In Broadcast - NAB Show NY Expo 2016 - 33


33

www.inbroadcast.com | Preview - New York | 9-10 November 2016

Increasing the Efficiency
and Effectiveness of Today's
Video Quality Testing
The MultiPlayer application provides one coherent system for the rapid
side-by-side comparison of multiple video formats simultaneously,
writes Adam Schadle, Vice President of Video Clarity...

Q

uality testing is an important and
ongoing part of the workflow
for both operators and video-delivery
equipment manufacturers. Both use
quality testing to help them perfect
new products, refine the video-delivery
process, implement new encoding
technologies, or make purchasing
decisions. Measuring video quality is
particularly critical as 4K takes hold
and new production techniques come
into play.
Objective quality scores are an
indispensable part of the testing
process for many operations, but
those operations also rely heavily
on subjective comparison to make
decisions. Taking the objective quality
scores into account, video engineers
with trained eyes compare the source
to the processed video to study any
number of variables, such as formats,
resolutions, bit rates, processing
techniques, different permutations
of content, and network paths.
Many people rely on systems that do

Video Clarity MultiPlayer user interface

objective measurement and
then subjective comparison
on the same screen, or on
two different screens.
Multiple Resolutions
One of the limitations
of
such
systems
has
been that the source and
downstream video have to
be the same resolution in
order to run the test. If you
want to compare multiple
resolutions,
you
either
have to test one resolution
after another, or you have
to have multiple systems.
Either way, you can't do a
subjective comparison on
the same screen. Instead, you must
look at the source video on one screen
and the downstream video on another
- making it much more difficult to see
the differences and make decisions.
With the number of origination
formats increasing all the time, being
able to play and compare two
or more videos in multiple
formats at the same time is
imperative. People are also
looking for the ability to
simultaneously compare 4K
to HD in multiple formats.
What's needed is a system
that can accurately repeat
a test multiple times in
multiple resolutions, and then

only product of its kind that can
automatically and interactively select
sequences for side-by-side playback
in multiple video formats on up to
eight screens at once. MultiPlayer lets
you multiply your ClearView output
according to the number of outputs
you have on your particular system.
MultiPlayer can output up to four
different HD or SD video playback
sources from a ClearView Analyzer 4K
or ClearView Player 4K system with
a single quad HD-SDI interface. In
ClearView 4K systems with two quad
HD-SDI interfaces, MultiPlayer can play
up to eight HD sequences or
one 4K sequence plus four HD
or SD sequences, all with audio
and in several combinations.
Users can control each
sequence playback individually
or lock all sequences to one
command. They can also
apply a fixed side-by-side
view to each output, which
enables additional comparison
between the source and
encoded/decoded
versions
of video on all screens and
outputs.
Multiple Tests

Program originators and
The ClearView 4K Dual Player and MultiPlayer with
side-by-side images of the different resolutions product developers can use
put out synchronized same-screen
comparisons on several monitors at
the same time - one monitor for each
resolution.
Quality Analyzer
Video Clarity has created such a
system. Our company has long been
a leader in test systems for objective
perceptual
quality
measurement
that also allow for same-screen or
two-screen subjective viewing. After
conversations with several customers,
we recently beefed up the subjectiveviewing component of our ClearView
video quality analyzers and players.
The result: the optional ClearView
MultiPlayer
application,
the

MultiPlayer to study the effect of
different video resolutions and/or bit
rates on video quality. They can also
perform a visual study of 4K versus
native HD playback or HD formats that
are played on 4K monitors.
The MultiPlayer application is
designed as an add-on to ClearView
Analyzer 4K models and ClearView
Player 4K systems.
With MultiPlayer, you can run
multiple tests from a single interface
and see perfectly synchronized video
for comparison on a single screen. The
big benefit: It saves setup time, it's
easier to use & it eliminates the need
for multiple pieces of equipment.
www.videoclarity.com
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