Cerify Automated Quality Control of File-based Content Datasheet

Features & Benefits

• Provides Exception-based Technical Compliance to Enable QC Teams to Focus on Problem Content and Subjective Requirements
• Performs Consistent and Thorough Checks of Incoming Video Files against User-defined Templates
• Ensures compliance to regulatory requirements such as U.S. CALM Act, EBU R128, Canadian Closed Caption mandates, U.K. OfCom & Japan NAB Photo-Sensitive Epilepsy (PSE)
• Ensure Quality of All Audio Tracks Contained in the File Simultaneously
• Automatically corrects audio loudness and peak audio level issues to increase workflow efficiency and reduce CapEx/OpEx
• Detects the Photo-Sensitive Epileptic (PSE) seizure-inducing flash/pop pattern in video sequences
• 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 errors
• Integrates with Video Servers, Automation and MAM/DAM systems via SOAP API
• Web-based Multiuser Interface plus Web-services API
• Flexible Windows Software-only Solution capable of running on standalone hardware or on Virtual Machine environments
• Unlimited Scalability from Stand-alone (single server) to Enterprise (clustered for higher parallel processing and high availability requirements)

Tests Include

• Encoding Errors, Syntax Errors, Format, Bit Rate, Quantization, Frame Rate, GOP (Length, Bit Rate, and P-frame) Tests, Aspect Ratio, Color Format, Buffer Analysis, File Size, Correct PID, CableLabs VoD Compliance, Number of Video and Audio Streams, Number of Audio Channels/Tracks
• Video Playtime, Signal Levels, Gamut, Luminance, Chrominance, Black Frame Detection, Video Quality (Blockiness), Freeze Frame Detection, Field Order, Quantization, Cadence, Missing Frame, Tape Artifact Detection, Color Bar Detection, AFD Detection
• Audio Playtime, Peak and Minimum Levels, Audio Loss, Clipping, Silence, Mute, Test Tones, Dolby-E Guard Band Interval Testing, Multitrack Audio Testing, Peak Audio-level Reporting, Audio Loudness Testing per ATSC A/85 and EBU R128, PPM Audio Ballistics, Loudness Tests across Multiple Tracks, Automated Audio Loudness & Level Correction
• Perform All Audio Tests on All Audio Tracks in a File with 1 Pass
• Closed Caption, Teletext, and DVB Subtitles: Presence and Standards Compliance
• Timecode Continuity, Integrity, Synchronization, and Comparison
• Photosensitive Epilepsy (PSE) Testing per U.K.'s OfCom & Japan NAB specifications

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, LXF, Apple HLS, Microsoft Smooth Streaming
• 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, AVC-Intra (High10 Intra, High422 Intra, High444 Intra, and CAVLC Intra), JPEG-2000, DNxHD, Raw YUV and RGB
• Audio – MPEG-1/2, AAC, HE AAC (LOAS/LATM), PCM (AES, BWF, AIFF, WAV), DV, WMA, Dolby D / AC-3, Dolby E, SMPTE 302M

Applications

• Broadcasters and Video Service Providers – Ensuring quality, compliance, and playability of 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 – Ensuring quality, compliance, and playability of archive content before archiving, while in archival or prior to retrieval from the archive.
• Content Providers – Ensuring 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 playout server and 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
• Regulatory Compliance: US CALM Act, EBU R128, Canadian CC mandates, U.K. & Japanese PSE regulations

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. Moreover, manual inspection is prohibitively expensive, especially given today’s increasing content growth.

Cerify solves these problems, and can be easily integrated with Automation and Asset Management systems using the CeriTalk API; thus feeding them with data required to automatically decide on next workflow steps or drawing attention to the few assets that need review by experts.

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) is an ever-growing partnership program with over 50 companies working together on integrated solutions that work straight out of the box and deliver higher values by removing interoperability hurdles.

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