MELBOURNE, Fla.—Three years into a successful enterprise-wide rollout of Qligent’s Vision, Sinclair Broadcast Group is expanding the deployment by applying Qligent’s QoS, QoE and compliance monitoring toolsets to its growing network of ATSC 3.0 digital TV channels and services. 

Sinclair Broadcast Group has already deployed Qligent’s Vision ATSC 3.0 solution in 14 markets and 28 channels where the media company offers live ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. In the future, the rollout will expand across all Sinclair markets as they launch new ATSC 3.0 channels and services.

“Qligent’s approach ensures that we can build on our existing tools without requiring a wholesale program change to execute,” said Mike Kralec, senior vice president and CTO, at the Sinclair Broadcast Group. “We have an ATSC 3.0 monitoring system that looks very similar to our ATSC 1.0 system, which minimizes disruption. It’s a very efficient way to achieve greater visibility into our ATSC 3.0 system while also minimizing new capital expenditures.”

Vision ATSC 3.0 provides broadcasters with an intuitive workflow to monitor and analyze ATSC 3.0 data from the origination point forward. Its software helps broadcasters visualize and optimize multi-layer data streams and several data points associated with vendor equipment throughout the ATSC 3.0 ecosystem. Qligent provides users with multiple perspectives of compatibility and health of the ATSC 3.0 signal path, with all pertinent details centralized to a dashboard where users absorb overall performance, the company reported. 

Current Qligent Vision installations require only a licensed software update to activate Vision ATSC 3.0 in the same system, adding support for ATSC 3.0 standards content formats and typically without scaling the existing installation. Qligent Vision ATSC3 is also available as a standalone installation that can be added to customer servers for new installations or in parallel with existing software. Operators can then cost-efficiently monitor and analyze QoS, QoE and compliance for ATSC 1.0, ATSC 3.0, and OTT signals both on-premises and in the cloud through a common Vision dashboard, the company said. 

Sinclair Broadcast Group will leverage the depth and scale of their enterprise Vision system in Vision ATSC 3.0 to optimize both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 performance through a single pane of glass approach, the companies said. 

This will provide Sinclair with a unified view of all content delivery across markets and channels. The ability to observe, record, and analyze all signals in a single system will allow Sinclair to operate more efficiently by leveraging common monitor-by-exception rulesets, with the ability for users to quickly identify and resolve any content delivery issues that occur in their live environments. In addition, using one unified enterprise platform across all delivery standards means less training, simplified root cause analysis, and faster time to resolution, Qligent reported. 

Like Sinclair’s enterprise Vision solution, the Vision ATSC 3.0 configuration at Sinclair provides consolidated and distributed access to address varied needs across the organization. That includes enterprise-wide access from Sinclair’s network operations center, and local station access for regional engineers. 

Moving forward, both Qligent and Sinclair Broadcast Group said they anticipate extending Vision’s reach deeper into Sinclair’s on-prem and cloud ecosystems.

“ATSC 3.0 efficiently enables a higher-density network of TV channels and services supported through datacasting,” said Brick Eksten, CEO, Qligent. “Vision ATSC 3.0 will provide Sinclair Broadcast Group with the monitoring and analysis capabilities they need for local ATSC 3.0 transmission networks as their content encryption and datacasting requirements grow.” Eksten adds that Vision ATSC 3.0 will support all QoS, QoE and compliance monitoring for Sinclair’s channels delivered to viewers.

“Vision helps us optimize content presentation for our diginets while making it easier to manage unique channels in markets where we do news and local ad insertions,” added Kralec. “As we send more file-based information through our ATSC 3.0 ecosystem, Vision ATSC 3.0 gives us a foundation to do much more with our monitoring infrastructure.”

MELBOURNE, Fla.—Qlient welcomed 30-year broadcast industry veteran Ken Dillard as vice president of sales. Reporting to CEO Brick Eksten, Dillard will lead all sales and business development in North American and the CALA region, and collaborate with Qligent sales representatives and partners worldwide.

Eksten said in a press statement, “[Ken] brings a detailed understanding of how media enterprises are accelerating toward DTC business models, which represents the direction of where the broader media and entertainment industry is headed. These skillsets, along with his strong track record of successful sales and business development initiatives for leading industry vendors, makes him an ideal fit for helping Qligent customers monetize their content and improve client satisfaction.”

Dillard brings a diverse range of broadcast experience industry to his new role. He spent nearly 15 years as a broadcast engineer for radio and television stations before transitioning to sales. He has since held roles of increasing responsibility with Harris Corp., Dejero, Avid and TVU Networks, working his way up from regional to executive-level positions.

“Broadcast is an important staple of our business, and we see strong opportunities to help broadcasters leverage a very rich and granular level of data to monetize their OTA and OTT services,” said Dillard.

MELBOURNE, Fla.—Qligent is rolling out the latest edition, version 3.10, of its Vision software for media monitoring and analysis.

Vision v3.10 is free to existing customers with a valid support contract and running on the Linux CentOS platform. Among its new features is full integration with Wasabi’s cloud platform for agnostic video, audio and data storage and retention. It is also designed to strengthen security, improve measurement and more efficiently communicate performance through scheduled reports.

As part of the integration with Wasabi, Vision’s enhanced security features are now fully compliant with Wasabi’s enterprise-class cloud environments, which allow Qligent customers to leverage Wasabi’s low data storage costs, fast uploads and downloads, unlimited capacity and redundant infrastructure.

The Vision update also strengthens stream measurement for cable and telco customers, enabling them to scramble each sub-stream within each transport stream at the physical layer. This allows for greater insight into QoS monitoring for the stream’s video, audio and data.

In addition, with broader access to on-demand reports, Vision v3.10 enables customers to schedule enhanced reports detailing media performance at specific times. The reports use Vision’s real-time data inherent analysis capabilities to gather information and generate detailed reports on Vision’s dashboard.

