At NAB, Volicon is shows its new Observer QoE, a new quality assurance module for Volicon’s Observer monitoring and logging system that performs broadcasting and media analysis. The Observer QoE can automatically analyze a video image to detect macroblocking, a process that has required human intervention to spot on-screen anomalies, commonly called pixelization.
The Observer QoE was developed in cooperation with major U.S. cable operators to detect macroblocking. Pixelization in digital video often results from overcompression or from bit errors introduced in the MPEG stream. Traditional stream analyzers can detect bit errors, but they are not able to detect image degradation due to overcompression, most frequently caused by a statistical multiplexer.
The Observer QoE uses patent-pending technology developed by Volicon engineers to analyze video content and alert the operator when macroblocks are detected. Also, the Observer QoE notifies the operator if it detects other transmission faults, such as black video, frozen image or low audio.
The QoE module is available for Volicon Observer and Observer RPM products, which let TV stations, MSOs, independent cable operators, IPTV suppliers, and satellite operators automatically evaluate the quality of their broadcasts from a central location. The Observer products can record content for later review and diagnostics by technicians who are observing any intermittently faulty channel.
Volicon is at Booth N2514.
