In Broadcast - In Show Guide 2016 - 29


29

www.inbroadcast.com | IBC2016 InShow Guide | 9-13 September

RTM 4K: A Versatile Testing Tool
for Perfecting 4K Video Delivery
Quality of Service analysis is vital for 4K/UHD services,
writes Adam Schadle, Vice President at Video Clarity...

U

nderstanding
the
quality
of experience is crucial as
companies deploy their UHD services.
Most operators put a lot of effort
into choosing the right processing
equipment and settings for their
video-delivery workflows, but all of
that effort is wasted if they fail to do
quality testing. Whether it's real-time
TV channels delivered through cable
or satellite, file-based delivery of VOD
content, or streaming content over
the Internet, testing the quality of the
output is a critical step in the delivery
workflow - especially as companies
strive to incorporate 4K video formats.
Long-term testing with empirical
quality-measurement
data,
even
while programming is playing out,
is important because even the most
carefully planned systems can yield
unexpected results. In short, things can
go wrong. So it behooves operators to
monitor a channel over time - hours
or potentially days - and produce a
running average of measurements in
real time. This type of testing helps
operators spot anomalies and, if done
using the proper algorithms, gain
a true understanding of the quality
of a service from the customers'
perspective.
4K,
real-time,
full-reference,
perceptual-quality
functionality
has never been done before - until
now. Video Clarity's RTM 4K realtime monitoring solution provides
manufacturers and entertainment
networks with new 4K delivery
functions and can set up realtime monitoring with the unique

RTM 4K offers powerful
real-time analysis

functionality of automatic, time-based
quality measurements that are highly
correlated to the audience's quality
of experience. RTM 4K lets companies
run a full performance evaluation on
the delivery chain automatically, which
saves time and money when evaluating
UHD deployments.
RTM 4K Milestone
In a technological milestone for the
industry, RTM 4K is the first qualitymonitoring solution that can apply
4K video sources and compare them
with encoded/decoded 4K video to
test for video quality, audio quality,
lip sync, and loudness. It is also the
first to perform those tests using
full-reference methods that correlate
results to accepted scales of human
perception. RTM 4K continuously
monitors a channel or programme
to find the running min, max, and
average quality scores on the DMOS

index using the MS-SSIM algorithm. As
a result, operators get scores that give
them a true idea of what their viewers
are seeing and hearing on their own
devices.
Operators can set thresholds for
detecting and recording unacceptable
quality events - along with the content
immediately before and after them
- so that they can play a recorded
comparison against the source feed
and diagnose significant problems.
Users can either make adjustments as
the content is playing out or study and
correct the problem later.
The RTM 4K is built with a variety
of applications in mind, such as
testing new 4K HEVC encoders for
audio and video performance over
time, and testing the performance of
origination channels and automatically
recording and logging faults in video,
audio, lip sync, and loudness. Content
providers can also deploy RTM

4K - both in advance and during a
broadcast - for long-haul performance
testing of special large-audience live
programming, or in any instance
where 4K content quality monitoring
and measurement are required.
Real-time quality testing with RTM
4K is particularly beneficial in liveevent programming where network
feeds are created specifically for the
event. Applying real-time quality
testing to these temporary feeds
means operators can measure them
before and during service to get an
understanding of quality and the
performance of their processing
equipment, so that they can then make
adjustments accordingly.
Quality Monitor
Video Clarity's RTM 4K gives
operators a full-reference, perceptualquality monitor and measurement
device for 4K unlike anything on
the market today. This powerful,
versatile testing tool can monitor
the quality of any type of 4K content,
from traditional linear output to IPbased OTT content delivery. Whether
monitoring an existing service or
perfecting the workflow of a future
service, content originators and
delivery networks can use RTM 4K
to measure the quality of delivered
4K video over time - and, for the first
time, do it by comparing the 4K source
with the downstream versions, with
audio quality, lip sync, and loudness
included. When armed with accurate
quality-of-service data, operators can
more easily fine-tune their 4K services
in order to deliver the quality viewers
want and advertisers expect.
www.videoclarity.com
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.videoclarity.com http://ibc16.mapyourshow.com/7_0/exhibitor/exhibitor-details.cfm?ExhID=5557 http://www.videoclarity.com
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