VeriFrame™ is a distributed video verification technology providing baseband content monitoring and auditing that delivers real-time Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics. VeriFrame enables video providers, manufacturers, and broadcasters to automatically verify video and audio content – frame by frame, detect black screen, luminance levels and freeze frame, and monitor audio levels. Additionally, VeriFrame provides an industry-unique mosaic view of the video thumbnails for immediate visual confidence monitoring and program playout verification. Leveraging a database architecture, VeriFrame also enables efficient retrieval and filter navigation of all monitored and archived video and audio information with visual thumbnail references for post-analysis trending and performance tracking. Incorporated into IneoQuest’s new iCMS™ (video content management software) and Cricket FrameGrabber™ hardware probes, VeriFrame’s distributed video verification technology empowers telecom, cable and satellite operators, content providers, broadcasters, and equipment manufacturers to efficiently capture, monitor, audit, and verify baseband content – validating the subscriber experience.

 

Click HERE to link to the VeriFrame webinar recorded Wednesday, November 10th, 2008.

 

VeriFrame Enabled Solutions:

 

Headend Confidence Monitoring with VeriFrame - click for datasheet

 

 

 

 

KEY FEATURES:

• Provides a Mosaic thumbnail view for immediate visual verification
• Includes long term data storage and video thumbnail archiving for reporting and trending Automatically detects Video and Audio signal loss, Black Screen, Freeze Frame, and alerts the operator via SNMP or email
• Automatically monitors the entire channel lineup
• Provides for the identification, severity evaluation, and cause of a failure, often being the received video source
• Generates alerts when faults are detected and confirmed
• Logs and allows review of faults via the iCMS or web interface

Overview

IneoQuest’s new VeriFrame Technology enabled products, Cricket FrameGrabber™ and iCMS™, provide the industry’s most cost-effective and comprehensive content validation solution which automatically evaluates the content quality at the NOC/headend. With this advanced solution, operators are able to verify the incoming content feeds they are receiving and the outgoing content feeds the headend is producing. IneoQuest’s headend confidence monitoring solution can be scheduled to monitor hundreds of channels automatically testing content integrity 24/7 and generating alerts (via email and SNMP) for channels that do not meet specified limits.

 

Cable and IPTV operators simply connect a feed’s composite video and audio output into the Cricket FrameGrabber hardware probe which has the capability to:

• Tune to any channel
• Scan all the channels and monitor the video and audio for any loss, and
• Auto detect Black Screen, Freeze Frame, and other impairments, and immediately alert the operator through email or SNMP via the iCMS content monitoring system

 

 

Distributed Content Validation with VeriFrame - click for datasheet

 

 

 

 

APPLICATIONS:

• Subscriber Experience Monitoring
• Service Delivery Auditing
• Content Quality Control

KEY FEATURES:

• Allows the operator to see exactly what the customer is seeing
• Provides a Mosaic thumbnail view for immediate visual verification
• Includes long term data storage and video thumbnail archiving for reporting and trending Automatically detects Video and Audio signal loss, Black Screen, Freeze Frame, and alerts the operator via SNMP or email
• Provides an intuitive web interface to tune all STBs to any channel, or schedule the channel tuning to any set of channels and STBs, eliminating cumbersome manual operations

Overview

Cable and IPTV operators have always wanted to monitor a subscriber’s TV to see exactly what they are seeing. In many cases, the operator actually sends a field technician to do just that. Some operators are re-engineering consumer products to capture the video from Set-Top Boxes (STB) and re-encode a streaming video over the Internet to be watched remotely. Almost all of these existing solutions add to burgeoning operational costs, and are either resource intensive or provide only a random sampling. IneoQuest’s Veriframe-Technology enabled products, Cricket FrameGrabber™ and iCMS™, provide the industry’s most cost-effective and comprehensive remote content validation solution. With this advanced solution, Cable and IPTV operators allocate STBs, one per serving group, or per Ad zone, and other instances in their hub/edge that receive the same video signal as the subscriber. This replicates the STB in the subscriber’s location, and now operators can watch exactly what the customer is watching. Each STB’s composite video output connects to a Cricket FrameGrabber which can:

