SSIMWAVE to Compare Video Quality of Broadcast and OTT Streams for Sunday's Big Game

Rhea-AI Summary

SSIMWAVE, part of IMAX, will utilize its Emmy Award-winning technology to evaluate the video quality of various broadcast and OTT streams during the upcoming pro football championship on February 12, 2023. The technology will assess viewing experiences, measuring impairments, latency, and overall quality using its SSIMPLUS metric. A detailed report card will be generated for each service, highlighting viewer experiences, latency, and video quality during halftime and ads. Results will be announced on February 13, providing insights into viewer experiences and identifying key video issues.

Positive

• Emmy Award-winning technology enhances brand credibility.
• SSIMPLUS metric shows >90% correlation with human viewer ratings, ensuring high-quality assessments.
• More than 200 events benchmarked in nine months, indicating extensive experience in live sports evaluation.
• Partnerships with major streaming companies like Disney and Paramount Global demonstrate industry trust.

Negative

• Previous video quality during streamed games averaged in the 'good' range of 60-79, indicating room for improvement.
• Quality dips to low 30s at specific moments suggest reliability issues for streaming providers.

Emmy Award-winning technology to measure fan viewing experiences in-game, at half-time, and during ads

WATERLOO, ON, Feb. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - SSIMWAVE^®, an IMAX company, will show which video providers bring their 'A Game" to this Sunday's pro football championship game when its Emmy Award-winning technology compares the video quality of more than a half-dozen broadcast and OTT streams of this Sunday's game.

SSIMWAVE will use its patented technology to measure every second and every frame of the United States (FOX) and Canadian (CTV and TSN)  broadcasts of The Big Game, as well as five streaming services. Using technology that replicates the human visual system, SSIMWAVE will check for video impairments, latency, and other issues that can impact the fan experience in the home and on the go.

SSIMWAVE's SSIMPLUS^® is the most accurate perceptual video quality metric, with >90% correlation with how human viewers would rate the quality of what's on the screen. This tech enables streaming providers to deliver optimal viewing experiences at the lowest possible cost. On Sunday SSIMWAVE will generate a 0-100 "report card" for each service that highlights:

• Fan viewing experience scores for the entire broadcast of the game;
• Maximum and minimum per-second viewer experience scores that show the variability of the video quality throughout the game;
• Measurement of latency, or delay from live to the action on the screen; and
• Video quality of the halftime show and ads.

SSIMWAVE also will highlight and illustrate via screen captures key video issues that frustrate fans, including technical impairments such as interlacing, macroblocking, banding, etc. SSIMWAVE will measure content at multiple geographic locations on Feb. 12, providing insights into best-case scenarios and real-world subscriber conditions. Results will be announced on Monday, Feb. 13 and can be requested here.

"While the same game production is used by most providers, what viewers see can vary widely because of the resources that each provider dedicates to video delivery," said Dr. Abdul Rehman, CEO of SSIMWAVE. "Our experience in benchmarking streamed pro football games has been that video quality has averaged in the 'good' range of 60-79, although it can dip into the low 30s at specific moments during the games. Our hope is that every provider will 'bring it' on Sunday."

In the nine months since it launched live sports video benchmarking, SSIMWAVE has measured more than 200 events on more than 15 streaming services across eight sports: Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, Formula 1 racing, the USTA in tennis, the PGA Tour and soccer, including the FIFA World Cup 2022 and English Premier League. In all, SSIMWAVE monitors and optimizes more than 2.8 billion viewing hours of live video per year across more than 6,000 live channels, helping to elevate video experiences for more than 150 million viewers.

About SSIMWAVE, an IMAX Company

SSIMWAVE is in the business of maximizing in-home and on-the-go viewing experiences. It has improved the viewer experience of more than 150 million subscribers over billions of viewing hours to date. The world's top streaming media companies work with SSIMWAVE, including Disney, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros. SSIMWAVE technology is protected with 50 patents and patents pending globally. SSIMWAVE has won a Technology & Engineering Emmy^® Award (2020); a Primetime Emmy^® Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering (2015); NAB Product of the Year Awards (2021 and 2022); and was named Best New Streaming Technology winner in the NAB Show (2021). SSIMWAVE is a wholly owned subsidiary of IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX).

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SOURCE SSIMWAVE

FAQ

What technology will SSIMWAVE use during the championship game on February 12, 2023?

SSIMWAVE will use its Emmy Award-winning technology to measure video quality across various broadcast and OTT streams.

When will the results of the video quality measurements be announced?

The results will be announced on February 13, 2023.

How many events has SSIMWAVE measured since launching its live sports video benchmarking?

SSIMWAVE has measured more than 200 events since launching its live sports video benchmarking.

What companies does SSIMWAVE partner with?

SSIMWAVE partners with major streaming companies including Disney, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros.

What is the SSIMPLUS metric?

SSIMPLUS is a perceptual video quality metric by SSIMWAVE that shows >90% correlation with human viewer ratings.