1. Monitoring the Whole MPEG Transport Stream
Gary Learner, CTO Volicon
THE BEGINNING OF BROADCAST MONITORING
Since the days of pure analog broadcast infrastructure, the broadcasters saw the need
for logging and monitoring system for both regulatory compliance and internal quality
monitoring and assurance. The broadcasters used multiple VTR machines to record
their own broadcasts and those of their competitors, a process that required the
constant changing of tapes and acceptance of a relatively poor-quality recording.
Beyond these issues were other problems including the limited shelf life of tape and the
gradual degradation of video each time the tape is used.
The duplication of tape-based media for monitoring also is a cumbersome process. It’s
a slow process, and the end result is never as good as the original. Furthermore, the
content being copied is unavailable to other users until the duplication process is
complete and the tape restored to the library.
The greatest limitation of the tape-based model, however, is in broadcasters’ ability to
access and distribute recorded content. To find a specific piece of content on tape
means going into the tape library, looking up a tape in the library catalog, tracking down
that tape, and using a tape playback machine to scan for that content or move to the
desired point in the broadcast. In some cases, this is like looking through the pages of a
book, trying to find a passage without knowing where it is.
When recording to tape, the broadcaster doesn’t have access to that content until the
tape is finished. If the broadcast is being recorded to an eight-hour tape, then it can take
nearly that long to be able to provide internal quality control or external clients with
verification of the content aired.
The shift of the broadcast industry toward digital operations has allowed for the
introduction of new technologies, which in turn offer much greater functionality than
earlier analog systems.
TRANSITION TO DIGITAL
The digital broadcast logging and monitoring solutions deliver the power and capabilities
of professional AV control rooms to ordinary desktop computers. Multiple channels of
content are available on-demand, live or archived, from any desktop, where users can
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2. search, retrieve, view, analyze, annotate, share, and export video. A Web-based GUI
turns mission-critical video broadcasts and analysis into work material to increase
efficiency and streamline workflows.
Technology like this has been made possible through advances in digital video
compression and in the development of Internet-based tools. At one time the argument
for tape-based monitoring was the low cost of tapes and ease of integrating VTRs into
existing analog environments. Now, however, the cost of digital storage and
infrastructure has dropped. It’s easier than ever to store video, and continuous
improvements in storage technology have brought down storage costs, making it
feasible to store digital data inexpensively over long periods of time.
Web-based work tools used over high-speed Internet connections now enable easy
sharing and distribution of digital media to just about anywhere. Here, too, costs have
dropped, and many companies already have access to the necessary network
infrastructure needed to make digital media available to remote users.
Among the many benefits of monitoring broadcasts using digital media is that everything
is instantaneous. Any queries or complaints about a particular broadcast or ad can be
addressed instantly because data becomes available immediately, as soon as it’s
recorded, not four or eight hours later. Users across a facility, or working remotely over
a high-speed network, can access content simultaneously. Thus, media is available to
any authorized user, anywhere, at any time following the broadcast.
Duplication of recorded media takes place much more rapidly in the digital environment,
without the loss associated with VHS tape. Nonlinear or random access to content, as
opposed to sequential access on tape, offers tremendous time savings in finding and
accessing the desired portion of a media asset.
While digital loggers present many benefits over tape-based loggers and greatly
improve the usability of such system, these loggers still fall short on several key
features. Access to original broadcast content is not available, just the compressed,
proxy version of the broadcast is stored and viewed over local or wide-area networks.
Logging and monitoring of the many types of metadata present in today’s broadcast is
often impossible, as some of this metadata only exists in the transport stream version of
the broadcast.
With completion of the DTV rollout, the landscape for the broadcast logging and
monitoring systems changes yet again, enabling implementation of new key features,
increasing the value of such systems and extending its use across more disciplines
within the broadcast infrastructure.
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3. TRANSPORT STREAM MONITORING
With continuously increasing amount of programming, Networks, Stations, Cable and
IPTV operators are continually challenged to do more with less. Staff members need to
assure an ever increasing array of high quality digital programming, handle broadening
array of regulatory requests, while delivering an increasingly complex metadata (DVB
subtitles, EIT/PSIP, interactivity) to leverage the new digital TV ecosystem. To do this,
networks, stations and operators must be able to proactively monitor and quickly
troubleshoot items from the details of MPEG metadata all the way down to the quality of
the rendered content.
MPEG Transport Stream (TS) logging enables networks, broadcasters, Cable and IPTV
operators to do more than ever before. With continuous logging of MPEG transport
streams, monitoring program QoE (quality of experience), and the ability to seamlessly
export and stream MPEG TS or low resolution proxies, the MPEG Transport Stream
allows for efficient operation with WAN and enterprise wide clients.
