In media organizations, efficient media quality checks are key to the optimisation of file-based workflows. Quality analysis has to be able to detect deviations from allowed technical parameters on different levels: from media container, to encoding, to problems in the essence itself.

All file-based QC solutions on the market have their own strengths and weaknesses. More and more users now make use of multiple QC-engines, to be able to increase the degree of automation. QC-engines exhibit big differences in respect to quality assessment of video essence. Only few systems provide analysis functions for essence assessment, most of those only for error classes that could be directly derived from the video signal. Functionality for interactive verification of essence is often missing.

JOANNEUM RESEARCH has been researching and developing methods for quality assessment of video and moving image essence for multiple years now. JOANNEUM RESEARCH’s VidiCert technology automatically detects a range of specific essence errors (electronic and film grain noise, blurriness, severe video signal discontinuity, color distortions etc.) based on their subjective appearance. A user-interface optimised specifically for usage by QC operators, showing results of automatic detection intuitively and clearly in combination with the video essence, allows quick manual inspection and assessment. Compared to a fully manual quality inspection, VidiCert is able to reduce operator time drastically.

Through integration of VidiCert technology into Cube-Tec’s CubeWorkflow, an intelligent coupling of the best QC engines on the market is formed. With this integration, Cube-Tec provides a unique comprehensive solution in the area of file-based quality assessment for media organisations. In addition to the rule-based execution of analysis tasks and their results, the solution provides different user-interfaces specialized for efficient manual QC inspection. These interfaces give operators the best possible decision-making support at any given moment, avoiding unnecessary operator intervention.

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Since many years we have established a fertile exchange of information with JOANNEUM RESEARCH in the area of research and development. We already had analysed precursor QC technology years ago, and tested it for practical application.
From our point of view, an impressive quality increase was reached in the especially challenging field of video and moving image essence quality assessment over the last years. No other QC engine is able to provide this today.
A logical consequence of this is the integration of VidiCert into the CubeWorkflow system, to achieve the best customer value possible.
- Jörg Houpert, Head of Technology, Cube-Tec Int.

As a result of a long dialogue with many users and research institutions we developed largely mature technologies which now are handed over to industrial use and exploitation.
With this, we meet our key mission, to support transfer of technology to economy. We are proud to succeed in this, together with Cube-Tec.
- Werner Haas, Director Institute DIGITAL, JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH