Cerify® – Automated Quality Control of File-based Video

Features & Benefits

• Provides Exception-based Technical Compliance to Enable the QC Teams to Focus only on the Problem Content and the Subjective Requirements
• Performs Consistent and Thorough Checks of Incoming Video Files against User-defined Templates
• Ensure Quality of All Audio Tracks Contained in the File Simultaneously with 1 Pass
• Integrates with Video Servers
• Logs Errors, Informs Automation Systems, plus Programmable Actions such as E-mail User Alert, Quarantine and Move Files
• XML-based Templates to Reduce Ingest Rejection due to Noncompliance
• Web-based Multiuser Interface
• Flexible Windows Software-only Solution
• All the Test Features of the Cerify 200 Market-leading Auto-QC Product
• CeriTalk API for Integration with Automation and Asset Management Systems
• Available in 2 Configurations: Stand-alone or Enterprise (clustered for higher parallel processing requirements)

Tests Include

• Encoding Errors, Syntax Errors, Format, Bit Rate, Quantization, Frame Rate, GOP Length, Aspect Ratio, Color Format, Buffer Analysis, File Size, Correct PID, CableLabs VoD Compliance, Number of Video and Audio Streams, Number of Audio Channels
• Video Playtime, Signal Levels, Gamut, Luminance, Chrominance, Black Frame Detection, Video Quality (Blockiness), Freeze Frame Detection, Field Order
• Audio Playtime, Peak and Minimum Levels, Audio Loss, Clipping, Silence, Mute, Test Tones, Multitrack Audio Testing, Audio Loudness Testing (except Dolby E), Peak Audio-level Reporting (except Dolby E), Audio Loudness Testing per ITU 1770-2 / EBU R128, PPM Audio Ballistics, Loudness Tests across Multiple Tracks
• Perform All Audio Tests on All Audio Tracks Contained within a File with 1 Pass
• Closed Caption, Teletext, and DVB Subtitles: Presence and Standards Compliance
• Timecode Continuity, Integrity, and Synchronization

Formats

• Format – All Frame Sizes, Bit Rates, and Resolutions for SD/HD and Mixed Workflows
• Container – MPEG TS/PS, MXF, GXF, MP4, QuickTime, ASF (Windows Media), 3GPP, AVI
• Video – MPEG-2 (IMX, XDCAM), H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, H.263, VC-1/WMV, DV/DVCPro25/50/100/HD, Apple ProRes 422/422(HQ)/422(Proxy)/422(LT)/444*¹, AVC-Intra (High10 Intra, High422 Intra, High444 Intra, and CAVLC Intra), JPEG-2000*¹, DNxHD*¹, Raw YUV and RGB
• Audio – MPEG-1/2, AAC, HE AAC, PCM (AES, BWF, AIFF, WAV), DV, WMA, Dolby D / AC-3, Dolby E

Applications

• Broadcasters – For checking audio and video after encoding, at ingest, after editing, after transcoding, and before playout for terrestrial, satellite, cable, internet, and video-on-demand content
• Archiving – For checking integrity before and after archiving
• Content Providers – For checking post production and aggregated content has been correctly encoded and conforms to the required quality and format

With Cerify You Can Ensure that Your Content is Ready for Delivery

Quality control of file-based video that may be ingested from different sources and encoded at different bit rates, formats, and compression standards for SD/HD, VOD, and IPTV delivery presents considerable operational challenges. File-based video must be quality checked for:

• Correct Encoding Syntax: At the digital level the audio and video must be correctly encoded without errors in accordance with the compression standard, so that it plays out correctly at the customer’s STB/playout device
• Correct Encoding Parameters: The audio and video bit rates, GOP structure, video color-space, color depth, frame size, frame rate, aspect ratio, and quantization levels must be correct
• Correct Baseband and Quality Levels: The analog parameters of signal levels, luma, chroma, gamut, quality levels of black frames, video quality (blockiness), loss of audio, audio clipping, and video and audio playtime, and verification of audio loudness and peak level
• Correct Ancillary Data: Closed Captions, Teletext, DVB Subtitles, and Timecode

Manual inspection can playout, watch, and listen but is subjective and cannot look inside the encoding to check that the correct syntax and parameters have been used.

Cerify solves these problems, and can be easily integrated with Automation and Asset Management systems using the CeriTalk API.

The XML-based test templates can be exchanged between Cerify systems, and applied as the definition of the required test standards between suppliers and broadcasters to establish Service-level Agreements and reduce costly churn (rework of content).

The Cerify Developer Community (CDC) of companies working together on integrated solutions is expanding rapidly and is featured on the Tektronix website.

*¹ There are no syntax checks for these codecs.

User Interface

Easy-to-use web browser interface shows job status results at top level as red light / green light

Click to get job details

Click to get details of stream errors

Report by job, type, date range, file name, etc.

See and Solve test results