Not helped by the fact that every little streaming box maker feels obliged to
use its own proprietary protocol.
Bert
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https://www.tvtechnology.com/opinions/ott-requires-a-fresh-approach-to-monitoring
OTT Requires a Fresh Approach to Monitoring
Viewers expect the same level of service, no matter how they access content
Eric Otto Oct 30, 2018
That broadcasting has become more complex with the advent of OTT services is an
understatement. Playout is no longer the final point of quality control. Going
further down the content delivery chain, CDN edge points, targeted
ad-insertion, multi-language support, and event-based channels require the
expert scrutiny of broadcast engineers. The need to manage a more complex
ecosystem with an ever-growing list of logging and compliance requirements has
become a priority for content owners and regulators alike.
Yet the sheer scale of the problem defeats most customers. This is compounded
by the fact that there is almost no point in trying to monitor those streams
back in the facility.
It's a challenge that requires a fresh approach to monitoring.
OUTMODED MODEL
While traditional detection methods such as time and date searches and
predefined metadata remain valid and are used widely, newer and more
sophisticated software-based techniques such as digital watermarking and
fingerprinting, combined with the increasing use of computer-based automation
have to be considered viable alternatives.
When it comes to monitoring live channels over multiple OTT streams and ABR
profiles, it is no longer practical for display panels to mirror all the
possible video outlets. There is a wide choice of devices and delivery outlets
that need to be supported and viewers expect the same level of service, no
matter how they are accessing content. The days of tracking one channel in one
format and resolution are long gone. Today, each mezzanine file could be
processed into HLS, MPEG-DASH and SmoothStreaming protocols, each carrying
various bitrates and resolutions. Humans will struggle to visually monitor so
many different profiles simultaneously.
This is exacerbated by an outmoded model in which monitoring is done on signals
leaving the central broadcast center or facility from equipment housed in local
servers and storage. This remains the norm for many operations but there is an
increasing shift towards off-premises, cloud-based working, with storage and
data management overseen by a third-party provider.
Some are using tablets and phones in MCR, thinking they are monitoring their
CDN originating streams, where they are actually so far down the chain that
it's more an exercise of monitoring the in-house internet connection. Sarcasm
aside, the number of hops between the origin and where they are monitoring
assumes a perfect connection and no disruption anywhere in the path. This does
of course not reflect the truth of the situation and one has to look at
another, better, approach.
MONITORING THE RIGHT CONTENT
Considering the CDN provider operates at packet level only and does not alter
the image payload, pictures will be the same once reaching edge locations and
on to the final viewing device. Though content may be correctly streaming from
the playout encoder, an edge location may experience its own issues, which
could be local or originating from within the CDN. Issues such as local
blackouts, bandwidth discrepancies and re-buffering may not be immediately
apparent to OTT streams downstream of the CDN.
Also, what happens if national and regional feeds deviate? Or when the wrong
program, or an incorrect version, is played out? What happens if the wrong
graphics or tickers are mistakenly overlaid on a live broadcast? These issues
are becoming increasingly critical for comparing traditional linear services
with OTT representations and are very difficult to pinpoint by only looking at
OTT playout.
The key is to monitor the right content in the right place at the right time.
As a new approach, a software-based solution is placed nearest to the CDN, in
the cloud or data center, where ingress is free, fast and reliable and only a
short hop from the origin. The software performs packet level analysis and
real-time monitoring, then sends the detected events back to the MCR or the
facility via a very low bandwidth path for operators to visualize the status of
all streams in great detail.
It means ABR streams are monitored and logged not only from playout, but also
from various edge locations. It means on-premises monitoring of outgoing
playout streams is linked to cloud-based instances monitoring and analyzing CDN
edge streams for unified visibility of all activity.
Engineers are provided with analysis data for all streams without having to
backhaul streams from the remote sites. Operators can reconcile and compare
originating transcoder outputs to CDN edge points using both traditional
broadcast and data-centric panels. Customers greatly reduce bandwidth
consumption and therefore costs, by not having to send payloads back to master
control.
By having cloud and on-premises facilities working in tandem, the monitoring
and detection of stored media assets and live broadcasts can both improve the
efficiency of modern broadcast workflows and reduce operating costs. In short,
this model rethinks OTT workflows, makes it more meaningful whilst enabling
reliable, large scale and real-time monitoring at low cost.
Keeping up with so many OTT streams can be daunting, which is why having a
unified system for monitoring compliance and identifying issues across all
traditional and OTT playouts is critical. To address the complexity, Mediaproxy
LogServer enables operators to log and monitor outgoing ABR streams as well as
Transport Stream and OTT stream metadata including event triggers, closed
captions, and audio information, all from one place.
It is the key to surviving the multiformat game of the future.
Erik Otto is the CEO of Mediaproxy.
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