SPROCKIT tabs SSIMWAVE CSO to speak on OTT monetization at NAB

Waterloo, ON, Canada, April 2, 2019 – Dr. Zhou Wang, the Emmy Award-winning video quality measurement inventor, will discuss how optimizing consumer Quality of Experience (QoE) can boost media industry revenues on a SPROCKIT Innovation Pipeline panel next week at the NAB Show 2019 in Las Vegas.

Dr. Wang – co-founder and Chief Science Officer of SSIMWAVE and inventor of the next gen Structural Similarity index method (SSIMPLUS) for measuring QoE – will participate with thought leaders from other SPROCKIT member companies on the “Monetizing OTT: Beyond Subscriptions” session on Wednesday, April 10 (11:30 a.m.-Noon PT) in Room N3036. The panel will be moderated by Alan Wolk, co-founder and lead analyst for TV[R]EV, and is open to all NAB registered attendees.

“Although video quality plays a critical role in attracting and engaging viewers, there’s been a glaring lack of consistent and objective monitoring tools and metrics,” said Dr. Wang. “SSIMPLUS enables accurate measurement of QoE from source to display, ensuring subscriber satisfaction and loyalty by delivering the video quality that’s expected.”

Dr. Wang also will be a featured panelist at Light Reading’s “Getting to OTT 2.0” NAB breakfast on Monday, April 8. Speaking alongside Viacom senior vice president and Chief Technology Convergence Officer Glenn Goldstein, Philo Chief Technology Officer en Chambers and other panelists, Dr. Wang will discuss how SSIMWAVE’s SSIMPLUS® system can help the video industry optimize data spend, ensure video quality excellence and viewer satisfaction, and reduce customer support costs.

In addition to Dr. Wang’s panel expertise, SSIMWAVE will show at two locations – its South Upper Hall booth SU6924 and the SPROCKIT Innovation Pipeline in the North Hall – how SSIMPLUS can help the video industry measure and objectively score performance at every point in the delivery pipeline. The SSIMWAVE booth will include an end-to-end demonstration of SSIMPLUS; a demonstration of how SSIMWAVE technology can verify performance of encoders, transcoders and other individual devices within live, on-demand and advertising workflows; and an interactive display that will allow attendees to compare their impressions of video quality against actual SSIMPLUS viewer scores.

SSIMPLUS scores are used to A/B test and compare individual equipment components such as encoders, transcoders and packagers. They also are being written into Service Level Agreements between content handoffs internally and with third party providers. SSIMPLUS scores enhance existing QoS/QoE metrics, ultimately yielding the only one that matters, the end viewer score – what ad supported or paying subscribers would see and say about the video quality they are watching.