been up to? What haven't I been up to? Stuart, is the is the question. To be fair, I've had a rather big birthday this week, so I was a big 5-0.

Speaker 1:

Well, we both have, we both have. So it's technically May, isn't it? Was it your birthday in May? June, june? Oh, you were just. I'm a May baby, you're a June baby, so.

Speaker 2:

I went off to Vegas.

Speaker 1:

Nice.

Speaker 2:

And had four days there, which was more than enough, I have to say. But yeah, we did all the things that you could do in Vegas and some things you don't want to speak about. So, yeah, we did a helicopter ride, did the Sphere, which was an amazing visual experience and, yeah, just out of this world. So if you go to Vegas, I'd highly recommend going to the Sphere.

Speaker 1:

It's a wow moment. Tell me a bit more about it. Obviously, we've all seen the massive emojis on it, like when you're watching the F1, and we've all seen that I think it was U2, wasn't it? Who did the original concert? Yeah, u2 kicked it off.

Speaker 2:

So we actually saw a postcard from Earth. So that was basically how we destroy the planet and about the culture of Earth and the wonders of Earth.

Speaker 1:

It's a nice and upbeat and enthusiastic yeah, nice and upbeat how we're destroying our planet, how we're destroying the planet Earth and then just leave at the end.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, no, it was a really good experience. It starts off as the planet Earth which gets closer and closer to you and then just full, immersive audio and visual experience within the actual sphere itself, so overhead and around. So you have to experience it to appreciate it really.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean hopefully I'm going to get out there. I still want to do CES because it's almost. I mean no, it's not the same show as it used to be, but I've always wanted to go and do that one. Um, obviously one of our suppliers, uh, is sort of talking about doing some vegas trips, which I'm gonna have to speak to our very lovely colleague mel I might have to refuse to put their video up unless they invite me mel from cavd.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they're doing a trip to Vegas, but yeah get those Origin Acoustic orders in and you may be going. So you mentioned also a Dolby Atmos theatre. Yeah, so it's called Dolby Live. There's over 400 speakers within this theatre auditorium. Bruno Mars was there at the time, so I didn't actually get to go and experience the cinema side of things, but I think, as in him in person yeah, so it's a multi-purpose venue so they can obviously change depending on what's happening within the theatre.

Speaker 2:

so whether it's a live musical experience or there's a film that was showing, so I think they've got like nine 4K projectors in there as well. So I think they've got a pretty big screen to get you the visual experience as well as the audio experience. So Bruno Mars was there when I was there, so I didn't actually get tickets. It was like $500 a ticket, so I spent that elsewhere in Vegas.

Speaker 1:

But it did look amazing. Lost that elsewhere. Lost that elsewhere. Sorry if the wife's talking, he did.

Speaker 2:

Probably about the same amount, to be fair, which is relatively small compared to other things. So, yeah, that's what I've been up to, but what about yourself, stuart?

Speaker 1:

Working, really without trying to. I mean, we'll talk about work and we'll talk about a few bits and pieces yeah, I mean obviously 50 as well. Pieces, um, yeah, I mean obviously 50 as well. Um, wife's 50 just later in the year. So I think we're going to save our festive festivities and do it at the same time. I'm not quite sure what that's going to be yet. Um, really, the mainly what's changed is I have to wear these more, which is why you'll probably see me doing this and doing this during the podcast. Uh, because I need to see stuff, um, and uh and yeah, but it was good, it was a good birthday, family disenfranchised.

Speaker 2:

I've had a barbecue, um, been doing some other bits and pieces, nothing major, certainly not vegas and then being taken away for a weekend of glamping that you did last weekend and then lisbon at the end of the month as well.

Speaker 1:

So you're making me really jealous. As I said I don't know if I said on the last podcast but the only time I ever know it's school holidays is you don't answer your phone or, in fact, anything, whatsapp, anything. I'm out of office. Yeah, my daughter's sitting in her bed and not going to school and I'm like, oh, is it half term or term holiday? Dad, I'm off for the whole week.

Speaker 2:

It's that work-life divide. You need to divide it properly. So all work and no play is not fun. I agree yeah but often it's been at the end of the month as well, so a few industry colleagues are coming as well. So, yeah, that'd be good, but we're in a fantastic facility here as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we're actually, as before mentioned in the last podcast episode, one which is available on YouTube and all platforms if you've not already listened to it or watched it.

Speaker 1:

The guys that did the fit out at Acoustic was Cinema Lux, and the room that we are sitting in now is Cinema Lux, and we are sitting down with Darren after this recording and doing a bit of an interview with him. So it might be a couple of weeks after this one, but there is an interview coming from Cinema Lux about this space and about what they do as a business and how they can help not only the installer but also the end user achieve some phenomenal rooms, which obviously, hopefully, you can see where we are, but yeah, so what have you been? So another thing we touched on last episode was our gaming passion, so we both had a conversation afterwards of four. Actually, let's just put a little gaming watching section in, because, fundamentally, what do we do in these rooms? We watch stuff and we game, so so, first of all, what have you been watching, including your flight on the way to vegas?

Speaker 2:

well, anytime a client tells me I watched these films, like, how did you watch it? I watched it on a plane. He's never quite the same, but, uh, one film I did watch was wolfman, which, um, even though it was on the plane with the, uh, the basic headphones, you could get that atmospheric sense. So if you've seen prey um again, we were not, because it showed up not too long ago and that's one of their main go-to demo um so that they use um. But literally the wolf coming on, it's creeping around. You can hear everything's going on, all the creaking of the trees, the noise of the wolf slowly coming up to the, to the, to the, uh, the hut that they're hiding in um. But so even on the plane, I could sense that was going to be a really good demo to use.

Speaker 1:

So I'm not even sure it's out yet to be fair, but I'm certainly aware of it, maybe on Kaleidoscape, it may well be on their platform.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, check that one out, just literally the opening scene. It was pretty impressive.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I suppose I've not done any flights since, uh or actually no, sorry, yeah, barcelona and four hours is really not.

Speaker 1:

It's barely enough to get your switch out. Um, but, um, I suppose for me, uh, I've been watching a lot of stuff on tv. Um, really love loving apple tv plus. Um, it's probably one of my go-to platforms because I do like what Netflix do. But the problem is I sometimes find with Netflix is that you sometimes get half an hour into it and you're going oh, I don't think this is for me. Where I find that with Apple TV that it might not be for me, but they're brilliant programs.

Speaker 2:

It's more of a sort of a premium platform. I have to say so, yeah, apple TV, netflix, amazon, brilliant programs. So it's more of a sort of a premium platform. I have to say so, um, yeah, apple tv, netflix, amazon, but either way, they're all very cinematic experiences. Um, I know they're reducing the tiers that come out today, that disney are reducing their tiers even more for pricing so you can have, uh, obviously got the adverts, but also the lower quality of picture, yeah, and audio, yeah, which is never good in a media cinema room.

Speaker 1:

No, I mean, I've got to admit though I've sort of like. So what have I been watching With the wife? I've watched the Morning Show, which is Jennifer Aniston, and can't remember her name now.

Speaker 2:

Reese Witherspoon.

