As video streaming continues to dominate the entertainment landscape, the need to deliver an exceptional Video Quality of Experience (QoE) and Quality of Service (QoS) cannot be understated. For streaming providers, understanding and optimizing QoE is critical to ensuring user satisfaction, reducing churn, and gaining a competitive edge.
What’s Video Quality of Service (QoS)?
Video Quality of Service (QoS) refers to the performance of the delivery infrastructure of the video service and its related metrics. QoS deals with any network or hardware issues along the delivery chain that can affect the streaming video service.
What is Video Quality of Experience (QoE)?
Video Quality of Experience (QoE) refers to the end-user’s overall satisfaction with the video streaming service, based on both objective and subjective factors. QoE is user-centric, focusing on how viewers perceive the quality of the video content they consume.
These indicators collectively shape the viewer’s experience, and have become the crucial KPIs for OTTs, Telcos and broadcasters to monitor and optimize.
NPAW’s Video Analytics – QoE Metrics & Dimensions
Key QoE Metrics and Dimensions
As a leading video analytics company, NPAW understands that optimizing QoE metrics can lead to significant improvements in viewer satisfaction and engagement.
1. Video Startup Time: This is the time it takes for a video to start playing after the user initiates playback.
2. Buffer Ratio: Buffering occurs when the video playback is interrupted due to insufficient data being available for continuous streaming. The buffer ratio measures the frequency and duration of buffering incidents relative to the total viewing time.
3. Video Resolution and Quality: The resolution at which a video is delivered plays a significant role in perceived quality. A sudden drop in resolution during playback, known as bitrate adaptation, can negatively affect QoE.
4. Playback Stability: This refers to the smoothness of the video stream once it has started. This includes avoiding stuttering, frame drops, and other disruptions that can detract from the viewing experience.
5. Engagement Metrics: User engagement metrics, such as playtime and average completion rate, provide insights into how viewers respond to content and the overall service.
Using the NPAW Video Intelligence Suite for Optimizing QoE and QoS
The NPAW Suite helps streaming providers monitor, analyze, and optimize QoE, using Video Analytics and App Analytics. Monitor QoS, using NPAW’s End-to-End Monitoring and NPAW Probes solutions.
From content ingestion straight through to the end-user’s device, the NPAW suite gives a streaming provider full visibility of their service’s performance. For example, using NPAW’s E-2-E Monitoring, an OTT is able to spot QoS gaps in their infrastructure along various monitoring points (CDNs, ISPs, User IPs, app versions etc.), and immediately begin resolution. This gives the NPAW Suite a unique and comprehensive solution, offering complete visibility into every aspect of your streaming performance.
NPAW Suite 360 value chain
Here are some features the NPAW Suite provides for QoE/QoS optimization:
1. Comprehensive QoE Monitoring: NPAW Video Analytics offers real-time monitoring of all critical QoE metrics, including video startup time, buffer ratio, and playback stability.
2. App Crash & Web Performance Monitoring: App Analytics offers AI-powered comprehensive analysis of in-app performance issues occurring outside the video player – App crashes, page slow down, login and sign-up errors etc.
3. Detailed User Behavior Analysis: NPAW Product Analytics provides in-depth insights into how users interact with the service, including viewing habits, content preferences, and engagement levels.
4. Service Quality Management (SQM): The NPAW Device Probe (NDP) combines software and hardware probes for video QoE and QoS monitoring, troubleshooting, and automated QA with a focus on the end user. Combined with End-to-End Monitoring, a streaming provider can evaluate and receive QoS alerts about the entire video supply chain.
5. Multi-CDN Switching: NPAW’s CDN Balancer allows streaming providers to deploy multiple Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) across a single video stream, preventing crashes and ensuring minimum video quality for the duration of the stream. CDN Active Switching lets you switch CDNs in mid-stream, based on pre-defined QoS and business rules.
The Business Impact of Optimizing QoE/QoS Metrics
Optimizing QoE and QoS ensures a higher quality service, greater viewer engagement and increased customer loyalty. This methodology lies at the heart of NPAW’s Product Analytics.
This is NPAW’s engagement and content management solution, designed to maximize the ROI of your video content catalog, personalize user journeys and increase customer retention (stickiness).
By offering comprehensive monitoring, in-depth user insights, and tools for optimizing QoE metrics, NPAW empowers streaming providers to deliver a superior viewing experience. To learn more about the NPAW Suite, please contact us to request a demo.