Quality Assessment of 360 Video View Sessions

Facebook has developed a new QA workflow for 360 video streaming that addresses the warping and field-of-view problems and introduces two new standards: SSIM360 and 360QVM.
More information here

DPP Launches Quality Control Guidelines

The DPP has released a set of standardised UK Quality Control Requirements to help producers carry out the necessary QC checks to ensure they deliver broadcast quality files, which meet the necessary standards.

The guidelines, which are published six months out from the 1st October, when UK broadcasters will make the move to full digital delivery, have been produced in collaboration with the EBU.

The EBU’s Strategic Programme for Quality Control is currently defining all possible QC criteria as well as guidance on their implementation.  The DPP has taken the EBU definitions and created a minimum set of tests and tolerance levels required for UK broadcasters.

Included in the new guidelines are AS-11 file compliance checks, and Automated Quality Control tests for Video and Audio. Examples are loudness levels, and freeze frames.

The guidelines also includes a list of ‘Eyeball’ tests that a producer needs to undertake before delivering the programme. Included on the checklist are such things as Audio Sync, Buzzing, Unclear Sound, Clock, and Visual Focus etc.

Commenting on the new work, Kevin Burrows, DPP Technical Standards Lead and CTO Broadcast & Distribution, Channel 4, said, “The DPP’s QC guidelines offer a standardised set of checks expected prior to the digital delivery of broadcast programmes to the UK Broadcasters. They are designed to streamline the QC process and help minimise the issues that can arise in programme delivery.”

Andy Quested, Principal Technologist BBC, who has been instrumental in devising the guidelines as well as leading the EBU’s work, added, “Post houses and broadcasters are seeing a significant increase in the volume of file-based programmes they need to handle. It is really important that the QC tests give accurate and consistent results. The new guidelines don’t just explain the process and the test to be carried out, they also make it clear who is responsible for signing off the QC process.”

The guidelines will be implemented by broadcasters as they move towards digital file delivery. Production companies will be required to deliver their compliant files along with a valid QC report, as has previously been the case with the PSE report.

The QC report can be delivered using a separate PDF or XML file output from the QC tool. DPP broadcasters will accept PDF QC reports initially, but will encourage XML reports over time once they are standardised by the EBU group and the DPP.

Source: Digital Production Partnership

EBU Unveils QC Criteria

The EBU has published the first release of its QC Criteria (EBU Tech 3363) developed by its Strategic Programme on Quality Control. EBU Tech 3363 is a large collection of QC checks that can be applied to file-based audiovisual content.

Examples include the detection of visual test patterns, loudness level compliance checks, colour gamut verification, looking for image sequences that may trigger epileptic seizures, etc. This collection of QC tests can be seen as a 'shopping list' which media professionals can use to, for example, create their own delivery specifications or establish test protocols for archive transfer projects.

Each QC Criterion in the list features a definition, references, tolerances, and an example, to help users reproduce the same tests with potentially different equipment (e.g. think of a broadcaster who receives material from a wide range of post production houses). Obviously such information can get quite technically detailed.

That is why the EBU group decided to present the overview of QC Criteria in a tabular format, similar to the well-known Periodic Table of chemical elements. Several characteristics support this metaphor, including the concept of specifying the tests as 'atomically' as possible, the fact that some tests posess (much) more complex properties than others and the idea of categorizing them into groups with similar characteristics.

For the EBU QC Criteria these are: audio, video, format/bitstream and metadata/other.

Source: EBU

The Automated File-Based QC System at NRK

Between 2007 and 2009, NRK carried out a project called the “Programme Bank”, the main goal being to transform its TV production infrastructure to a fully file-based platform with an incorporated MAM system.

Today, the Norwegian broadcaster is running an Interra Systems Baton Enterprise Edition (Windows) system with 28 core licences for its automated file-based QC system.

This article describes the background to the project, the technical details of the Baton system that has been installed, along with NRK’s experiences with the system during the setup and initial phases.

Getting Machines to Watch 3D for You

The advantages of automatic monitoring of multiple television channels are well known. There are just not enough eyeballs for human operators to see what is going on. With the advent of stereoscopic 3D in mainstream television production and distribution, the benefits of automatic monitoring are even greater, as 3D viewing is even less conducive to manual monitoring.

This paper, presented at IBC 2011, gives a comprehensive introduction to a wide range of automatic monitoring possibilities for 3D video. There are significant algorithmic challenges involved in some of these tasks, often involving careful high-level analysis of picture content. Further challenges arise from the need for monitoring to be robust to typical processing undergone by video signals in a broadcast chain.

By Mike Knee, Consultant Engineer, R&D Algorithms Team, Snell