Speaker 1:

That's it, reese Witherspoon. That's sort of like was did have it, did have God. What's his name? It's Gru, who plays Gru in Despicable Me. Oh, I can't remember his name. Now Comment below if you can remember his name, but I think we're on season three. Season four is about to come out, but that's about Newsroom and that's quite good, watching Andor loving it, but I've got to admit I am finding it a hard watch.

Speaker 2:

It's a hard watch, it gets easier, but I've got to admit I am finding it a hard watch. It's a hard watch, it gets easier, but I had to go on YouTube and just find out the Easter eggs and who was who and like, because it was quite a few years ago, obviously the film, and a few years ago also that the other episodes come out.

Speaker 1:

I did notice that if you look on Disney Plus now, the title image for Rogue One is now him is is. Cassian yeah, yeah, um where? So obviously they're trying to link the two together.

Speaker 2:

I think the viewings of uh uh Rogue One have shot up since. I think it's brilliant, it's a good, good TV series and, uh, even you don't like Star Wars, it's pretty, pretty impressive, so I'd highly recommend that so obviously, we've both played a lot of Star Wars games.

Speaker 1:

So what have you been doing gaming wise? What have you been playing?

Speaker 2:

Well, when I've had time. I've also been pretty busy the last couple of weeks. But Doom I started playing Doom before I left, okay.

Speaker 1:

New Age. New Age or something like that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, visually really impressive. Obviously not quite the same as the old school Doom from the 70s, but yeah.

Speaker 1:

I've got to mean I jumped into it at the weekend because obviously it's on, it's on game pass. So, um, I jumped into it and I liked, uh, doom, and then doom eternal. And obviously it was the same as you. We're old school so we remember the original dooms. But, um, I got a bit frustrated with doom eternal because towards the end of it you had to do something in a certain way to beat some characters, and it was my old brain, um, but I was just I got a bit frustrated. So this one I have sort of jumped into. I am a bit of a story mode guy, so, like story mode or just above story mode, and uh, yeah, sensory. It's like running, kill people, shoot things, get in a mech suit, fight things, things, yeah and repeat.

Speaker 1:

But actually I am quite enjoying it and I am a bit of a collection, an achievement hunter type of thing, and I've actually found that I'm looking for bits and pieces and looking for the hidden bits and pieces as I play each levels which I quite do but I really do enjoy it.

Speaker 1:

The other thing I've been playing was or the main thing I've been playing was Tales of Kzera Zao, which is a Metroidvania Again now on Game Pass. I paid for it a while ago because I quite liked what the developer it's about his father and he recently loses his father, but that's really good. So Metroidvania or for people who don't really get what Metroidvania is it's almost like a side scrolling, so you'll come across barriers that you can't get through yet so you have to progress further in the game to unlock that thing, to get back. But it is one of those games which I think I ended up playing about 15 hours in so perseverance.

Speaker 2:

I think with those kind of games.

Speaker 1:

But enjoyable perseverance. Nothing was really hard unless you put it on max, so you were defeating enemies quite quickly, but then it was just giving you enough of story and enough to go. Oh, do you know what and actually I found it a little bit with Doom, similar in respects of the levels are just long enough to go. Oh, do you know, know what? I've got 45 minutes before I go out or go to work or do whatever, do dinner. I might jump in, and I quite like those where, with things like things that have put me off of games like Elden Ring and maybe some of the Final Fantasy games, are that when you get into a boss fight and you're playing on a certain level, they could be like an hour or three.

Speaker 2:

A long time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and it's just really just not my type of thing.

Speaker 2:

But another big news this week the Xbox handheld Just launched on their website and social media platforms. But that looks pretty special. A handheld PC, if you will. The ally.

Speaker 1:

So have you had? Because I had a Steam Deck, had it sold it. Then I had a RO uh ally and the original one of this, which again had it sold it. Um, the main reason was because to play xbox I'm not a steam person, but to play the xbox games you had to go through a backdoor or or whatever. So I quite like this. Um, and anybody who knows me knows that at the moment I'm just shy of 6,000, sorry, 600,000 Microsoft reward points.

Speaker 2:

Put my 25,000 to shame, yeah, which is about 400 pounds.

Speaker 1:

So I always said that I was going to spend my next Xbox reward points or Microsoft reward points on the next Xbox. No there we go, so I've got a feeling it's going to be this one, although I so I've got a feeling it's going to be this one, although I do think it's going to be £600-£700.

Speaker 2:

I think it looks pretty impressive. It's got a 1080p screen, it's got the 120Hz options and variable refresh rate, so yeah, and the fact that you can play the games anywhere from your Xbox library. I think that's a game changer really, so it'll be really good.

Speaker 1:

Well, and I think that obviously you going away on holiday so much and me going away on business trips so much, I do quite like the idea of picking up, especially with Microsoft, with their Play Anywhere, so being able to pick up Doom or Sousa Gazera now Actually, I alleged to it last pod, but I have actually did finally get myself a switch too.

Speaker 2:

Yes, you've got one of those Fantastic that turned up the other day, didn't it?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, I literally only ordered it on the Friday before it got released on the Thursday the following week, but I ordered that from Amazon. Um, unfortunately, I ordered it from somewhere else and they canceled my preorder, so but I had two because we know this app, at least it turned up, you open the box and it was in there, unlike the PlayStation and Xbox scenario that happened a few years ago. Yeah, Steve May and his daughter had air fries turned up.

Speaker 1:

Oh yes, yeah, so no, I've got to admit the Amazon turned up. It turned up. It was a tiny bit of a standoff because it was supposed to turn up on Saturday, so two days after it got launched, and then it got delayed and I knew it wasn't coming because they hadn't sent me the email with the one-time password. That turned up on sunday and the guy sort of turned up and there was a bit of a standoff where I'm like I want to open the parcel and he's like I can't give it to you, give me the code. The problem is, if you give me the code, I've accepted delivery. If I open this up and find out it's a very small sandwich toaster. Um, what are you gonna do? You're gonna take it back? He's like well, no, I can't because you've taken delivery of it. I went. So what are we gonna do? And luckily I get quite a lot of amazon deliveries like a comedy sketch to me.

Speaker 1:

It was yeah, luckily I know the guy because we get quite a few business deliveries at home as well. So, um, and we also order lots of scripture stuff off amazon. So we sort of met in the middle and it was a Switch. It was a Switch, but I've played a bit of it.

Speaker 2:

A bit of Mario. Yeah, Mario Kart. Definitely, it's pretty open-world this year.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I've got Cyberpunk on it, although I had sort of gone into Cyberpunk a bit on the Xbox. I am quite interested to see how Cyberpunk runs in handheld and luckily, because of these uh, it is a bigger screen so I can actually see it without um having to wear my reading glasses. Yeah much much better.

Speaker 2:

But uh, yeah, now it looks. It looks a nice little console but no, it really good.

Speaker 1:

I do recommend it and of course you know it's going to have games on it that you can't get anywhere else, like your mario luigi's and zelda and zelda's and bits and pieces like that. So so, yeah, so anything else you've been watching or playing, or should we move on to the news?