 

1. Tune to any channel
2. Provides a Mosaic thumbnail view for immediate visual verification, and:
3. Auto-detects black screen, freeze frame, and other impairments and immediately alerts the operator through email or SNMP via the iCMS product

 

 

Content Test & Measurement with VeriFrame - click for datasheet

 

 

 

 

KEY FEATURES:

• Enables service providers to validate the basic functionality and operational readiness of their video delivery network
• Enables Equipment Manufacturers to perform automated testing of set-top boxes
• Enables fine tuning of both QoS/QoE settings and implementations

Overview

With the ever-expanding popularity of interactive services and applications now available through the set-top box (STB), requirements and capabilities of testing equipment have skyrocketed over the past few years. Equipment vendors and service providers are looking for more accurate and cost-effective alternatives to manual testing. Service providers offering Cable TV, Telco TV, and SatelliteTV need quick, accurate testing as more complicated interactive applications are rolled out to subscribers on increasingly aggressive schedules.

 

IneoQuest’s VeriFrame Technology enabled solution combines the new Cricket FrameGrabber™, iCMS™, and IneoQuest’s field-proven traffic generating Singulus™ platforms to automatically test interactive applications on STBs operating in both the cable and telecommunications environments. These products connect to the STBs and run interactive applications that test and rate their performance. The system can test a wide range of interactive applications, from simply changing the channel to launching an electronic program guide (EPG), ordering a Pay-Per-View movie, or playing an interactive game through a remote control device. Since human testing of these actions can often leave more room for error than an automated solution, service providers and equipment vendors can quickly experience the benefits and scalability of test automation within mere weeks. This advanced solution allows the testing of applications on an array of STBs faster and more accurately than ever before and thereby allows service providers to more quickly roll out new services and features to their customers.

 

 

 

Ad Insertion Verification with VeriFrame - click for datasheet

 

 

 

 

KEY FEATURES:

• Provides centralized visual verification of Ad playout
• Provides an archived record of the Ad campaign, played at the appropriate time, in the appropriate Ad Zones
• Monitors and records Ad tones (SCTE35 and SCTE30)
• Verifies and validates Ad splice performance
• Monitors health status of Ad content and Ad delivery

Overview

Local Ad Insertion is a huge revenue generation application for service providers. According to recent analysis, the US based local Ad revenue is estimated to be worth over one billion dollars of annual revenue. Ad Insertion technology is complicated and has multiple components involving the Ad server, the Ad cue tones, the Ad splicing device, and the OSS systems that manage the Ad campaigns. To date, verification technology is limited to the outputs of the network management systems or element management systems of the Ad server, Ad splicing device, or the logs of these network devices. Operators are forced to simply trust the various logs of the network equipment to determine if a local Ad was inserted properly, and that it played out correctly at the right time in the right Ad zone.

 

IneoQuest’s new Veriframe Technology enabled products, Cricket FrameGrabber™ and iCMS™, along with IneoQuest’s field proven Singulus™ and Geminus™ families of IP probes, provide the industry’s most cost-effective and comprehensive Ad verification solution. With this solution, Cable and IPTV operators set aside some Set-Top Boxes (STBs) per Ad zone in their hub/edge that receive the same video signal as their  subscribers. This replicates the subscriber’s STB and allows operators to visually inspect every Ad as it plays out in the subscriber’s location.

 

Each STB’s composite video output is connected to a Cricket FrameGrabber. The Cricket FrameGrabber scans through all the channels, captures video thumbnails, and uploads them to the iCMS. The Singulus and Geminus IP probes passively monitor, capture Ad cue tones, and report to the iCMS. With this setup, the iCMS can monitor all local Ads, provide a visual verification of all Ads, or provide reports on how these Ads played and all the associated information about what Ad played at what time and in which Ad zone.