Vision v3.10 is now available. For more information, visit www.qligent.com.  

MELBOURNE, Fla.—Qligent announced that Brick Eksten has been appointed to the position of CEO with the company, taking over the job from Qligent’s founder Eugene Shchemelev, who had served as president and CEO since 2014.

Eksten joins Qligent after having most recently served as the CTO for playout and networking solutions at Imagine Communications, where he oversaw the roadmap for transitioning customers’ broadcast operations to the cloud. Previously, he was the CEO and co-founder of streaming solutions company Digital Rapids, which was acquired by Imagine in 2014.

Qligent’s announcement says that Eksten’s experience will help customers deliver next-generation, direct-to-consumer experiences.

“As broadcasters and other traditional media enterprises move towards a DTC business and technical model, they need technology partners they can rely on to help them meet increased customer service demands and overcome new operational challenges,” said Eksten. “With proven large-scale deployments, deep expertise and managed services experience, Qligent is well-positioned to help customers deliver better service to their consumers while freeing them to focus on their content.”

Qligent also announced that Shchemelev will remain as executive chairman of the Qligent board of directors.

For more information, visit www.qligent.com.  

MELBOURNE, Fla.—Qligent is now sharing its second-generation, cloud-based predictive analysis platform Foresight, which uses AI, machine learning and big data to handle content distribution issues. Foresight is designed to provide real-time 24/7 data analytics based on system performance and user behavior.

The Foresight platform aggregates data points from end user equipment, including set-top boxes, smart TVs and iOS and Android devices, as well as CDN logs, stream monitoring data, CRMs, support ticketing systems, network monitoring systems and other hardware monitoring systems. 

With scalable cloud processing, Foresight’s integrated AI and machine learning provide automated data collection, while deep learning technology mines data from layers of data. Big data technology then correlates and aggregates the data for quality assurance.

Foresight features networked and virtual probes that create a controlled data mining environment, which Qligent says is not compromised by operator error, viewer disinterest, user hardware malfunction or other variables.

Users can access customizable reports that summarize key performance indicators, key quality indicators and other criteria for multiplatform content distribution. All findings are presented on Qligent’s dashboard, which is accessible on a computer or mobile device.

The Qligent Foresight system is available immediately. For more information, visit www.qligent.com.  

MELBOURNE, Fla.—Qligent’s Vision Compliance Monitoring and Analysis platform is being used by Sinclair Broadcast Group to support QoS/QoE, compliance and transmission monitoring for 191 TV stations in 89 markets.

The Vision platform used by Sinclair is a hybrid architecture that brings cloud and on-premises elements together for a centralized portal for compliance monitoring and data aggregation in the cloud. A user interface allows all associated applications to be managed in a single place. In addition, Sinclair partnered with Wasabi Cloud Storage to accommodate the compliance content storage requirements.

The on-premise hardware includes Qligent Vision monitoring probes for compliance and QoS/QoE monitoring. The probes will also monitor Sinclair’s transmitters and RF facility management systems via SNMP.

Qligent worked with Sinclair to customize elements of the Vision architecture to address their specific requirements.

“Qligent has been a true partner for Sinclair, working diligently to ensure their feature set and system architecture aligned with our goals of minimizing on-premise hardware, centralizing data aggregation and leveraging cloud-based management,” said Mike Kralec, vice president of technical operations and deputy CTO at Sinclair.

According to Qligent, this is its largest U.S. broadcast project to date.

For more information, visit www.qligent.com.  

LAS VEGAS—Qligent will introduce an all-in-one solution that addresses regulatory requirements for local TV stations, as well as offers the company’s core quality-oriented monitoring at the 2020 NAB Show.

The new Vision Compliance Monitoring system unlocks a centralized portal to monitor quality of service (QoS), quality of experience (QoE) and compliance. The system is tailored for local TV stations and smaller station groups tasked with loudness and closed caption compliance. QoS and QoE monitoring —two core Qligent competencies—are rarely offered in compliance monitoring systems but included in the system.

The new system enables TV stations to monitor their own QoS-related transport and physical streams along with QoE-related issues, such as lack of signal, video freeze and missing audio, in a cost-efficient manner. It also gives broadcasters the ability to record and monitor live program streams from in-market TV stations. These capabilities provide broadcasters with consistent insight into competitive QoE performance, as well as evidence of what local businesses are advertising with those stations.

The new system, including all software, common off-the-shelf hardware and QoS/QoE/compliance toolsets, is instantly deployable.

The Vision Compliance Monitoring system is flexibly priced—billed as either monthly or annual fees for the same turnkey solution. The system provides consecutive days of 24/7 compliance recording through the contracted period. Options to monetize programming, such as content repurposing, are available for additional fees.

The company anticipates future upgrades to ensure ATSC 3.0 compatibility as broadcasters transition to NextGen TV.

See Qligent at booth SU13313 during the 2020 NAB Show, which takes place from April 18-22.

Visit the Qligent’s website for more information.

AMSTERDAM—Part of the IBC 2019 showcase for cloud-based content monitoring and analysis provider Qligent will be the addition of an integrated content repurposing feature with the Vision QoS/QoE media quality assurance platform, known as Vision Repurpose.

The Vision Repurpose is designed to streamline the recording, trimming and transformation of off-air video into clips. The clips can be created with burned-in timecodes that verify compliance or that a clip ran as it was intended. Videos can be scheduled and recorded in multiple resolutions and formats, then an embedded HTML 5 media player allows for users to browse recordings for specific segments as well as mark in and out points. Clips can be exported directly to a nonlinear editing platform or moved to servers or cloud-based storage.

Users of the Vision Repurpose can customize whether they want certain tasks to be done manually or automated. They also have control over when and where repurposed video is released. In addition, users can configure a personal dashboard that lists the relevant recordings for a job, while others can apply filters to assist in searching for specific content.