Speaker 2:

Let's move on, right, okay.

Speaker 1:

So before we move on to the news, we'd just like to ask you if you're enjoying this podcast. Please give us a thumbs up or a like wherever you're watching or listening to it. Also, if you could leave a comment again, wherever you're watching or listening, as it helps the podcast attract new people and we're getting early feedback on episode one and people seem to be enjoying it. So please like, subscribe, leave comments and all that malarkey, because it really does help.

Speaker 2:

And thanks for watching. That's four and a half thousand today, which is really good. So, yeah, thanks for watching so far four and a half thousand on YouTube.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, really, really happy. We've got quite a lot in the can already to do and we've got a lot of people reaching out, so we've got some really interesting conversations coming up. So if this is your first one, please go back, because you've got two more before this. If you've been watching all three, obviously including this one. Thank you very much. We really do appreciate it. Thank you to HDA for sponsoring the new section of the HDA Tech Talk podcast with their new U-Control remote. Simon on to the news.

Speaker 2:

Yes, big news, sony are back.

Speaker 1:

Yes, Sony projectors. So after we recorded the last one in April and I finally found time to edit it, we finally have got what we knew was coming. But Sony projectors are back and with a new model as well, and with a new model, 5100, is it, I believe.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, they're back sooner than we realised or thought they would be. But no, it's good news for the industry and good news for the consumer that the Sony projectors are now being shipped into Europe and into the UK. So yeah, it's great.

Speaker 1:

Did you have any issues with them not being shipped? I mean, we had a project in brighton which we'll get onto um. We had a project in brighton, uh, where, um, we, luckily the client had ordered one quite early on, um, so we we had it in stock, so we didn't really get affected. Did you have any projects that needed one but you couldn't get?

Speaker 2:

one. No, we're fine most of the uh, the suppliers had them in stock, so envision awe, they had them in stock for us. So, uh, yeah, no, we're all good to be fair, so it wasn't as long as we anticipated.

Speaker 1:

So so what have you been working on recently in respects of? I mean, I know obviously you'll be talking to darren and the guys here because you're working on the barn job, aren't?

Speaker 2:

you yep working the barn job, yep, so cinema lux are involved with that. So that's uh actually just a tv based uh sony 85 inch uh system was that the one with the drop down bed? That was one of the drop down bed it's no longer got.

Speaker 2:

We've got rid of that and just have a nice little sofa bed in there as well. So, um, that, uh, the the pool table or the fuse ball table has, uh has taken priority over a drop down bed. So, uh, that's, uh, that's, that'd be a nice little project. Um, it look amazing. Obviously, cinema lux are on board with that, and that'd be really good. We just signed off on another new build, which uh starts in july. That's going to be a really special cinema room, um with, again, cinema lux are on board with that for us, but that's going to be a sunken seating cinema room.

Speaker 2:

So it's something quite unique because we're quite lucky. So the room, as you go in, you have to step down. Normally you have to raise it up. So this actual cinema room, because it's sunken down, we're going to use a platform to as it walks, so staging will be raised. Then you walk in to the front row so you walk down. Walk in to the front row so you walk down, sorry, into the front row seating and obviously the back row is at ground level, if that makes sense on the on the platform.

Speaker 1:

We've got one. We we had a project unfortunately it was before covid and before everything went up. We had one similar, which was like you walked in the back and then we were going to do a bit of a bar area, um, um, so you could have a drink and watch the football, but then, yeah, you, sort of like in some high street cinemas, you walked down into your seating, which was quite interesting. Unfortunately, it never came on.

Speaker 2:

It's quite a unique way of doing it. So cinema locks guys are on board with that to help out. That's actually using an Epson to the brightness and the throw. We're about seven metres back, so the Sony actually wouldn't. It would do the throw distance but it would have to be in the middle of the room, which we didn't want. So we used the calculator to work out that the Epson would be better for brightness than for Lamberts. And obviously we're further back into the room so it's not showing up in the. It's not above your head, it's further back.

Speaker 1:

So is showing up in the. It's not above your head, it's further back, so is that? Uh, is that the epson on its own, or has it got an additional lens? Because no, epson are quite good with the additional lenses they do. No, that is on its own, okay so it's interesting.

Speaker 2:

Um, yeah, we've just gone for 16 9 screen and the client likes a bit of everything, so movies and tv watching.

Speaker 1:

So and I know it is. It's always been a bit of an ongoing not a joke, joke's a word, but an ongoing thing which is like will the Epson projector fit the room? And it's like well, if the room and the projector are in the same postcode, yes, Because you could literally fill a whole entire room.

Speaker 2:

It is within the room, so obviously we can't reduce the noise of it, but it's far enough away from where people are sitting. It's not right above your head, as I said. It's not right above your head, as I said, it's about a metre and a half back.

Speaker 1:

I did have a sneak preview with our friend Roddy at Cinema Build Systems of his new port glass Not available yet.

Speaker 1:

Okay coming soon I don't think Might be because I haven't put this up in two weeks, but he's got it in his little room Really good, not the earth cost cost wise like some of them are, but really does take away the noise floor in the room. So obviously the projectors put for people who don't not understand, but people don't do cinemas. We have a noise floor so a projector will put out a lot of noise um which obviously you're hearing quiet scenes in the room. If you then put that in a hush box or behind a sheet of glass or in a box which is, you know, vented, then that takes the noise out of the room. So very, very important for cdrp22.

Speaker 2:

So, um, that's very beneficial to have the projector outside of the room.

Speaker 1:

Um yeah, so no, we're still doing the job in brighton. Uh, we've got put on hold slightly in a moment because, uh, the site's not 100 secure. So the client is like I don't really want this stuff putting in anyway. Uh, it was a little bit ahead of its time really. We were starting to put stuff in the speakers in, but the house was still dusty, so I was covering everything he'd like bin liners, and you went back about a week later and there was just a residue on the bin liner, let alone nice. Of course you get dust on a few other circuit boards you're not getting that back out again?

Speaker 1:

so, uh, we had a meeting in london a few weeks ago, about one in knightsbridge, uh, or south kensington, which is quite good, nice little room, nice, what's the biggest screen possible? So again we we're tying up, toying up between epsom, sony and jvcC, and Epsom is giving him a big. I mean, actually he's limited by the height of the room and the width he goes. He wants it to go wider, doesn't want a scope screen. So I'm having to say to him look, you can only go 2.4 high because your room's only 2.4. So that's going to dictate how wide your screen is, if you want it in 16.9. It 16, 9. It's limited. Hopefully only one row of seating. Oh no, definitely. It is one of the houses that the gentleman owns. He's not going to be here all the time. So he's like I want it to be good but I don't want to spend an absolute fortune on it, which sort of blows my budget in respect of trying to sell him a JVC 800 or 900.

Speaker 1:

That would be nice, yeah, but on the completely different spectrum. Um, obviously, last episode we talked a little bit about tvs and new sonys and new lgs coming through. Unfortunately, I've not bought a new lg yet and I don't really need to.

