Tektronix’s Cerify helps broadcasters avoid playout errors

File-based workflows are increasingly used in post production and broadcast, supplanting earlier, less integrated digital workflow architectures. File-based environments can streamline content production, reduce operational expenses, and are critical for the delivery of OTT programming to PCs and mobile devices for multi-screen video services.

Given its importance, quality control (QC) is naturally critical for the successful use of file-based workflows. Historically, QC has relied on direct visual inspection, usually with personnel spot-checking a few minutes of a program’s beginning, middle and end. However, this approach has never truly been sufficient for two reasons. The first is that humans tend to notice just two classes of technical impairments:

• Signal-level-related issues such as video luma and chroma, or audio loudness; and
• Obvious distortions and dropouts manifested in problems such as black sequences, frozen frames, blockiness, loss of audio and audio/video sync discrepancies.

Because of this, there are errors that are hard to recognize even when the program is closely watched.

Scalability is the second reason visual inspection is insufficient; the industry is simply “running out of eyeballs” to check the tens of thousands of files being created for multi-screen services monthly.

It is this tremendous volume of content that must be managed and quality-checked that is driving the industry toward automated, process-spanning QC solutions.