While able to record manually, Vision Repurpose also offers 24/7 scheduling of automated recordings. Videos can be recorded locally, to a private cloud storage or have storage incorporated into a Vision platform with the ability to record in resolutions up to 4K Ultra HD and incorporate a user’s personalized graphics.

For the IBC 2019 conference, which takes place in Amsterdam from Sept. 13-17, Qligent will be located at booth 8.E47. Qligent will also have another booth, 14.C19, for its Qligent Analytics product line.

LAS VEGAS—Qligent aims to fight audience erosion with one of its featured products at this year’s NAB Show, the cloud-based Vision Analytics monitor. Using data mining, machine learning and predictive data analytics, the Vision Analytics keeps an eye on the quality of viewer engagement and protects media brand values across multiple delivery platforms.

Vision Analytics samples video content globally across any content distribution channel and monitors the viewer’s quality of experience on any platform, network, channel or app, designed to handle what Qligent calls the “Four Vs” of big data: velocity, volume, variety and veracity. It uses scalable cloud processing to manage static, dynamic or event-based databases. Findings are presented on a dashboard and reports summarize key performance indicators, key equality indicators and other criteria pertaining to multiplatform content distribution across creation, delivery and consumption.

Qligent’s probes are deployed to create an end-to-end, controlled data mining environment to produce trusted and secondary opinion datasets within Vision Analytics. This is meant to assure data integrity is maintained.

The Vision Analytics system can also automatically tap into the MVPD’s existing systems, such as the customer relationship management system or the business and operations support systems. This will help provide advanced warnings to make corrective actions.

Qligent will be located at booth N4215 during the 2019 NAB Show. To register for the NAB Show, visit www.nabshow.com.

NEW YORK—Compliance monitoring has evolved over the past decade from simple broadcast logging to what is now a much broader range of applications that encompass monitoring, analysis and even revenue-generating functions for broadcasters, OTT providers and MVPD operators. Today’s digital tools have largely replaced the VHS long-play tape recorders to log transmissions, and other new technologies promise to only increase how broadcasters and others can utilize and even monetize what was once just compliance monitoring.

“The need for compliance loggers comes from the legal requirement to log all broadcasted content,” said Ken Frommert, president of ENCO, a Southfield, Mich.-based provider of broadcast technology systems. “This need, arising from the national telecom regulators, such as the FCC, did not change. However, the ever-increasing economic pressure on the same broadcasters, coupled with the fact the compliance loggers are an economic liability with no real business benefit, will necessarily force a technological evolution that will change the loggers into becoming economically beneficial.”

FROM BROADCAST TO OTT

Compliance monitoring is now at a massive transformational stage.

“To start, while compliance services have their roots in traditional broadcasting, we’re seeing the need for compliance services to not only cover broadcast, but also OTT content,” said Ariff Sidi, chief product officer for content delivery network provider Verizon Digital Media Services. “An increasing number of services now offer the ability to monitor OTT streams, and that trend will continue this year and beyond. We’ll see monitoring capabilities enhanced to cover the full path—from ingestion to delivery and through to the end user experience as well. Second, there will continue to be a major shift from compliance monitoring services being hardware-based to cloud-based.”

Even traditional compliance monitoring is now changing in terms of the content being monitored, the level of detail and even how long to store the results. Much of this wouldn’t have been possible just a few years ago.

“A simple studio-based ‘Air Recorder’ at the output of master control, keeping recordings for 30-90 days is insufficient,” said Ted Korte, COO of Qligent, a Melbourne, Fla.-based developer of broadcast monitoring and QoE technology. “More and more functions are either being outsourced or moved closer to the end user, and so should compliance monitoring. Having a number of monitoring points covering each of the delivery platforms, is a much more accurate representation of an audience and thus creates a more comprehensive compliance verification. Since new regulations are likely to evolve it is also a good practice to record all the associated metadata with the media and to record everything for extended periods of time to allow post verification analysis and audits.”

ORIGINS IN CALM

One of the key components of compliance monitoring is that audio levels are consistent as required by the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, which barred TV commercials—as well as other content—from increasing in volume at commercial breaks. Since the introduction of CALM it has been mostly “all quiet” on the audio front as broadcasters have mostly complied, but new technologies would bring up similar issues.

“Commercial loudness has been an issue since the 1980s, but finally modern audio systems really made it noticeable,” said William T. Hayes, director of engineering for Iowa Public Television and president of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society. “Today the issue is how people consume content in other ways, and these services don’t follow the rules set in place by CALM. The major streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Video are pretty good, but then you can instantly tell that YouTube videos and others aren’t CALM-compliant.”

For audio compliance, self-regulation could be one solution, but new technology at the consumer level might also solve the issue.

“The reality is that everyone who has a service that provides video and audio knows they need to do something,” Hayes added. “But self-regulating may not solve all the issues. However, smart TVs could be made to automatically adjust volume to a consistent level.”

FULL STREAM AHEAD

In a recently released white paper, Mediaproxy, a provider of compliance, monitoring and analysis technology noted that as the industry has to deal with an increasing number of transmission platforms that span from traditional broadcasts to OTT logging and monitoring paradigms have also shifted.

“It’s become apparent that with an increase in scale, the tools have to extend in versatility. Making sure that the right content is transmitted at the right place and time across the different outputs is paramount. Loggers are hence expected to have advanced video analysis features like content and source matching” said Erik Otto, Mediaproxy president. "However, this also means that OTT providers will have to address challenges, as streaming doesn’t fit in very well with traditional compliance monitoring."

“Linear and nonlinear streaming is very different as to how it is delivered and consumed, making end-to-end visibility and control much more complex,” said Korte at Qligent. “Streaming is changing all the usual points of reference such as primetime, demographics, DMAs, and even the definition of ‘live’.’’ All this new technology and opportunity will also invite new regulations regarding privacy and data protection [end users], fraud [i.e. advertising], piracy [i.e. rights], ratings [social media], etc. from multiple government agencies as well as vendor/service provider SLAs.”