Speaker 1:

I think the g4 is fine you're not allowed to shoot well, to be honest, I think listening to some of the reviews from, like, our friends, uh av forums, phil hinton and that I always watch his videos, love his videos, phil, and they're sort of saying that it's good but not necessarily the jump that would warrant you taking a three-, four-month-old TV and replacing it.

Speaker 1:

If you had some of the older models, then maybe it's worth it, but also, so I saw a news story which I wanted to touch on, which is Sky and Sky Stream TVs. So Sky have launched a Glass Air. It's almost like they're looking at Apple and a few other brands. So they've released a Sky Glass Air. So it's like the Sky Glass TVs, but without speakers. So it's like a. I think they're OLEDs, so it's an OLED or LED, I can't remember now, apologies. Uh, tv with, like, the stream has got the dolby atmos speaker system built into it. Uh, or sorry, dolby atmos speakers, yeah, um, but actually a little bit like the panasonic, where you know the top range panasonic's have the dolby atmos system built into it. Uh, but that's a technique system, um, but they've released one without the speakers, yeah, okay, what's your view on Sky Glass as in an all-encompassing TV, app-based TV set with everything built into it?

Speaker 2:

I think it depends on your situation and circumstances. To be fair, if you're living in a flat and haven't got room for a satellite dish and you need an all-in-one combination, I think it's a great idea. My only concern with anything is built in together. So when you buy stuff from a hi-fi centre and it's all built in, it's like well, what happens if that goes wrong? What happens if goes wrong? It's it's like a built-in dvd player in a tv, if you remember those. It's like, well, if the dvd packs up, then your tv's kind of gone. You've got to take it and send it back. So when it's all combined into one, I think you're asking for trouble if something does go wrong with that. So the tv stops working, you can't watch Sky, the Sky stops working, you can't watch TV, and obviously then you're in trouble. You need a new TV. So I know it's kind of a rental kind of situation, like radio rentals or Rumbelows in the Essex area.

Speaker 1:

You'll definitely show your age now. Definitely show my vintage age.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, I think it works for some people and it's a great idea, but for most people I don't think it's the best option of watching TV or sound on a system.

Speaker 1:

No, I agree. I think that I can see its place because, as you say, with the radio rentals world and you've still got the leasing companies that are out there now advertising, I think I saw that it's available from six pounds a month on rental um, plus obviously your sky subscription um. But I completely concur with what you said. I mean, in my early days, when I started the business, I did quite a lot of stuff for sony in the southeast. You should like all look after all their sony centers, um, and they had a tv with a built-in Blu-ray, because obviously Sony were one of the founders of the Blu-ray platform and we put quite a handful of them in and I remember putting one on the wall in a bedroom. So I used to go and hang and bang as we used to go on the TV.

Speaker 1:

And the problem was, yeah, you're right, the Blu-ray player went. The guy lost his whole TV. So, yeah, yeah, a little bit like the we in episode two we were talking to dan from hidden home tech and we were talking about how he started and you know, his mum and dad had a system downstairs which was a mini system or something like that. Um, and so I think, yeah, it fits its purpose. But I would say if you, I would say if I was giving advice to a person, there's nothing wrong with them and if they fit your budget and they fit your style, they're great. Or it's a second tv. I've got clients who have got cinema room that we've done. They've got a main tv in their lounge and in the kitchen they've got sky glass. Um, the only thing I would say is that just have a look around if you are going to buy one, because you could pick up some cracking deals, ironically, like on last year's TVs, Yep, 100%.

Speaker 2:

Use that with a Skystream puck and you'll get a much better picture quality from that. And obviously, if one of them does go wrong, then you haven't lost the whole.

Speaker 1:

And you can change. I mean, obviously we had WWDC this week for Apple. Obviously no products were launched then, but you know Apple TV is going to be released again. So Apple TV, for anybody who doesn't know, is a little puck. And that little puck is that you could basically watch content on and actually we'll get onto that a little bit later in the podcast. But I am always a fan of TV which you're fundamentally using as a monitor. If you're not using its built-in services, then having a secondary device like a Roku or a Fire Stick or an Apple TV to get your services on, because that way your TV can last you four, five, six years and you're not having the problem of all of a sudden iPlayer doesn't work or all of a sudden Sky have stopped supporting the platform, so now your tv can work. I mean don't even know, do sky stream tvs have hdmi inputs?

Speaker 2:

I assume they do yep, yeah, they've got the hdmi inputs so, but it's like anything like when hi-fi and even home cinema separate is always better so you can get an integrated product. It works, does a job, but any separates is always a better result for for everybody involved?

Speaker 1:

really, definitely so. Story number three uh, one of your stories, uh, touching on the together cinema charity bike ride. Uh, we're nearly up to 50 riders now.

Speaker 2:

We think we're at 50. Are we yep with 50? Is uh is in and out? I think we had somebody pull out, unfortunately, but somebody stepped up to the plate.

Speaker 1:

Actually it's it's greg, I think, that pulled out. Mr mr um, been there since the beginning when it was, uh, just a few of them doing on its own yeah, so shame that he's had.

Speaker 2:

No, it's a shame, but so somebody has stepped up to the plate. Sorry, I don't know your name, but uh, I'm sure we'll put that on the, on the uh, on the podcast or youtube video. Somewhere we'll put a link in everybody in.

Speaker 1:

So we're trying to raise money. There is a video If you go to Together for Cinema. There was a video that I did recently down in Arundel at one of the launches for Together for Cinema at Children's Hospital. So Together for Cinema build media rooms, little cinemas, in Children's Hospital, so it's a place that the kids, whilst they're having treatment or they're there for their daycare um can enjoy play games, play fifa, watch the tv um. Alice was talking about one of her um. One of her girls there loves titanic and is always in there watching titanic.

Speaker 2:

So it's a great. It's a great charity and uh worthwhile calls and we'll put as a just giving uh page that you can sponsor us. So we'll put that on the bottom of the uh.

Speaker 1:

Obviously the video as well obviously we'll put a JustGiving page that you can sponsor us. So we'll put that on the bottom of the video as well. Obviously, we'll put our link. We'll put our link. We'll get towards the 300 pounds. I think it's a joint link, I don't think it's just personal. Oh, is it? Oh, okay, it's a joint all-in-one.

Speaker 2:

So if we can raise as much money as possible, that'd be good. And also, we did.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we were talking about that when we went to Procella.

Speaker 2:

Yes, we did so. I've just got that. A bit of experimenting is needed, but I will try that and do a little video blog together for cinema.

Speaker 1:

Excellent. Yeah, well, I'm going to probably take. I've just bought another 360 camera Don't tell the wife. Actually, it's to replace the one I've already got, because the new one actually is considerably better and a friend of ours, Dagesh at Nucleus, has asked me to go up to capture the Wow House in Chelsea Harbour as a virtual 360 tour. Looks amazing, that looks very nice. So that's turning up today, I think, as we record. But I've been watching a guy called Mitch Hutch on YouTube who's done a triathlon from UK to the top of Everest. He's just literally got to the top of Everest and so if you search YouTube, Mitch Hutch, it's a really, really worthy cause. He's raising money for charity, but as he's been riding he's had the 360 camera on the front and then every now and again he's had it on the selfie stick and it does make me think actually, do you know what I might do that for Together?

