VOD Inspector Player Test allows source-to-playout visibility into viewer experience quality

Waterloo, ON, Canada, Nov. 14, 2019 – SSIMWAVE® will enable content distributors for the first time to evaluate video player experiences remotely and objectively and to address subpar video quality issues when it unveils a new Player Test feature in its SSIMPLUS® VOD MONITOR Inspector at Streaming Media West next week.

The Player Test provides source-to-playout visibility – between any two points in the world – into how individual video files appear to the viewer, using the SSIMPLUS 0-100 scoring metric. As the only algorithm that can accurately mimic actual human vision, the SSIMPLUS score provides streaming and on-demand content distributors with actionable insights into how network conditions such as bitrate, switches between variants and buffer sizes impact the viewer.

The Player Test will be available before the end of 2019, initially evaluating HLS content delivered to players developed on the video.js framework. Support for additional players and video formats will be available in the near future.

“There are countless data points that show what is happening in the network, but until now there has been no way to understand exactly what they mean to the viewer,” said Dr. Abdul Rehman, CEO and co-founder of SSIMWAVE. “Our Player Test capability completes the picture by providing a simple, consistent score that shows how video quality has changed from source to playout, giving a clear indication of what the viewer sees.”

VOD MONITOR Inspector is a cloud-based tool that uniquely combines frame-by-frame and pixel-by-pixel analysis of video content with SSIMPLUS. Using the new Player Test functionality, distributors can achieve three-point monitoring ­– at the source; at the output of the encoder, transcoder or packager; and at the player output. The resulting data can enable optimization of profile ladders, content variants and other variables without noticeably impacting the viewer experience. For example, rather than treating all content equally, distributors can use the SSIMPLUS score to create and test multiple profile ladders or higher or lower quality variants, depending on the type of content being delivered and the device on which it is being viewed.

SSIMWAVE will be showing the Player Test functionality at its booth at Streaming Media West Nov. 19-20 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles. In addition, Dr. Rehman will be discussing Player Test as part of “Stop Bad Video in its Tracks,” a Discovery Track presentation at 10:30 a.m. PT Nov. 19.

To book a meeting or demonstration with SSIMWAVE at Streaming Media West, please go to https://calendly.com/ssimwave/streaming-media-west-2019?month=2019-11.