Yet, unlike in a traditional broadcast, which typically has one version of content delivered to all viewers and with differences often the result of local market requirements, OTT could enable content providers to deliver innumerable discrete streams delivered to users—differentiated by region, device, preference or other factors.

“This same ‘one-to-one’ approach can be applied to compliance monitoring systems, too,” added Sidi. “In addition to monitoring the entire cloud workflow, it can check streams by region or other critical factors.”

The downside for content providers is that these opportunities could require more work.

“Budgets haven’t gone up,” and companies are not hiring replacements when employees leave, according to Hiren Hindocha, CEO of Digital Nirvana. “However today’s new compliance monitoring tools can address those requirements.”

AI AND MACHINE LEARNING

Technology could certainly play a major role in this evolution of monitoring and logging, and could take advantage of artificial intelligence or machine learning, which could more easily manage the influx of “Big Data” that is created at a near constant rate.

“The big trend is mixing technical compliance with content compliance,” said ENCO’s Frommert. “The way we see things, the loggers are producing enormous amounts of video data. This ‘Big Data’ is just sitting there for months until it is deleted and replaced by newer data, with no effective use. The use of Big Data technologies is gradually enriching the value of these video records and adding a number of useful functions.”

This, in turn could change compliance monitoring from something required and which can be costly, into a potential revenue stream instead.

Compliance tools are required by law, and thus become an expense for broadcasters, Hayes said, who added that today, AI can turn compliance into a value add instead.

“AI can analyze your audio for CALM compliance, but could also make it easier to ensure that closed captioning makes sense, including that the right version of a word is used. But it can also turn it into a profit center as it becomes a service, whether that is a tool for viewers to find content, or for those in commercial broadcasting so that advertisers and vendors can track their results.”

This could include automated detection of commercial ad spots, which could replace what has been a manually intensive work.

“This technology [AI] can scan many channels and provide very accurate affidavit reports on the number of ad spots,” added Frommert. “Similarly, the ads watching technology can also analyze competing channels and provide comparisons channel to channel on the number of ads sold and aired.”

AI could further automatically create captions and subtitles via speech recognition technology, while also utilizing rich metadata for searching and organizing the vast archives of video, which are stored on-premise or in the cloud.

“This can make it easier for people to find the content they want, as it is needs to be available to whomsoever, whenever they want it,” said Hindocha. “Metadata is really ripe for AI and machine learning, as it can help the viewer decide whether they want to consume that content. Metadata, as a side of the logging, helps you slice and dice the variety of content that is out there.”

MELBOURNE, Florida--Qligent will demonstrate its new Vision SQM platform, a cloud-based, second-generation, big data processing engine for viewer satisfaction at IBC2018, Sept. 14-18 at the RAI in Amsterdam. The platform uses real-world MVPD deployments to verify overall Quality of Experience (QoE) for subscribers watching live streaming sports or video on demand, recording a show, browsing the program guide, or accessing any other content or service.

Qligent works with MVPDs and other service providers to easily identify and correct network performance issues sooner. Qligent says Vision SQM serves those MVPD “silent sufferers,” or subscribers who never complain to customer service about service difficulties and just decide to drop the service.

[Read: Telestream to showcase IQ Monitoring Platform at IBC2018]

“By proactively reaching out to these suffering users—whether it’s one person or tens of millions—and telling them, ‘We see you had a problem and we’re going to make it right for you,’ MVPDs can show their commitment to delivering that optimal user experience that keeps customers happy, engaged and on-board,” said Ted Korte, Qligent COO.

Qligent will demonstrate its platform at Stand 8.E47.

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MELBOURNE, Fla. — Qligent, which specializes in cloud-based, enterprise-level content monitoring and analysis, will debut a new As-Run feature for its Qligent Vision platform at IBC2018. Integrated within Vision, the new “as-run” feature uses an imported as-run log to analyze whether secondary program events, such as SCTE-35 ad insertion triggers and ratings watermarks, aired as planned, and improves the compliance verification process of loudness, EPG tables and closed captioning. The application then produces a consolidated as-run report as an overlay to the program schedule in near real time. This new capability provides monitoring by exception to pinpoint where, when and why secondary events failed to execute properly along any of a broadcaster’s downstream distribution channels.

“Until now, there hasn’t been an easy way to determine if SCTE-35 ad insertion triggers occurred at the right moment in relation to the network’s planned commercial break,” said Ted Korte, COO, Qligent. “If the playout of an ad triggers too soon or too late, it could clip the head or tail of a spot, resulting in the need for a ‘make good’ and a potential loss of revenue. And if closed captioning isn’t present, or audio exceeds acceptable loudness levels, a station could incur fines for noncompliance.”

According to Korte, this new feature also saves broadcasters time and effort by enabling them to search for specific clips or segments of primary program events, such as TV shows, commercials and IDs, as well as secondary events. Once located, the search function can link them directly to where that item is in the program schedule, and they can also play or export the selected clip segment.

Qligent will demonstrate its new as-run capabilities and the entire Vision platform at Stand 8.E47.

The IBC2018 show is Sept. 13–18, in Amsterdam. For more information or to register, visit www.ibc.org.

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Rapid acceptance of IP video is driving many changes to traditional test and measurement equipment. There will always be the need for familiar quality control devices like waveform monitors and vectorscopes, but studios and content creators today also need the ability to examine the data they generate — and that data is increasingly distributed at blindingly fast speeds.

Couple that with the LCD/LED and microprocessor revolutions, and a lot of today’s test gear looks nothing like what was used 20 or 30 years ago. As dedicated video distribution facilities (think SDI) are replaced by IP networks, test gear manufacturers are sprinting to keep up with the new measurement realities — often coming up with innovations in the size, capabilities and performance of the latest test and measurement products.