Speaker 2:

For Cinema. Between us, we can do a nice little video package for Together For Cinema and give that to Ian and he can do it. And that's September, so a bit of training, not the last couple of weeks, I have to say. You've not been in the country, not been in the country, but I will start again soon.

Speaker 1:

Brilliant. So final news story and actually will then lead us on to our topic of the month, so Kaleidoscape, which is a brand that we both use and install. They've launched the Strato E 4K movie player. Retails just under $3,000. I don't think there's been a UK price yet, but fundamentally changed the dollar side for a pound side normally normally, but with tariffs and other things that are happening in the world.

Speaker 1:

Who knows what that will come out, but it won't be far off that and it's american, if I remember rightly, talking to patricia, uh, at monotti in london. Um, I think, if it still is, they are built in america in silicon valley. Um, that's why they are are going to be a bit more expensive and we'll touch on why. Um, but actually it's good because you know we've got the. Now let me get this right. I'm gonna have to look at my eyes. Hi. Sorry to interrupt the podcast. Future stewart here the following information you're going to hear. We completely ballsed up, so I just wanted to give you the correct information before we give you the wrong information. So this is how it breaks down Kaleidoscape Strato M is a 2k player with 480 gigabytes of hard drive, starting at £2,400.

Speaker 1:

The E is a 4k Dolby Vision player with 480 gigabytes, starting at £3,400. The C is a 4K player with no SSD at £4,500. The V is a 4K Dolby Vision player with 960GB at £5,400, and all players can be expanded with a Terra server. There is no Strato S anymore, just the models we mentioned. Sorry for the confusion. Please enjoy the rest of the podcast. We've got the Strato E, which is a 4K standalone player, can host up to 10 films. Is it Five or 10 films, six or 10.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, something like that and it will self-delete and self-download.

Speaker 1:

That's correct, but you can keep it in your diary. Then you basically expand it with a Terra server and then that basically will give you access to the more traditional GUI. They've got the Strato M, which is a 2K player which, as we say, is probably more of a bedroom.

Speaker 2:

A second room, I think to be fair For the price. Okay, it, it's great, but I don't necessarily see it going in cinema rooms. Maybe smaller media rooms, yeah, but it is only 2k.

Speaker 1:

so yeah, and then we've obviously got the strato s yes, yes, um which I've got an older s I think it is at home at the moment because obviously we've not got the showroom at the moment that's about two thousand dollars.

Speaker 1:

I think two thousand, yeah, uh, what the strato s? No, I think it's more. That was it. Yeah, I think I think strato s is more because it is a but you, but because it is a six terabyte hard drive in it, okay, um, and you don't need the necessarily the terra server to go with it. So I think for that you're more up towards the 10.

Speaker 1:

So I think, if you buy in, buying at the e? Um, obviously you could buy in at the m, but it is a, it is only, I say only, 2k letters.

Speaker 2:

I know, even I, even I'm good with numbers letters. No, no, no, no chance. But with that, with that kind of product, I think you you need um a fairly decent media room cinema roomide. Escape generally works well with Trinov or Storm Audio. The lower end ones could easily work with Anthem or Arcam. I don't know, but that's generally where I see those kind of products going and those kind of price points.

Speaker 1:

I've got to admit. I mean, I obviously took my Strato home when I had the intentions of when I moved across the road and I had the intentions of building. I moved across the road and I had the intentions of building my new demo room three years ago. So I took the Strato C home and that's got six terabyte. It's full up with all my films and I've got to say, actually just just running that on a 5.1.2 off of at the moment it's an older Denon amp, because I generally swap and change that as I can type of thing. I've got to say, actually the picture quality and we'll get onto this in a minute the picture quality on it, on my 77 inch OLED, is phenomenal, even when you're going from sort of like a Blu-ray disc, which I've still got a few I've got and I like the picture on the Kaleidoscape is so, so good. So it really is a great little player. But yeah, like you, we've put them quite a lot into cinema rooms and media rooms.

Speaker 2:

I mean the audio is the biggest thing. With Kaleidoscape you can do the A-B comparison with streaming.

Speaker 1:

So streaming from whatever platform Apple TV or whatever and then watching that same program stroke movie on a kaleidoscape. There's no comparison. So let's segue nicely into our topic of the month. So our topic of the month is, uh, is basically, is, that is, is streaming services, physical media and digital downloads, um, what's the best? What's the best? What's the best for what circumstance? And you know where do we use those services.

Speaker 1:

So a friend of ours, daniel Adams thank you, dan, he wrote some notes for us in. It was actually a Cedia presentation. So I think the thing what I find is uh, I suppose we're just touching on from it so the thing what I find with, so, the difference between physical media, streaming media and kaleidoscape, uh, so physical media, sorry, streaming media is exactly that you have your apple tv, you have your fire stick and you're streaming it and you're, you're getting a good experience, you're getting good sound. Um, one thing I was going to say earlier was I've actually just downgraded my Disney+, so I'm not actually getting it in Dolby Vision at the moment and unless I'm watching like a lightsaber fight or something like that in a Star Wars movie, I'm not missing the fact that it's not Dolby Vision.

Speaker 2:

I think I've got an OLED TV screen. So again, I don't do that with Netflix or Disney, so I can't really tell the difference. To be fair, it's if you've got like an LED or something like that, then maybe, but when it's a decent TV screen, there's not much difference. Obviously the audio side of things. If that drops down, then obviously you can hear a noticeable difference. But Dolby Vision on an OLED TV looks amazing, but without it you're not really missing out too much, especially not on where you're on a streaming service, I mean.

Speaker 1:

So I suppose obviously I'm lucky that I've got all three. I mean obviously I've got all physical media because I've had physical media, because we're now both 50. So, yeah, I mean I would say every day, my every day sort of thing is watching Apple TV, so YouTube, you know WWDC this week and or there's one on Disney called Tracker which is quite a nice little watch, things like that. But then obviously with the, the, with Mission Impossible film Final Reckoning coming out that I have pre-ordered on Kaleidoscape, because I'm invested in Mission Impossible, I've actually just bought the back catalogue of all the Mission Impossible films on Kaleidoscape. It was about £30 on the UK store.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's a pretty good price, because my wife is sort of dipped in and out of them but she's never really watched them. She watched the john woo one because I'm a massive john woo fan. Um, so she watched john woo one with all the pigeons or doves and tandy newton and all that lot, uh, but she's not watched all of them. So it can't be a john woo film. No, it can't be a john. Hard boiled was my favorite. So we have sort of sat down and we're starting to watch those one by one, but yeah, because it's something that I'm invested in and I want to watch.

Speaker 2:

I've, I want to put it on, yeah you see, you see worth in that, so you, you, that's why you've done that.

Speaker 1:

So so when I had the showroom, um, we used to do a sit down side by side with clients. So it was the beginning of um, uh, the greatest showman, uh. And we used to play the opening scene of the greatest showman on apple tv and then on kaleidoscape, client used to drive it. Opening scene of the Greatest Showman on Apple TV and then on Kaleidoscape, client used to drive it. We sort of had the remote control. We said here's the remote, that's a great idea to do that. And I said, right now, I want you to find a play, and then we'll just listen to the point of this. And then I said now go watch Kaleidoscape on the control floor and then watch it again. And every single time I did it, client bought Kaleidoscape Because fundamentally they were invested in buying a cinema.

