Measuring and Optimizing Perceptual Quality in Online Video

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  • Measuring and Optimizing Perceptual Quality in Online Video (June)

Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at 10:00am (PT)

When it comes to online video, there are few issues more annoying to viewers than poor visual quality. A bad visual experience can significantly impact the user’s Quality of Experience (QoE). But what makes one video look better? How can you preserve the visual acuity of source content after transcoding? And, more importantly, how can you measure when that visual quality has degraded? In this panel, you’ll learn from leading experts on visual quality about the nuances of mitigating degradation during transcoding and how to implement measurement techniques to continually monitor the perceived quality of online video.

Webinar Recording

Topics Covered

  1. How much does the visual quality of streaming video really play into the overall user experience? Are there analogs to traditional broadcast? Is maintaining a high perceptual quality just an online video issue or is it endemic to video broadcast/re-broadcast as a whole?
  2. Okay, you have a “master” of the content (i.e., the quality originally intended by the artist) and then you have “copies” of that content (i.e., transcoded bitrates) for delivery. How can a content distributor ensure that the copies as closely represent the master as possible?
  3. Is there a measurement for visual quality? Anything to measure the discrepancy between master and copy? Is there any technology to measure what users actually see?
  4. How can content owners and distributors optimize the encoding process to ensure that perceptual quality remains as close to the intended master quality as possible?
  5. What kind of impact on perceptual quality can we expect from next-generation codecs like HEVC, AVI, and JVET?
  6. How does multi-platform viewing complicate the process of optimizing encoding and transcoding to maximize perceptual quality? In other words, does screen size matter?
  7. What is the relationship between a high perceptual quality and bitrate? What is the impact of maintaining high perceptual quality on bandwidth and delivery requirements?
  8. How do other technologies like HDR impact perceptual quality? Do they help to maintain it as close to the master as possible?
  9. Can Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence help content owners and distributors maintain a higher level of perceptual quality without human intervention (i.e., contextually-aware encoding)?
  10. What are some of the big commercial deployments of technologies designed to optimize perceptual quality?
  11. Are there are standardization efforts underway around encoding optimization?

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Panelists

Click on a panelist’s picture to visit their Streaming Video Alliance profile. Note: if their profile is not public, this will redirect to their LinkedIn profile.

Abdul Rehman (Chief Product Officer at IMAX)

Dr. Abdul Rehman Chief Product Officer at IMAX. Prior to that, he was Founder and CEO/CTO at SSIMWAVE, which was acquired by IMAX in 2023. Software solutions offered by the company are used to measure and optimize the Viewer Experience across tens of millions of viewers everyday. His team was also awarded a PrimeTime Engineering Emmy award for significantly impacting television technology. The Television Academy had this to say, “SSIMWAVE’s measurement standard represents a generational breakthrough in the video industry.” He holds a Ph.D. in Information and Communication Systems from the University of Waterloo and a Master’s in Communications Engineering from the Technical University of Munich.

When he isn’t working, Abdul can be found entertaining his energetic baby girl and spending time with his family. He enjoys the outdoors and challenging himself (like hiking the entire Grand Canyon!).  He’s an avid traveler, and has  explored 25 countries and counting. He’s a cricket enthusiast, and played the sport for many years.

Charlie Dunn (SVP, Tek Video Business Unit at Telestream)

No bio available.

Dror Gill (CTO and VP of Product at Beamr)

Dror is an industry executive with over 20 years of experience in communications, multimedia, and consumer devices. He has a unique combination of technology, marketing, and business strategy skills based on leading management and consulting positions in technology, venture capital, and market research firms.

Abdul Rehman (Chief Product Officer at IMAX)

Dr. Abdul Rehman Chief Product Officer at IMAX. Prior to that, he was Founder and CEO/CTO at SSIMWAVE, which was acquired by IMAX in 2023. Software solutions offered by the company are used to measure and optimize the Viewer Experience across tens of millions of viewers everyday. His team was also awarded a PrimeTime Engineering Emmy award for significantly impacting television technology. The Television Academy had this to say, “SSIMWAVE’s measurement standard represents a generational breakthrough in the video industry.” He holds a Ph.D. in Information and Communication Systems from the University of Waterloo and a Master’s in Communications Engineering from the Technical University of Munich.

When he isn’t working, Abdul can be found entertaining his energetic baby girl and spending time with his family. He enjoys the outdoors and challenging himself (like hiking the entire Grand Canyon!).  He’s an avid traveler, and has  explored 25 countries and counting. He’s a cricket enthusiast, and played the sport for many years.

Charlie Dunn (SVP, Tek Video Business Unit at Telestream)

No bio available.

Dror Gill (CTO and VP of Product at Beamr)

Dror is an industry executive with over 20 years of experience in communications, multimedia, and consumer devices. He has a unique combination of technology, marketing, and business strategy skills based on leading management and consulting positions in technology, venture capital, and market research firms.

Moderated by Jason Thibeault

Executive Director

Jason Thibeault is the Executive Director of the Streaming Video Technology Alliance, the international association of companies collaborating to solve critical challenges in delivering a better streaming video experience and increasing adoption. Prior to this role, Jason spent eight years at Limelight Networks, a leading CDN, where he held several roles including product manager and marketing strategist. Jason is an inventor on multiple technical patents in the streaming industry and a proven entrepreneur. He is also a contributing editor to Streaming Media Magazine.

About the Streaming Video Technology Alliance

The Streaming Video Technology Alliance is the international technical association addressing critical challenges in streaming video. By educating the industry on the technical nature of the issues, providing a neutral forum for collaboration across the video ecosystem, and publishing documentation that defines technical solutions, the SVTA is helping to improve the streaming video experience at scale. Over 100 companies including network operators, content rights holders, OTT platforms, service providers, and technology vendors – representing some of the biggest names in global streaming – participate in bi-weekly working group activities and quarterly face-to-face meetings.