Qligent is enabling comprehensive, virtualized assessment and verification of file-based content throughout the Video on Demand (VOD) experience, all the way out to the last mile. This revolutionary new Vision-VOD solution will debut in North America at the 2019 NAB Show.

A media file may be fine at its origination point, but many things can happen to it once it is available to viewers online or through OTT services. The typical process of multi-profile transcoding, packaging, and distribution to CDNs and through edge servers out to end-users is prone to many issues. Even if all goes well to that point, viewers could have been precluded from accessing the file due to high network load.

There could also be issues with consistency and reliability of certain CDNs, ISPs, and gateways along the path the packets travel, or instances of rebuffering, stuttering, and other latency that impede a smooth viewing experience. This broad scope of possible issues makes location-specific and time-based monitoring critical in uncovering these situation-based problems.

Vision-VOD probes file access the same way – and in the same place – a user would access the content. The solution’s powerful analytics engines then process that data set into detailed reports that project a clearer picture of the likely user experience for that file at the time of testing.

“What makes Vision-VOD unique in the marketplace is that providers can not only ensure the quality of their VOD files, they also gain valuable feedback and insight into bigger questions like whether viewers are able to access and consume the content with its intended quality and integrity,” said Ted Korte, CTO of Qligent.

At the front end of the content delivery chain, files can be analyzed and verified for such attributes as media container conformance; detailed Quality of Experience (QoE) of video, audio, and content metadata; and captions, loudness, and other regulatory compliance. At the back end, Vision-VOD analyzes VOD parameters such as manifest verification, adaptive bitrate (ABR) compliance, download rates, lost segments, and latency that can negatively impact the viewer experience.

“The key to Vision-VOD is our unique deployment of virtual probes that extend monitoring and analysis out to the last mile,” said Korte.

Vision-VOD is available as a standalone, on-premise solution or distributed, SaaS-based offering with a choice of pay-as-you-go pricing models for deployment in the cloud, on virtual machines, or hosted by a third party. Vision-VOD also has a powerful API for third-party party integration.