Speaker 1:

The cinema was arguably around about 50 grand minimum. And actually, then and now I mean Kaleidoscape did go up in price. Actually, then and now I mean Kaleidoscape did go up in price. But then and now you know, 10% of that room build is on the thing that's giving you the best quality from the thing you've just spent all that money on. So we'll touch on quality before we carry on. So again go back to what Dan said. Sorry, got to put my glasses on and it might be really bright on my face. So a few statistics of Dan's. So for comparison, on average, the throughput on video. So on Kaleidoscape the throughput on video is about 58 megabits per second. So comparing that to a disc, that's about 48 megabits per second.

Speaker 2:

It's a Blu-ray disc. Yeah, yeah, Blu-ray disc 4K, blu-ray.

Speaker 1:

So par on, par, yeah, and actually I know for a fact that things like Endgame, the Kaleidoscape version, is bigger and better because it's not restricted by what you can put on a disc no, no. However, the biggest thing is and again we're going back to spaces where, let's say, I don't know, let's even go down to a £25,000 room or £20,000 room.

Speaker 1:

So you'll get 58 megapixels per second on a collide escape and 48 megabits per second on a 4k blu-ray when you go down to streaming. So we're looking at apple tv, which is arguably what people say is the best streaming platform. It's giving you 16 megabits per second on video quality. So if you put that into and I know there'll be a lot of people watching this who will go oh yeah, but it's the £3,000 entry fee. And then I mean, actually I was quite surprised the films do look like cheaper now because we were paying £30 a film. We were paying a lot of money in the UK, that's for sure. But I mean, you're talking, you know you're talking one third the quality on a streaming device.

Speaker 2:

That's a massive difference. It really really is in a dedicated cinema room or media room, then that that is a massive difference, I think, and a noticeable difference as well. So generally, when you are streaming, the sound's not as good, so you're generally turning up a bit louder. If the system is not designed for that, you're going to start getting popping subs and just distortion, and that's not what it's all about. You want crystal clarity in in those rooms, and that's what what it's all about. You want crystal clarity in those rooms, and that's what Kaleidoscape gives you.

Speaker 1:

Well, actually, if we touch on audio, so similar figures. So audio throughput on Kaleidoscape and a 4K Blu-ray is about 5.3 megabits per second. So 5.3 megabits per second. Megabits per second, yeah, apple TV and Netflix deliver 768 kilobits wow yeah, so you're talking. Then my math is really bad.

Speaker 1:

Six or seven times less quality on audio on streaming than compared to physical media or kaleidoscape, which is a hell of a lot so and actually considering that the majority of streaming services are broadcast in 5.1, where actually quite a lot of everyday systems are 7.1, if not 7.1.2. Now, I mean, as we touched on in our previous podcast about Dolby Atmos, and that actually, even if you're putting you know a 5.1 system or 7.1 system, coding into a speaker that can handle more, you're not if you're doing it via streaming service.

Speaker 2:

I think it comes down to cost. Obviously that's what they're trying to do now is they've got the top tier package, the medium package, then the lower end package, um, because obviously everything does add up per month, but there's a lot of streaming platforms out there, so that's why I think they're doing it. But? But when you hear those stats, I don't think people realise that. To be fair, it's like driving around in first gear on the motorway, isn't it?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean again, I'm not sure where this came from. It might have been Daniel who helped us write the blog. This blog is going to be live on our website by the time you watch this, so please go there and comment on it, um. But, as he said, you know, um, there was an episode of game of thrones that was very heavily criticized because of its visual and audio quality. Um, well, obviously I'm not watched, um, to be honest, I tried to watch game of thrones. It wasn't my type of thing. I mean, it's say it's not my type of thing. I quite enjoyed, um, I quite enjoyed, like lord of the Rings and things like that, but I don't know. A good friend of mine, anthony Chesson, has a three-episode rule where him and his wife, nicola, watch something for three episodes.

Speaker 1:

Then they have a conversation about it, and if they don't, carry on if they need to remark it.

Speaker 2:

They just don't carry on. The first lot of Game of Thrones was pretty much nudity and lots of profanity. That's why I started watching it, but no, that particular episode again. I've got no LED TV screen from Sony and I had no issues with it whatsoever. I could pretty much see everything because it's infinite blacks. I think if you had a black lit LED screen you had no chance.

Speaker 1:

And also you've got things like comes to audio. I mean, audio is so much of a big experience. I mean, as we say on the blog, you know, can you imagine watching star wars? You know, like if john williams hadn't done the score properly? Or can you imagine iconic movies like jaws?

Speaker 1:

yeah, jaws yeah, but is it so? So obviously we're not saying obviously physical media is going to go, um, I mean we're sadly, I think so. I mean, if we go back to, like, if we go back to our gaming history, you know, you, I think I'm right you can't physically buy a pc game anymore, even if you go to a shop and buy a game, if you go to a shop and buy an xbox or a playstation game, quite a lot of them now are codes, um, and I think the only, some of the only physical media you can get out there is cartridges like Switch. I mean, my Cyberpunk game is a cartridge because I don't think I'm going to keep it, so it's always something I want to sell on and obviously you can't sell digital media on it.

Speaker 2:

The codes are really annoying. A family went away last weekend when I was away and I was like, oh, take these Switch games with you and one was Just Dance, but I got that via code so they can't use that. I was like, well, okay, that's not happening, is it? And Panasonic have just announced they're stopping their 4K Blu-ray player. Yeah, I think that was announced a couple of weeks ago, which is sad, so another noun in the coffin of physical media.

Speaker 1:

I mean, does Sony still make them? Just Sony? Yep, because I know Oppo who are arguably the best A few years ago and Panasonic were. You know they're 900s, I think it was they were raved about.

Speaker 2:

So just Sony doing the Blu-ray players now which?

Speaker 1:

if you can still get hold of them.

Speaker 2:

They're a good price as well. So if you have got a decent collection or even rent them still, there's still some plenty of places where you can rent them.

Speaker 1:

It's a shame. It's a shame in a way because you know I know people who are game collectors. You know and I've watched videos of like people who have got like every single Nintendo you know game ever made in their house. But it is a shame because you know I ordered something, I pre-ordered something. I can't remember what it was now, but you know you could pre-order it with a physical steelbook because obviously in gaming steelbooks were quite big Physical steelbook, digital download, artwork and all that lot. And it's like I know that we're in a world where everything is digital and it's great the fact that I could I could download a movie onto this and take it to wherever I am. But there is something nice and my wife's gonna laugh at me with this because I don't do cds, but, as my wife would say, there is something nice about physically picking up a CD taking out the pamphlet and having the words yeah, physical, physical media has always been popular and I love it, but that's why I think vinyl's made a big comeback, because it is that.