“The test requirements for SDI systems are relatively well known and documented,” said Ian Valentine, business director for the video product line for Beaverton, Ore.-based Tektronix. “However, as the industry transitions to IP-based technologies, a whole series of new measurements is required to understand what is happening on the network during the transmission of packets containing video, audio and metadata. This includes packet loss, packet jitter, RTP sequence errors, and packet timestamp delay factors to mention a few.”

IP VIDEO TRANSPORT STANDARD

The recently developed SMPTE 2110 standard for IP transmission of professional video, audio and data is a big reason why there is a need for IP test gear in a television environment.

“There are a whole series of measurements around the timing of video, audio and data against PTP [precision time protocol] to keep the network synchronized,” Valentine said. “Timing is particularly important when dealing with the SMPTE 2110 standard where the video, audio and data essence is all sent in separate streams. Being able to test the integrity of the separate data paths is essential to ensuring that transmission reliability is maintained.”

With 12G-SDI and the latest high-speed Ethernet networks, even the most mundane basics have to be reconsidered. Take, for example, the BNC connector.

“As the industry transitions to IP-based technologies, a whole series of new measurements is required.” —Ian Valentine, Tektronix

“The BNC connector that the industry has used for more than 50 years is a spring-loaded bayonet — and using the real-time eye capabilities of the Phabrix Qx, you can see that this technology is right on the limit simply by touching and waggling the BNC connector and cable,” said Prinyar Boon, product manager for U.K.-based Phabrix. “Around 10mV signal amplitude variation is typically observed per connection. Return loss requires serious consideration and the extremely high rise and fall times specified can result in significant eye degradation with small changes in geometry. The good news is that correctly designed interfaces are very robust and reliable, and will operate at all SDI rates from SD through to 12G.”

‘DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL’

BNC connectors are just the tip of the iceberg.

“At a very high level, going from 3G-SDI to 12G-SDI is the same, only faster — but the devil is in the detail,” Boon said. “However, the bandwidth change from 3 GHz to 12 GHz, or more typically 1.5 GHz to 12 GHz, means that 12G-SDI is much harder to implement. Components, printed circuit board material, stack buildup and physical layout all have to be remodeled, reselected and re-optimized. Even the bond wiring within an IC [integrated circuit] now has a significant impact on performance, and the latest generation of ICs are looking to use flip-chip technology to overcome this.”

Once the signal leaves the broadcaster’s facility and heads toward the viewer, IP distribution networks outside the studio are different in many ways from those inside.

“The main idea is to take a holistic view to analyzing the end-to-end content delivery chain, looking at the whole picture to determine the ‘cause-and-effect’ of any issues rather than simply isolated parameters here or there,” said Ted Korte, chief operating officer for Melbourne, Fla.-based Qligent. “Each method of content distribution — from ATSC 3.0 broadcasts to OTT delivery — has its own vital metrics, but it’s important to evaluate everything ranging from low-level quality-of-service metrics [which are very signal-specific] to humanly-perceivable QoE metrics.”

One popular way of television distribution has long been the cable TV industry, which has adopted hybrid-fiber/coax technology to deliver both traditional cable TV channels and broadband service. The standard for interleaving cable TV and bidirectional data on the same network is called DOCSIS (data-over-cable service interface specification), which is now up to DOCSIS 3.1 Full-Duplex.

[Read: NAB Show Product Review — Signal Processing & Analysis]

With cable networks supporting bandwidth from 0 Hz to 1.2 GHz, it is a tough job to test and validate their performance. Rohde & Schwarz is one company that has a test set that can be used to test and maintain performance on DOCSIS cable networks, going up to 1.8 GHz for downstream signals to the home.

WHAT’S IN THE FUTURE?

There is a lot going on with technology in the television industry, so what looks to be one of the trends for test and measurement gear in the next couple of years?

“From [our] perspective, ATSC 3.0 will gain momentum over that timeframe,” said Ralph Bachofen, vice president for sales and marketing at Princeton, N.J.-based Triveni Digital. “This, of course, will include HDR and other advanced technologies and protocols as part of the migration. This makes it critical using a flexible test and measurement solution that can adapt based on market changes and advanced applications.”

On the production side, it’s clear that 4K is the target standard for production and its associated test devices.

“We see a demand for UHD/4K 3G- and 12G-SDI based systems,” Boon said. “With the 2018 Winter Olympics, Royal Wedding and 2018 World Cup all being shot and now distributed live in UHD HDR, there is clear proof that the technology is viable. Simultaneously shooting live productions in both conventional standard dynamic range [ITU-R BT.709] and HDR [ITU-R BT.2100] with wide color gamut poses its own set of challenges. This is particularly true with a mix of SDR/709 and HDR/2100 sources, be they cameras, replay systems or graphics devices.”

Every part of the production chain will need to be monitored to maintain the pristine quality to which viewers have become accustomed.

“Successful production of HDR/WCG content requires the right tools and new measurement techniques,” Valentine said. “Camera setup, for example, is more crucial than in the past given the risk of creating issues (e.g., noise in dark areas) that can’t be fixed in post-production. New techniques are also required to monitor the various camera log formats and conversion to PQ (perceptual quantizer) or HLG (hybrid-log gamma). HDR/WCG content production is the future.”

This is just a quick look at the corner of the industry dedicated to test and measurement, but it demonstrates how new standards bring new methods to examine and maintain the quality of those standards.

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LAS VEGAS—Qligent will demo its new Vision Match solution for programmatic and playout error detection at the 2018 NAB Show. Match mines, compares and analyzes large datasets in real time to identify programmatic errors and discrepancies anywhere in the multi-platform distribution chain out to the last mile, including terrestrial, cable, satellite, IPTV, mobile, OTT and social media platforms.

Match automatically decodes the transport- or IP-based stream back to baseband video and audio, and compares that to the program’s ancillary reference data captured prior to distribution. In this way, it spots programmatic errors that increasingly result from outsourced playout, repeated multiplexing, compression and encapsulation, ad insertions and other media processing.

