IMAX - StreamAware
Category QC QA Monitoring
IMAX StreamAware is an all-in-one, automated software platform that provides quality measurement insights and automates quality verification checks for live and on-demand streaming video. Based on patented IMAX VisionScience technology, StreamAware provides a consistent quality metric to measure and monitor live streams, devices, channels, and paths in a unified view; as well as configurable test plans to ensure on-demand content meets requirements.
For on-demand streaming, StreamAware On-Demand ensures high quality video delivery while improving efficiency and reducing errors across file-based workflows. 2.8 billion minutes of content are assured and measured with StreamAware every month. Using StreamAware On-Demand, a leading streaming service cut manual quality assurance interventions by 50% in 2023.
For live streaming, StreamAware On-Air provides real-time visibility of the video delivery chain, ensuring everything runs smoothly from the source to the final viewer. It provides a consistent quality metric to measure and monitor live streams, devices, channels, and paths in a unified view. StreamAware monitors hundreds of thousands of streams around the clock for major global streaming services, pay TV operators, and MPVDs. One top MPVD slashed latency 30% and reduced MTTR 85% with StreamAware.
StreamAware software is enabled by the patented IMAX ViewerScore [XVS], which provides a single, objective quality score that benchmarks viewer experience throughout the workflow. IMAX XVS is the only video quality metric that maps to the human visual system, making it the most accurate and complete measure of how humans perceive video.
Unique features of StreamAware On-Demand include
• A single tool to verify video quality and must-have elements including video, audio, and metadata.
• End-to-end visibility, for a clear view of video quality at any point in the media supply chain.
• A consistent, accurate viewer score throughout the delivery chain via VisionScience technology.
• Automates tasks that usually require the human eye.
• Dynamically adapts to the incoming workload, eliminating constraints and infrastructure limitations.
• Configurable compliance checks to ensure content meets video quality, regulatory and viewer
• experience requirements.
Unique features of StreamAware On-Air include
• Efficient software-based probes that monitor picture and sound quality at every stage of the video distribution network.
• Drills deep into the signal and measures the perceived picture quality at any point in the distribution path using VisionScience technology to measure Quality of Experience [QoE].
• Users can customize alerts to prioritize critical issues to reduce time to resolution.
• Offers comprehensive monitoring and alerting on the behavior of all signal elements including video, audio and closed captions. Evaluates video and audio quality before and after ad insertion.
IMAX VisionScience Tech
StreamAware software is enabled by the patented IMAX VisionScience which provides a single, objective quality score (the IMAX ViewerScore [XVS] that benchmarks viewer experience throughout the workflow. IMAX XVS is scientifically proven to be the most accurate measure of end-viewer experience. IMAX XVS is the only video quality metric that maps to the human visual system, making it the most accurate and complete measure of how humans perceive video. The Emmy Award-winning technology is the only algorithm with >90% correlation to Mean Opinion Score [MOS], verified across various video datasets. It sees quality differences other metrics can’t because it considers all aspects of human visual perception, including
◦ Where humans focus attention [saliency]
◦ Viewer types and intent
◦ Impairment visibility
◦ Time dimensions
◦ Playback devices
Additional benefits - no reference source needed and support for all types of content including live, VOD, HDR and 4K.
StreamAware is unique from other quality measurement solutions because it offers a no-reference component. This means that quality can be measured without referencing the original source material. Since a source is not always available [and never available for live content], this ability to provide an objective quality score based on the human visual system sets it apart from all other quality measurement metrics in use today. For example, for reference-based metrics, if the source file suffered impairments, a reference-based metric would award a perfect score because the distribution matches the [compromised] source. A no-reference metric like XVS, flags the quality as low because that is what a human would perceive, catching impairments other systems would miss.
Meeting a market need that other metrics don’t
StreamAware meets specific market needs of streaming businesses delivering both on-demand and live streams.
For on-demand video, StreamAware automates tasks that typically require the human eye, helping providers improve efficiency and reduce the margin for human error to ensure video consistently meets the highest standards. It helps providers:
• Simplify workflows. QA and QC in one software platform eliminates the need for multiple tools or platforms.
• Proactively improve video quality. Automates the work of thousands of “golden eyes” to ensure video is delivered at desired quality standards. Also, with no-reference metrics, ensures incoming sources meet quality standards.
• Increase efficiency. StreamAware automates video quality checks, saving time and resources.
• Improve video performance. With clear knowledge of video quality users can maintain and improve viewing experience.