Speaker 2:

It's that nice elegant way getting the artwork on the on the, on the vinyl, taking it out carefully, put it onto the record. It's an experience, and having that experience of doing that so again years back with the dvds, you just get so much information in the box set and the details and everything about the actors and the certain scripts and things that you could have, and so you had all the box sets and and that's just completely stopped and some funky box sets.

Speaker 1:

You know you can get like a briefcase which you opened up and they did the bond one which, if you put them all together, it created an image, because I know sony were giving those away when you bought a tv.

Speaker 2:

It was a nice experience, and I don't think you get that with with streaming. Literally you start flicking through and oh, that's new. I watched that for a bit. I don't like that, I'll go on to something else and uh, that's. That's a dying shame, I think, if it carries on on that way.

Speaker 1:

But then arguably you get more of a selection. You know, I know that I've gone to watch stuff on streaming. I think you'll watch more rubbish.

Speaker 2:

You watch like the Beekeeper and things like that which.

Speaker 1:

I watch any Jason Statham film. I watch any Jason Statham film.

Speaker 2:

Everybody loves Jason, but it comes to a point where you're like I'll just watch this because I don't know what else to watch.

Speaker 1:

I. It comes to a point where you're like I'll just watch this because I don't know what else to watch.

Speaker 2:

I think from an exploratory, when you had DVDs and Blu-ray, you're like I'm watching this because I like it. I like Lord of the Rings, I like the Mission Impossible.

Speaker 1:

I like this, but I think, if we go back to Anthony's role, as I now call it hi, Anthony I think that you're more likely to sit. What was it like? Is it wild robot that was on sky movies?

Speaker 1:

the other day so I've downloaded it on sky movies and there was a couple of other films that I've seen and I've downloaded on my sky q. So I think from a oh, I'll give this a go you're obviously not financially invested a part of your subscription and I think then you can then look at you know obviously still some physical media discs if you could play them. Luckily, I think Xboxes and Playstations still do. But actually, and then I think if it's a product you like I mean I know how I work which is like I might start to watch it and then go do you know what this would be really good on Kaleidoscape? I think I might buy it and then carry on watching it.

Speaker 2:

That is true. Yeah, start watching on those kind of platforms and then if you kind of like the film, well, this is going to be good then do it properly, whether it's on Kaleidoscape or get the physical disc. But I think that's the way Xbox Game Pass is going. There's so many videos, so many games you can play. There's games I wouldn't buy for £50, £60, £80, for instance.

Speaker 1:

Well, I know a lot of people. I was literally listening on the podcast on the way up because we had the Xbox conference literally a few days ago, or two weeks and a few days ago. If you're watching this now, there's Outer Worlds 2 and that's going to be an $80 game, as they're saying, where obviously you and me and a lot of the people watching this have probably got game pass, which is xbox's netflix, if you want to put it like that.

Speaker 2:

Um, we'll play it because we've got it yeah, it's on there anyway yeah, that looked really good and uh, clockwork revolution, that looked pretty, pretty, pretty special. Um, but yeah, there's a lot of nice games that are coming out. Yeah, 100, yeah so yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I mean I suppose sort of like wrapping up on the subject. You know I'm not saying there's anything wrong with streaming. I think it's a great planet, a great platform for exploration of media. But I do think that if you have invested a significant financial amount into your room or you've spent years building up this room and you're running more than 5.1, you've spent years building up this room and you're running more than 5.1.

Speaker 1:

I think that, whether it's a new player where you can reach out to myself or you or a local HCA member to audition Kaleidoscape, yes, it is a big buy-in, but if movies and TV programs, it has got TV programs and concerts on there. So I think, if movies and TVs are your passion and you're either having a room built of a significant value or you yourself have maybe done a DIY project, first of all, if you've done a DIY project, please reach out to International Home Cinema Day and we'll shout about it on social media platforms. We're trying to fill that void that magazines like Home Cinema, choice and that have obviously left, where you've not got a way to show off your own projects now. But I think Collider Skate for me is the way to go, with content you really enjoy, whether it's movies, films and TV programmes, and concerts and concerts it's what they say.

Speaker 2:

You only get out what you put in. Yeah, you put in rubbish. You're going to get out rubbish generally.

Speaker 1:

I'm glad you said it that way. I was going to have to put an E for eight on this.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, a Kaleidoscape system is definitely worth going for if you're going for a dedicated media or cinema room. So the streaming platforms are still pretty good, but you are going to get that next level, um, from that. But again, do what you did and, uh, have a demo and that's the best way to do it really, yeah, I think definitely have a demo.

Speaker 1:

I mean, there are facilities all over the country. Um, obviously, uh, if you're in the essex area, speak to simon. Simon could take you to pulse, because pulse, have it there. I've got mine, and then we've got facilities that we can take you to Pulse, because Pulse, have it there. I've got mine and then we've got facilities that we can take you to. I mean, we've got one in our showroom in Leatherhead. So, yeah, reach out to a HCA member or to either of us and can have an audition of it.

Speaker 2:

There's plenty of options now for the, as we spoke about on different levels. So, depending on your budget and what kind of room you've got and experience you want, then, yeah, any, any, any kaleidoscape system is now possible, and what?

Speaker 1:

streaming service do you use at home? Do you use apple tv? I use netflix and amazon, to be honest and physical, it's directly on the tv, or do you use it for a puck? Uh, directly on tv, directly on tv and you find that all right? Yep, no, very good, and you're running sony.

Speaker 2:

Sony TV yeah, so it's pretty fast. It's Google TV rather than Android now.

Speaker 1:

Thankfully.

Speaker 2:

A lot faster. I have got a 4K puck as well. It seems a bit more vibrant. The pitch quality from the new Fire 6, I have to say. I sort of flick between the two trying to look, because it says utilising or upgrading for ultra hd. So yeah, you know okay, is that better or not?

Speaker 1:

I've got. I've got a minute. We've two things on streaming. We'll. Before we wrap up, I've started using discovery plus in the last few days. What a terrible platform. Pretty clunky we.

Speaker 1:

So we're running it on apple tv for 99 a month yeah, well, no, not, oh, sorry, I'm gonna say so, let me say so tier. So for the sports, all right. So I'm paying whatever. It's 30 quid a month for it because the wife wanted to watch roland garros. Um, on the apple tv it has a really weird problem where, if you watch it on HD or on UHD, because there's two separate tiles, for some strange reason it throws up an error code. It's completely random, apparently. I think it's an Apple TV problem with Discovery, I think.

Speaker 2:

It's probably a software update that Apple have done and they've not followed suit.

Speaker 1:

So we put it onto the Sky Q and it works fine on the sky q, apart from select discovery plus. Walk out of the room, make yourself a cup of coffee, take a donut out of the box, come back in the room and it's just about loaded, ready for you to watch and just to say I've got gig down and 500 up, so it's not the network, um, but I've been having real issues with discovery plus physical media.

Speaker 1:

It's the only way, but also the other thing what might actually to get me to get rid of my apple tv, although I love my apple tv, um. It's uh, completely off topic, um, but I just saw on wwdc yesterday that you can now use Apple TV as a karaoke machine.

Speaker 2:

So my daughter. Why would you want to do that?