When Match detects a programmatic mismatch—such as a scheduled program playing at the right time but on the wrong channel—it relays the pertinent information, and video recordings of the reference and monitored streams, to broadcasters so they can take action to restore and maintain an optimal viewer experience for their branded content.

Match is the latest software addition to the Qligent Vision cloud-based delivery analytics platform, which detects a broader range of regulatory/compliance, Quality of Service and Quality of Experience errors.

The 2018 NAB Show takes place in Las Vegas, April 9-12. Qligentwill be in boothN5914. For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.

Read up on all of TVT's NAB Show Sneak Peeks and other 2018 NAB Show news here.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Qligent is expanding its Vision monitoring platform with a new advanced delivery analytics module to cross-correlate performance data from origination to consumption. The analytics modules is designed to gather intelligence on program content, distribution chain service quality, consumer behavior and other elements.

As OTT and SVOD become the preference among consumers, Qligent COO Ted Korte notes that the “generalized audience” delivery model of traditional OTA, cable and satellite no longer applies. The new advanced delivery analytics software from Qligent seeks to address this with product and service monitoring, distribution chain monitoring, consumer monitoring and cross-correlation and trend analysis.

The software is centralized to the Vision dashboard, where users can capture the required data sets around delivery analytics or automate consolidated reports. The delivery analytics can also be used to gather field data through Qligent’s Virtual Probes and Micro-Probes, which continuously collect and report information to the Vision aggregation server.

Qligent will debut its new delivery analytics module at the upcoming IBC 2017 show.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Qligent wants IBC attendees to meet their new Match system, the latest addition to the company’s Vision cloud-based monitoring portfolio. Match, which is available as either a cloud-based system or on-premise software, provides real-time, automated comparison of transport stream, video and audio to spot and flag program-related errors.

According to Qligent, Match is capable of identifying media distribution errors like airing the wrong show, or putting a show on the wrong channel; capturing programmatic local ad splicing errors; assigning a foreign language to the wrong audio track; mistaking a static image for frozen video; insertion of incorrect program elements, such as bugs, crawls, time and temp into the stream; missing subtitles or audio.

“Match can decode the transport stream back to baseband video and audio in order to compare that version with the reference data it captured of the program while it was in its native state prior to distribution,” said Ted Korte, Qligent’s COO. “In comparing and analyzing the video and audio content, Match looks for programmatic errors and anomalies that may have occurred due to repeat encoding, multiplexing or other processes as the signals move downstream.”

Original Match reference data is not embedded in the transport stream, but ancillary data is available for reference at any point in the workflow.

Qligent will showcase the Match system at its booth, 8.E47, during IBC 2017, which takes place in Amsterdam from Sept. 14-18.

WESTFORD, MASS.—In an effort to assist broadcasters with the pending transition to ATSC 3.0, Artel Video Systems and Qligent have announced a new integration partnership.

InfinityLink

With all the potential factors involved in the repacking assignments, implementing ATSC 3.0 and transitioning to all-IP networks, pro-active real-time monitoring and analysis of the media service delivery chain is needed. To provide assistance on that front, Qligent has integrated Artel’s DigiLink and InfinityLink platforms into its Qligent Vision software-based monitoring and analysis system. This reportedly provides a broader view of end-to-end signal paths and deploys Artel’s technology across multiple sites and points throughout IP and fiber-based networks. Operators will now be able to validate interoperability and test configurations.

“An IP-based studio to transmitter link has become a critical component within ATSC 3.0 and Artel has an excellent reputation for reliability,” said Ted Korte, chief operating officer, Qligent. “Now we can keep a close watch on the signal as it passes through the entire chain with a single view but from multiple perspectives. Not only will system interoperability problems be easier to see and resolve but will also be easier to test a wide variety of configurations with immediate feedback on stimulus and response for quick proofs-of-concept and optimizations.”

Both companies will display their products at the upcoming NAB Show; Qligent will be in booth N6520, while Artel will be in booth N4511.

LAS VEGAS—The Vision-OTT cloud-based monitoring solution, which frees OTT service providers of system configuration and management responsibilities, will be Qligent’s main display at this year’s NAB Show. As a fully virtualized solution, Vision-OTT is quickly deployable to and from almost any location, and the workflow is designed to penetrate the enormous signal density of the OTT architecture.

Qligent points in the U.S.

While the company’s flagship Vision platform already supports OTT service providers, Vision-OTT is being introduced to better serve widely dispersed OTT services and their unique geographical and high-density requirements for monitoring, analyzing and trouble-shooting.

As a pay-as-you-go software-as-a-service (SaaS), Vision-OTT provides users with timely information on how their system is performing. Qligent also offers a complementary monitoring-as-a-service (MaaS) solution, which provides continuous offsite monitoring, event-based troubleshooting, big data analysis, and recommendations for improving and scaling services.

Qligent’s Vision platform utilizes virtual probes that analyze IP-based streams from anywhere in the field and present the data on a centralized Vision dashboard in the cloud. The Vision-OTT architecture includes a special aggregated server that collects field data from each probe or edge device. Merged with Amazon Web Services, the Vision-OTT platform provides extensive reach and penetration into high-density OTT signal distribution and delivery.

Qligent will demonstrate the technical features and benefits of its end-to-end OTT monitoring platform, including analysis of the data service and full transport stream, as well as the HLS and DASH-IP layer with raw packet capture for deep packet inspection. Qligent will also show 4K-video, audio quality of experience, the remote multiviewer for signal processing and monitoring, and integrated compliance recording.

The 2017 NAB Show takes place in Las Vegas, April 24-27. Qligent will be in boothN6520. For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Serving the Atlanta community as a non-commercial Christian station, WATC-TV recently deployed the Qligent Point system to automatically monitor and record multiple broadcast signals from a single, centralized workstation. The system also allows WATC-TV to enable direct cloud integration for multi-point aggregation and analytics.

