As a content provider or broadcaster, delivering high-quality video content is crucial for your success, and video monitoring systems play a crucial role in achieving that. These systems help simplify distribution, reduce financial costs, and ensure viewers get the best possible experience.
With the ever-increasing demand for event-based content and Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST) channels, choosing a comprehensive and efficient monitoring system that meets your specific needs is essential. In this blog post, we’ll share the first of five requirements to help you identify the top features to look for in a comprehensive media monitoring system.
Tip #1: Complete End-to-End Coverage and Visibility, Compliance, and Quality Assurance
Ensuring complete end-to-end coverage and visibility is crucial when evaluating a video monitoring solution. The system should be able to monitor the entire workflow, from signal acquisition to the end consumer, and ensure complete, uninterrupted geographical and network coverage. Go for a solution that supports all the different video stream protocols and formats for every point in the distribution workflow, allowing you to manage your workflow from one point of access and make changes to your workflow in the future.
For example, an OTT provider encountering HTTP 5xx errors, a clear indicator of issues on the server side. Concurrently, a Domain Name System (DNS) error also prevents the Content Delivery Network (CDN) from connecting with the appropriate origin server. The fundamental question is identifying whether the issue resides within or before the CDN in the streams. Several potential causes could be contributing to these errors. One possibility is that the origin server is overloaded, causing a bottleneck in the system. There may also be an imbalance in server load distribution, leading to further complications. Another conceivable issue could be with the delivery function of the CDN itself. Numerous other potential causes may need to be investigated as well.
Unfortunately, the implications of these issues on the client side are somewhat opaque. While viewers know they cannot receive content from the CDN, they are not privy to the underlying reasons. To comprehensively diagnose and resolve these issues, thoroughly examining each integral component within the delivery chain is imperative. Only through such a thorough analysis can we accurately identify the root cause of these issues and develop a strategy to rectify them, which can only be achieved with an end-to-end monitoring system.
Therefore, when evaluating a monitoring solution, ensure it offers accurate end-to-end coverage and visibility. Your operators and engineers should be able to view the whole process, from the moment the studio or playout system’s source signal is received to the point that the end user sees the picture on their screen, all from a single point and single screen.
To learn more about what it takes to achieve end-to-end visibility and other crucial considerations for choosing your monitoring solution, download “The Insider’s Guide to Selecting Your Media Monitoring Solution”.