By capturing the native Transport Stream at the handoff point, using ASI, 8VSB/OFDM,
QAM or IP ensures isolation and ability to troubleshoot of all the issues at the final
product level.
Network Bandwidth utilization and need for proxy
Logging the native MPEG Transport Stream greatly simplifies troubleshooting, chronic
issues resolution, and regulatory proof of conformance. However, streaming the logged
transport stream over wide-area networks (WAN) presents a challenge, The typical HD
service is encoded at 8-12Mbps and some of the network to station hand-offs can reach
40Mbps. Streaming at these bit-rates over WAN would be impractical and would likely
impose operational strain on the LAN bandwidth consumption as well. The need to
create low bit-rate proxy of the TS becomes a mandatory feature for MPEG Transport
Stream Loggers. Transcoded low bit-rate proxy for a typical program consumes 0.5-
1Mbps for SD and 1-2Mbps for HD, sufficient for streaming within the WAN enterprise,
delivering full frame-rate video streaming to remote locations.
Being connected over low bandwidth network doesn’t restrict the user to proxy viewing
only; once the content of interest has been identified by streaming the proxy, the original
TS version of the same content can be exported and saved locally for an unrestricted,
full-resolution, full bit-rate viewing and analysis.
TS and proxy storage consideration
Another point to consider in regards to low bit-rate proxy is storage. While we continue
to benefit from continuously decreasing cost of hard-disk drives, archiving MPEG
Transport Stream for extended periods of time would still drive up the transport stream
logger cost significantly. A single ATSC stream (19.38 Mbps) occupies 6.3TB over a
period of 30 days. For a single 256QAM stream this storage would double. To balance
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4. the need for extended content retention with the cost of storage is to log the native
transport stream for shorter period of time, while extending the storage of the low bit-
rate proxy. For example, storing the transport stream for 7 days and proxy (1HD and
1SD) for 90 days would only require 3.4TB of storage; a 47% saving in storage, yet
achieving retention of content for 90 days.
Segmenting content
Recording all of the content is by its nature chronologically structured, but without
information such as an as-run log or electronic program guide (EPG), there is no way to
know where programs begin and end. This knowledge is quite valuable in allowing the
operator to segment content and/or sort it according to various criteria including not only
type of program or program name, but also length of the program. Segments of similar
duration often fall into similar categories. For example, segments of just 15 or 30
seconds most likely are commercials. The ability to identify and sort segments in this
manner offers users a quick way of finding or isolating specific content.
Quality of Service (QoS) Monitoring
Sophisticated monitoring systems not only allow broadcasters to assure that material
went to air as intended, but also to provide a valuable tool for evaluating the integrity
and quality of the broadcast audio, video and metadata. Staff members can review aired
material for on-air discrepancies, signal problems, and other issues that may interfere
with the quality of the programming. Immediate access to any content that aired and the
ability to access that content quickly significantly enhance the quality of broadcast
productions.
Current monitoring technology can detect variety of false signals, reporting on errors
and alerting the broadcaster via email or SNMP traps that something is wrong with the
broadcast. Immediate detection of loss of audio, a blank or frozen screen (no motion
detected), and loss of closed captioning helps minimize down time, thus preserving the
integrity of the on-air product, meeting the expectations of viewers and advertisers, and
protecting station or network revenues.
METADATA MONITORING
The MPEG Transport Stream, as a container, is well suited to multiplex multiple
programs into a single stream (MPTS), as well as multiple content and metadata tracks,
associated with a single program, into the same transport. This container does no
longer restrict embedding of the metadata into VANC (sometimes HANC) and audio
tracks. MPEG transport stream makes it trivial to encapsulate variety of metadata types
into separate PIDs, while keeping them synchronized with the rest of the content.
Encapsulation of the metadata in its own PID (instead of VANC), simplifies decoding of
such data, as it’s no longer required to decode the video first in order to extract and
decode the VANC. This approach also allows the audio/video content to remain
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5. encrypted, while still fully capable to process the metadata content. Such examples
include SCTE-35 (digital cue tones) and SCTE-18 (EAS messages).
Other forms of metadata include interactive components (ads) and local content
(weather, news), which greatly enhance the utilization of the broadcast medium and in-
turn further engage the viewer.
LOUDNESS MONITORING
With recent approval to adapt the CALM Act by the FCC (FCC 11-182), the focus on
Loudness Monitoring gained front page attention. The enforcement of the CALM Act
goes into effect on Dec 13, 2012 and regulates both Broadcasters (call-letter stations)
and MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors). Cable Networks are
regulated through MVPDs under this regulation. While the broadcasters have been
focusing on deploying the equipment and implementing procedures to assure that all
the assets have their loudness ‘normalized’ prior to being aired, the burden of ‘proof of
compliance’ is still lies with MPEG Transport Stream loggers. By implementing the
ATSC-A/85 and EBU-R128, both are based on BS.1770-2 loudness measurement
specification, the loggers both measure and alert on loudness violations. For
broadcasters, networks and video service providers, loudness monitoring is a
troubleshooting tool to ensure and prove compliance with loudness regulations. By
combining loudness measurements with transport stream logging, thus retaining the
original AC-3 audio track, the operator is able to quickly troubleshoot, easily generate
convincing affidavits, as well as proactively monitor for compliance. While frame
accuracy is not mandatory for loudness measurement results, synchronization with
audio/video content must be offered by the MPEG transport stream logger. An ability to
export the content with burnt-in loudness measurement results is a very useful feature
to facilitate timely loudness issue resolution, by having all the relevant data on the same
screen fully synchronized with the content. By combining momentary (M), short-term
(S), short-term integrated (SI), long-term integrated (LI) as well as loudness range
(LRA) with the logged content into an intelligent dashboard eliminates the need to
switch among multiple screens during the loudness troubleshooting. An ability to export
the content with burnt-in loudness measurement is very useful in facilitating timely issue
resolution, by having all the relevant data inseparable, part of the same exported clip.
Ability to export the original AC-3 audio tracks to measure loudness by an independent,
agency approved loudness meter provides the ultimate proof of compliance in front of
regulatory agency.
TRANSPORT STREAM ANALYSIS
Among a few features enabled by capturing the native transport stream is the ability to
perform TSA (transport stream analysis) on the acquired content. The importance of the
transport analysis has been recognized in the industry to establish measurement
guidelines for DVB systems standard (ETSI TR 101 290). While there is plethora of
transport stream analyzers in the marketplace to implement this standard, these
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6. systems are mostly used for real-time, spot-check transport stream analysis, as they
lack the ability to continuously store the full transport stream for post-broadcast analysis
and troubleshooting.
Combining the MPEG Transport Stream logger’s ability to capture the full stream and
export it either as a full MPTS, a single program or even a single PID with the post-
broadcast TSA ability greatly improves broadcaster’s ability to respond to complaints
and troubleshoot problems in a timely manner.
CONTENT REPURPOSING
Distribution of media assets to viewers over new platforms such as the Web and mobile
devices offers broadcasters the opportunity to increase revenues leveraging assets they
already own. MPEG Transport Stream logging and monitoring systems feature tools
through which recorded original Transport Stream content can be de-multiplexed (PID
filtered), clipped and easily published to a Web site or pushed to mobile customers via
tablets, smart phones and other portable devices. The broadcasters have already
invested in high-end broadcast encoder to assure the highest quality of content
delivered, so reusing the original transport stream for distribution through other
mediums results in higher quality of that content as well.
LOOKING AHEAD
Because digital video technologies are continuously evolving, Broadcast Logging and
Monitoring systems grow even more powerful and robust in providing tools for improving
the on-air product and, ultimately, adding to the bottom line. Use of transport stream
content opens the door to many enhancements in broadcast verification, analysis and
repurposing.
The shift toward monitoring systems based on transport stream offers more than
convenience; it provides a new way of looking at and evaluating aired content. Fewer of
the broadcasters will rely on baseband-based monitoring. More and more broadcasters
are aware, however, that once they get a transport stream monitoring system in place,
they can take advantage of it in so many different ways just not possible with previous
generation monitoring model.
As the industry continues to adopt advanced monitoring solutions, the trend resembles
the earlier adoption of email or the cell phone. The first few adopters understood the
potential of the new technology, and subsequent adopters in greater numbers found that
they couldn’t survive without it. The competitive edge delivered by the logging and
monitoring systems allows broadcasters to make significant improvements to their
broadcasts, ratings, and ad revenues. Once one broadcaster in a market implements
this powerful tool, competitors likely will find it to be a critical addition to their operations,
as well.
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7. Digital monitoring systems continue to evolve in functionality and, as they are developed
further, in the value-added features they provide. With these developments,
broadcasters with advanced digital monitoring systems in place will gain the opportunity
to extend the use of the system for even more streamlined, cost-efficient, and
competitive broadcast operations.
Contact Us:
Volicon
111 South Bedford Street
Burlington, MA 01803 USA
+1 781 221 7400
info@volicon.com
www.volicon.com
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