WATC-TV uses Point to monitor the ASI stream that leaves the facility, as well as the off-air RF signal that is broadcast by the transmitter. It also produces low bitrate video recordings of multiple co-located signals to document what WATC broadcasts on its primary and secondary channels. These recordings can be searched and viewed as proxies or thumbnails on one of the station’s PCs, or accessed remotely through a web browser. If a technical problem arises, the system immediately issues alerts and texts to notify station personnel.

The data gathered for the software-defined Point system comes from Qligent microprobes that are plugged into USB ports on the PC. The probes include a TV receiver to monitor off-air RF signals and an ASI receiver/decoder card for monitoring ASI signals leaving the plant.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Cloud-based TV monitoring equipment provider Qligent is expanding its reach to the Caribbean and Latin America with the help of Rerate Limited. Rerate, a Miami-based supplier of equipment, services and systems, will serve as Qligent’s representative in both regions for its complete monitoring architecture.

The Qligent architecture includes its Vision cloud-based monitoring platform and the Oversight MaaS. The Vision collates and analyzes data from the network headend or the studio to the end user. The Oversight provides options for a 24/7 or event-based monitoring service, allowing for the outsourcing of monitoring and analysis responsibilities to a managed service layer.

Qligent is a Melbourne, Fla.-based company.

BETHLEHEM, PA.—I’m amazed at how much test and measurement continues to impact the trade shows. Nearly all design engineers have developed a test process or circuit to test and prove designs. One might say test and measurement products are the basis for broader industry design.

This remains true as the broadcast industry moves to cloud-based technology. In a modern broadcast facility, the issue of quality control/test and measurement generally concerns the distribution of content, either applied to the stream destined to a transmitter, satellite provider, cable TV distribution and/or cloud-based, enterprise-level media. In these environments content is evaluated in the compressed domain for both quality of experience (QoE) and quality of service (QoS) parameters.

The Point system can provide detailed information and insight into audio loudness, closed captioning, and EAS transmission.

At WLVT-DT (PBS39) we use signal analysis hardware designed specifically to evaluate compressed streams transported in the ASI, IP and RF domains. These are used to confirm the content, as delivered, to destination distribution networks Fiber, ATSC and IP. It’s imperative the quality distributed equals that of our origination. The Qligent Point system has been a comprehensive solution to our monitoring requirements.

CONSOLIDATED MONITORING

WLVT has consolidated important signal monitoring responsibilities to a single workstation, eliminating the labor-intensive and bulky approach of componentbased legacy monitoring. The Qligent Point system adds value through consolidating compliance monitoring and recording, providing detailed information and insight into audio loudness, closed captioning, EAS transmission and other pertinent video, audio and data events. Use of a system designed to monitor our distribution content simultaneously in various formats is key. Cloud-based signals, ASI signals, IP and RF streams can all be monitored (including recording for compliance) simultaneously. Alarms and notifications prompt the operator of issues present in any format. Also, the Point system displays all QoE and QoS parameters on a simple GUI in the master control room on a 24/7 basis.

QUICK FIX

WLVT’s file-based workflow is connected to PBS’ NRT system for delivering file-based network content for later playback. Recently, WLVT operators noticed a problem with receiving certain incoming PBS feeds. Using Point, a novice operator localized the issue to a mistuned satellite receiver five miles from the studio. We traced the problem back to the recordings we made in Point from that specific Earth terminal, and fixed the problem in 20 minutes. This would have taken days to evaluate and troubleshoot with any other type of test and measurement hardware.

Test and measurement today is primarily comprised of monitoring compressed signals to any and all distribution networks. Being proactive on signal quality is the key to success. Point is format-and platform-agnostic, with the flexibility to present every required parameter in a simple GUI. This enables a high level of efficiency in the control room of any modern broadcast installation.

Dave Guerrero is the COO at WLVT-TV. He can be reached atDavidG@WLVT.ORG. For more information on Qligent, please visitwww.qligent.comor call 321-308-0232.

NEW YORK—Qligent’s presence at NAB Show New York—located in the Javits Convention Center on Nov. 9-10—will be defined by a joint demo with Avateq and a showcasing of its latest monitoring and visualization solution for broadcasters, content distributors, ad agencies, regulators and network operators.

The company will be showing of its signature Vision cloud-based monitoring and analysis platform, which allows broadcasters to deploy virtual servers and probes at any location to collect data associated with signal quality and performance.

“At NAB Show New York, we intend to show how broadcasters can use Vision to support geographically dispersed monitoring needs, with deeper insights into trends and impact analysis associated with how signal performance affects viewership,” said Ted Korte, Qligent’s COO.

Vision has built-in recording features to allow users to review and analyze recent video and audio files as well as a customizable interface.

The Qligent and Avateq joint demonstration will show off the features of a product formed between Qligent’s Vision platform and Avateq’s AVQ1022. The AVQ1022 is Avateq’s latest RF layer monitoring receiver and signal analyzer for the ATSC 3.0 standard.

Qligent will be located in booth 735.

Qligent’s Vision software monitors 1+1’s channels as they are delivered by over-the-air, satellite, cable and IPTV.KYIV, UKRAINE—1+1 Media Group is one of the largest media holding companies in Ukraine, offering eight commercial TV channels, delivered nationwide via analog and digital terrestrial TV, 20 cable systems, IPTV and digital platforms. We deliver Ukrainian programming via satellite, such as “1+1 International,” to viewers around the world.

We found ourselves managing a complex network operation involving a mix of technologies, advertising mechanisms and distribution platforms. We also began experiencing issues—such as errors in local ad insertion, encoding and distribution artifacts, and poor signal quality—that had the potential to affect ratings, advertising revenue and brand equity.

In short, we required better visibility of all signal delivery issues occurring across multiple channels and networks, along with a better understanding of the nature of the problems.

