SSIM, also known as the structural index, is the traditional perception metric that quantifies the degradation of image quality.
“Although video quality plays a critical role in attracting and engaging viewers, there’s been a glaring lack of consistent and objective monitoring tools and metrics,” said Dr Zhou Wang, co-founder and chief science officer of SSIMWAVE.
SSIMPLUS enhances the metrics with software-based probes to monitor video and quality of all five points of content ecosystem in real time: Source, Encoding and Demux Output, Aggregator Output, Delivery Across the Demarcation Point, and Playout by End-User Devices. The tool can be used to enforce service level agreements (SLAs) and act as benchmarks to ensure quality production of videos from source to delivery.
SSIMPLUS Live Monitor also provides analytics on the root cause of any degradation for engineers to identify and quickly fix the problem. Thus, the company can better predict and prevent the degradation of the video and enhance the viewing experience of the consumer.
With a reduction of correlated solutions, the SSIMPLUS Live Monitor would eventually lead to a decrease in operational cost.
As emerging technology and broadcast converge, it is imperative for broadcaster to measure QoE — the quality indicator that measures the customer’s perception of the network’s reliability, availability, scalability, speed, accuracy and efficiency.
SSIMPLUS VOD Monitor enables broadcasters to predict and analyse end-user’s display across all devices. Subsequently, it would automatically configure bitrate ladders and suitable codec, to ensure viewer is accessing the optimised video.
Dr Wang added: “SSIMPLUS enables accurate measurement of QoE from source to display, ensuring subscriber satisfaction and loyalty by delivering the video quality that’s expected.”
Moreover, SSIMPLUS can be used to verify performance of the ecosystem and advertising workflows.
An interactive demonstration will be conducted at 2019 NAB Show, booth SU6924, where attendees will be able to compare their impressions of video quality against actual SSIMPLUS viewers scores.