Dynamic Ad Insertion Quality by 24/7 monitoring
The Media consumption habits and the Video Delivery ecosystem are in a constant move. Video is everywhere (smartphone, tablets, laptop PC, connected TV) and legislation is evolving in favour of the targeted ad for linear TV services.
The Dynamic Ad Insertion services are in the starting blocks for Content Providers and Service Operators, opening a new source of revenue. However, the end user quality of experience is essential to ensure these new revenues. There is nothing worse than a bad ad insertion !
What can go wrong ?
The ad is not inserted >> loss of revenue
SCTE-35 triggers present in the Transport Streams announce the time slots where ads can be inserted and point the precise frames on which the splicing should be made. The ad inserters are likely to refuse all insertion if these triggers are not present, if they are present but non-readable or arriving too late – too close to the splice moment, not leaving enough time to prepare the insertion.
Ad inserted on the wrong frame >> degraded user experience
Should the SCTE-35 triggers point the wrong frames (in the middle of the ad for example), the ad insertion equipment will follow and insert the targeted ad on the referenced frames resulting into a degraded user experience.
Video defects on the resulting ad inserted stream >> degraded user experience & unsatisfied advertiser
Should the SCTE-35 triggers point the wrong frames from an encoding point of view (non-IDR frames), the end user players will most likely decode, with eventual video artefact showing up on screen.
Monitoring is key to ensure end user QoE
The Ad Insertion implies an interaction between several players: Advertisers, Content Owners, Service Operators, and a key processing phase: Ad Insertion based on an Ad Server decisioning before delivery to the End User. A complex delivery chain, with different potential failure points and responsibilities !
Monitoring these different points enables quick identification of faults and provides the means to analyse, troubleshoot and identify degradations before they reach the end user.
StreamProbe provides a complete analysis of SCTE-35 triggers throughout the delivery chain with real time alarming, clear dashboard and timeline views for drill down analysis, down to video & frame per frame recording capabilities around the splice points for further investigation and proof.