THE SETUP

To solve this problem, we turned to Qligent—a specialist in cloud-based, enterprise-level media monitoring and analysis—and implemented its cloud-based Vision platform for Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) monitoring and verification. With Vision, we now have a centralized, automated and scalable solution that’s based on a cloud-hosted aggregation server.

We initially configured our system with 20 inexpensive, off-the-shelf servers that are located at our main production studio and playout center in Kyiv. These local servers, which run Qligent’s Vision software, are set up to monitor our channels as they’re delivered by over-the-air, satellite, cable and IPTV.

The Vision configuration includes networked probes that capture and send this data to the aggregation server, along with valuable quality metrics and status reports. We can also view compliance recordings of the video for up to 90 days and download the video to any connected device. Additional monitoring points can be added to this cloud-based architecture in a matter of hours for simple scalability.

PROFITABLE STRATEGY

Vision’s SaaS-based cloud architecture gives us immediate insight into the status of our end-to-end multiplatform network from a single dashboard, based on a simple user interface. We also enjoy powerful monitoring and compliance capability without incurring the technical complexity and headaches that come with having to run and maintain expensive proprietary and complex hardware at our facility. With ready access to dependable QoS and QoE monitoring data, Vision accelerates our ability to identify and resolve the root causes of technical problems that may arise across our channels and delivery platforms. This makes it easier for the 1+1 Media team and our distribution partners to comply with the QoS/QoE standards stipulated by our Service Level Agreement (SLA) contracts.

By basing our monitoring on Qligent’s Vision, we’ve managed to solve our most pressing problem: delivering the high-value Ukrainian programming and uninterrupted network performance our viewers, advertisers and distribution partners expect.

Dmytro Orkusha is deputy CTO, New Technology Development for 1+1 Media Group. He can be reached atd.orkusha@1plus1tv.

For more information, please visitwww.qligent.comor call 321-308-0232.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—WLVT-DT, the Pennsylvania PBS station that covers Philadelphia, Reading, Pa. and western N.J., has announced it is utilizing Qligent’s Point system to simplify its monitoring workflow. The station has made a transition to centralized, software-defined monitoring, allowing for accelerated program resolution and compliance monitoring.

With the Point system, WLVT has consolidated signal monitoring responsibilities to a single workstation, rather than component-based legacy monitoring. The Point system consolidates compliance monitoring and recording , providing insight into audio loudness, closed captioning, EAS transmission and other video, audio and data events.

In addition, the Point system has returned space to master control that had been taken up by component-based legacy monitoring, according to the press release. Point eliminated an MPEG analyzer, audio analyzer, video-centric monitors, and a port on WLTV’s multi-viewer network.

Qligent’s Point system is a stand-alone version of the company’s Vision platform, with a focus on on-site monitoring, baseline performance and troubleshooting of intermittent issues.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—With the spectrum repack on the horizon, Qligent says it aims to help broadcasters manage channel-sharing and bandwidth-challenged VHF and UHF scenarios with its Vision cloud monitoring platform. Featuring self-hosted and managed service development options, Vision gives broadcasters a platform to monitor, analyze and troubleshoot signal health and program quality throughout the air chain.

Vision has a pay-as-you-go OPEX model that can be deployed as either a self-hosted or monitoring-as-a-service (MaaS) configuration. The latter is known as Qligent’s Overnight MaaS platform and is designed to remove the monitoring onus from TV stations while ensuring compliance with service-level agreements. The company says that is offers a team of experts to support QoS andQoE-related monitoring tasks offsite.

Qligent will demo the Vision platform at the upcoming 2016 NAB Show, which runs from April 16-21 in Las Vegas. The company will be located at booth N1011.

LAS VEGAS—Qligent will highlight new features that simplify the scalability of its flagship Vision cloud-based monitoring platform at the 2016 NAB Show. These include new Virtual Probes that can analyze IP-based streams from anywhere in the field, and present that data on a centralized Vision dashboard in the cloud.

Qligent’s Virtual Probes eliminate travel expenses and on-site commissioning, and since they’re virtual, installation and configuration can be achieved remotely in a day or less, and easily relocated to a new server anywhere in the world. This is especially beneficial for monitoring one-time events, like live sports and special broadcasts, enabling users to rent a virtual server or cloud, and avoid the labor associated with setup and teardown.

Qligent’s flexible model for Vision offers an on-premises option and deployment via its Oversight monitoring-as-a-service platform, which offers a pay-as-you-go model that lets customers fill resource and skillset gaps. Other new Vision scalability benefits include multi-layer stream monitoring, IT integration with support for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol and IP-based stream capture with Wireshark-equivalent recording to analyze the lowest levels of the stream and capture data in a way that IT professionals can leverage.

The 2016 NAB Show takes place in Las Vegas, April 18-21. Qligentwill be in booth N1011. For more information, visit www.nabshow.com

MELBOURNE, FLA. – Qligent, a monitoring and visualization system manufacturer, has developed a multichannel visualization application for its cloud-based monitoring and analysis platform, the Vision. The multichannel application extends the depth of Qligent multisite monitoring and analysis capability, allowing a way to monitor the status of multiple channels on a single screen.

Multi-channel visualization app for Vision

The addition of multichannel visualization to Vision allows engineers to acknowledge problems through a three-step workflow. With Qligent’s customized video widgets, users can combine monitoring parameters to visualize performance issues of their choosing, determine impact on the viewer and identify the problem. Operators can then filter, sort and collect evidence across multiple channels, programs and associated delivery platforms.

The new multichannel application also monitors Quality of Experience and Quality of Service. The QoE dimension offers visualization of all audio and video streams for insight into current and historic performance. The QoS allow users to measure transport and physical layers to ensure standards are being met.

Qligent’s multichannel visualization application will be on display as part of the Vision exhibit during the 2015 IBC show in Amsterdam, which runs from Sept. 11-15.