BEAVERTON, Ore, August 23, 2018 – Tektronix, Inc., an industry-leading innovator of video test, monitoring and diagnostics solutions, today announced the addition of multiple enhancements to its live and VOD cloud video monitoring solutions, which will be demonstrated live at the IBC2018 show in RAI Amsterdam, September 14-18, Hall 5 A73.
Catalyzed by new innovation and an influx of new streaming services, the advancement and acceptance of cloud-based streaming is shifting towards mass consumption in record time. Cloud-based workflows are growing increasingly complex and frequently involve multiple handoffs between content providers, encoders, packagers, 3rd party CDNs, and end devices. At the same time, costs to acquire new subscribers are rising, as are viewer expectations of quality.
Sentry and Aurora give customers the visibility and control that they need to successfully deliver quality live and VOD content to customers across complex workflows, reducing the risk of churn and brand damage.
"Our customers are committed to providing a fantastic end user experience, preventing them from having to deal with problems ranging from Twitter tirades to quality-driven subscriber churn," said Charlie Dunn, the General Manager of Tektronix's Video Business. "Whether it's in the first five seconds of the program or the critical moment of a game – a poor streaming experience can cost you viewers. Our customers must be able to monitor the quality of content at multiple points to quickly correlate and troubleshoot issues before viewers notice. That's exactly what Sentry delivers."
Sentry Live Stream Monitoring Solution Adds TekMOS Picture Quality Analysis
Sentry automates live stream monitoring on cloud and cable networks. It performs hundreds of quality assessment and compliance checks, a wide range of video and audio analysis, and now, with the addition of TekMOS, Sentry can provide a picture quality rating on multiple live video streams concurrently. TekMOS is a non-reference picture quality analysis algorithm unique to Tektronix that generates a Mean Opinion Score (MOS) using machine learning techniques. Those scores have a strong correlation to how viewers would rate the quality of the content. TekMOS scores can be viewed through graphical displays or extracted using an API along with reasons for not achieving a perfect score. This removes the guess work from diagnostics and enables quick and effective corrective action.
New Cloud Based Pricing – Subscription and On Demand
Tektronix introduces new cloud based pricing options for live and VOD quality assurance, including subscription based, per video stream, and on-demand options. OTT networks use cloud based services that enable operators to start with lower initial operation costs and scale as they grow. These pricing options allow operators to scale their monitoring costs as their networks and workflows evolve.
Tektronix will also showcase several new product enhancements live at IBC:
Cloud Monitoring for HDR VOD Content – Aurora file-based QC system supports Amazon Web Services (AWS) workflows and Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and can now validate 4K-HDR content. Aurora offers a wide range of automated QC tests for cloud based workflows, honed in large enterprise deployments with large volumes of premium content
Dynamic Ad Insertion Monitoring for Live OTT – Sentry now provides dynamic advertising insertion analysis with programmatic control for OTT streaming content. Sentry monitors that ads are correctly placed within the ABR stream and playing back with the same quality as other content.
Common Media Application Format (CMAF) support – An ABR standard that allows streaming providers to encode their HLS and Dash media in one common format vs multiple formats, CMAF greatly reduces the number of streaming variations needed to deliver services.
Cloud-based Quality Assurance Demo of Live and VOD Video on AWS – Tektronix will demonstrate quality assurance monitoring of Live and VOD OTT video workflows on AWS. Live cloud demonstrations will include picture quality scoring using TekMOS; dynamic Ad Insertion monitoring on live streams; HDR reporting on VOD assets; and monitoring in automated containerized environments. Live demonstrations include AWS Elemental MediaLive, AWS Elemental MediaPackage and Amazon CloudFront.
About Tektronix
Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix delivers innovative, precise, and easy-to-operate test, measurement and monitoring solutions that solve problems, unlock insights, and drive discovery. Tektronix has been at the forefront of the digital age for over 70 years. Join us on the journey of innovation at TEK.COM/VIDEO.
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Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