Speaker 1:

Well, my 14-year-old daughter that now actually.

Speaker 2:

Unless, you're 14.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, now sings along to Apple TV in the lounge, can now use her phone as a microphone and it will rate her on the screen. Any cinema or media room can now be a karaoke room, but then, if you and the kids come round, you can all use your phones and integrate with it.

Speaker 2:

A multi-purpose platform is Apple so.

Speaker 1:

I do love Apple TV, but I wish they would stop doing things like that. That'd make my laugh out. So yeah, so that's the topic. So obviously everyday streaming brilliant from Apple TV, fire inbuilt platforms, obviously TVs if it supports them. It's convenience, isn't it at the end of?

Speaker 2:

the day.

Speaker 1:

It's convenience and it's a good way to audition content that you don't necessarily know if you're going to like, but if you can support physical media, because physical media will go if we don't utilise it, but then obviously understand that physical media may go it probably will go.

Speaker 2:

People still buy more dvds uh than 4k discs, which is quite scary for a 30 year old format that is dvd, um.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, that's just and for ease of convenience obviously I know there's going to be people here and actually please comment below on what you use in your setup. Let us know a bit about your setup. Let us know what you're using for your streaming or your how you watch your main films. I know simon, who works with both of us now. Uh, he rips his dvds that he owns. So he rips his 4k blu-rays, which are upstairs, but convenience, he basically rips those and basically puts those ready on his player. I think he uses, uh, I think he's using it as a do. I think it is. Obviously the good thing about kaleidoscape is that you know, like we're sitting here now we've got the screen in front of us over there. If the blu-ray player's back there in the cabinet, we we'd have to get up we'd have to we'd have to step away from our champagne, which which we've not poured, Not yet Actually.

Speaker 1:

Oh no, it is cold and actually physically change the disc over.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and with Glide Escape, obviously you don't have to do that and get a better quality, which is paramount.

Speaker 1:

Well, our snooker room, which I think I touched on the last episode, that's 17, 17 metres from where you're sitting to where the Blu-ray player is.

Speaker 2:

That's a long way.

Speaker 1:

So it's almost as I said to the client if you want to sit down to find out not in the mood for a Jason Statham film, then you've got to get back up walk 15 metres to sort of. I know that's really lazy.

Speaker 1:

That is lazy and that's like summon on a Tesla, you could just walk to your there, is it? But but no, I time it when you go to the toilet. It's like right, I'll go to the toilet, I'll change them, I'll finish the movie and then I'll do both at the same time. Yeah, well, yeah, I say a glass of wine, but don't drink. Um, but no, I mean, I would say, if you've not seen collide escape or you've not auditioned collide escape, uh, it is a really really great service, very easy convenience and obviously now, yes, it's still three thousand dollars or two thousand $2,995, but it is a really really good platform and we're not sponsored, affiliated or being paid for this in any way. This is our own experience of being in this industry and using players in our own homes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right, so I think that's it. Anything else you want to touch on before we go? No, I think that's it Time to have some lunch. Yeah, I'm not sure where we're going next. I don't think I've actually spoken to anybody about our next one in a few.

Speaker 2:

Well, probably within the next four weeks. I've got to fight. Put it in the comments. Let's go, invite us round, we'll come to your showroom.

Speaker 1:

If you are a manufacturer in your cinema, do a podcast for half an hour to an hour and then obviously also sit down with you afterwards and do a conversation about your business and your facilities. It may well be popping up to see our friend Tom Delicapagni up north somewhere, or continue our tour of Essex by going to Lindor Steinway, yep that sounds good to me, or to Pulse, or to Pulse. Mister I-don't-go-anywhere-the-30-minutes-farther.

Speaker 2:

Steinway Yep, that sounds good to me or to Pulse, or to. Pulse, mr, I don't go anywhere to 30 minutes.

Speaker 1:

They're all in Essex. I had to pick him up this morning.

Speaker 2:

I even had to pick him up. At least you drove to the last one. You drove past my house.

Speaker 1:

It was perfect, awesome. Thank you for your time, simon.

Speaker 2:

Thanks, Geoff.

Speaker 1:

So where can people find you? Obviously at Cinema Rooms, At Cinema, obviously at Cinemarooms.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so at Cinemarooms we're on the socials. Our website is we're actually doing a new website, so by the time this comes out, you may see our new website. But yeah, that's wwwcinemaroomscom or cinema-roomscouk.

Speaker 1:

I've got to ask were you just right place, right time to get those taglines 100%?

Speaker 2:

Because, at. Cinemarooms 2009,. We launched Cinema Rooms and, yeah, we got in there early.

Speaker 1:

Because I've got to admit, when I was sitting in Dolby in Soho listening to our friend Tom Garrett do a speech about Dolby Atmos and immersive audio, I sat there and went because my old company was Just Add Popcorn, which was great, superb, I love that name. Well it was. If you knew what I did, we do everything. You just had the popcorn, yeah. But we did a bit of customer research and was like, fundamentally, you needed to remember the name, google the name and then you realized what we did. Once you realized what we did, it was brilliant. So we changed the name a few years ago to immersive cinema rooms and I remember sitting in soho going I need to find something with cinema rooms because that would be great for SEO and that guy in Essex has got the cinema.

Speaker 1:

And that's when Tom was going immersive, immersive, immersive. And that's where I came up with at immersive cinema rooms.

Speaker 2:

So you can thank Tom, then for that.

Speaker 1:

A bit of Tom and wanting to copy you really yes, yeah, 100% yeah.

Speaker 2:

No, we've had it for quite a while, so we do what it says on the tin. So yeah, cinema Rooms on the socials and a new website coming soon.

Speaker 1:

Awesome Myself at Immersive Cinema Rooms on all socials apart from Twitter, where we're at Cinemadesigners X, X. Sorry, I don't really use it now anyway, but because Immersive Cinema Rooms was too many characters and Im Cinema Rooms didn't quite work Not quite right.

Speaker 2:

Check us out on TikTok as well. You posted a few of the last video on TikTok.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and obviously at Home Cinema Alliance for the podcast or at HGAPod for the podcast specifically, but for Home Cinema Alliance, its members, and to see an insight into this industry at Home Cinema Alliance on all social media. Please, as I say, comment like, subscribe below. We'd love to know what you guys are up to, if you're planning any projects or just you're passionate about what you do, obviously with the topic of the month. We'd like to know how you're watching your media, whether it's traditional Sky or Virgin, and your thoughts on that. And obviously, if you're a keen gamer or you've got any movies you want us to recommend us watch, then, uh, not horror, I don't do horror, please do. Yeah, yeah, but please do. But thank you very much for tuning in.

Speaker 1:

Um, we'll see you on the next pod. The next one will be a sit down, uh, probably with stewart lillis from limitless automation in scotland, uh, which will be a couple of weeks after this one. We're trying to get them up every two weeks at the moment. Really made myself a rod for my own back with that one you have.

Speaker 1:

But, um, you enjoy it, it's the main thing all weekend uh but yeah, but like, subscribe, see you in a couple of weeks and we'll see you probably in four weeks for another in-person one, see you next time thanks guys.