Vidchecker QC Products

Vidchecker is an easy to install Windows software application for PCs/servers. It removes the labor intensive tasks of manually checking conformance by eye and hand, the need to check video/audio compliance with waveform monitors and audio loudness meters, and to manually correct levels with video processing amplifiers, and other tools.

The GUI is accessed through a web browser either on the local machine or remotely over a network. It is optimized for checking file-based video before and after distribution, and for use by broadcasters for checking files received from post production and content distributors to ensure that file, video and audio parameters and levels are correct and ready for broadcast.

Multiple networked PC servers with Vidchecker licenses can work together as a Vidchecker Grid for enterprise installations requiring very large file throughputs.

Vidchecker is an easy to install Windows software application for PCs/servers. It removes the labor intensive tasks of manually checking conformance by eye and hand, the need to check video/audio compliance with waveform monitors and audio loudness meters, and to manually correct levels with video processing amplifiers, and other tools.

The GUI is accessed through a web browser either on the local machine or remotely over a network. It is optimized for checking file-based video before and after distribution, and for use by broadcasters for checking files received from post production and content distributors to ensure that file, video and audio parameters and levels are correct and ready for broadcast.

Multiple networked PC servers with Vidchecker licenses can work together as a Vidchecker Grid for enterprise installations requiring very large file throughputs.

Benefits of Vidchecker include:

• Thorough checks of file, video and audio parameters as well as video and audio quality, legality and correctness
• Not only checks video and audio, but also intelligently corrects out of spec video levels and audio levels including loudness
• Highly cost-effective: full-featured QC at a price that the smallest post production companies and broadcasters can comfortably afford, and fully scalable using the Vidchecker Grid for enterprise installation with very high file volumes
• Supports sub SD, SD, HD, 4K and mixed workflows
• 4 levels of checking – information, warning, fail on error and correct on error
• Supplied standards templates including DPP and Netflix plus ‘1 Click’ auto test template from known good media
• Built-in media player to play the video at alert points by clicking on the alert thumbnails
• Easy workflow support – use multiple watch folders with filtering, automatically send reports, move files on pass/fail/correction
• Comprehensive online Help
• API web services for full integration with production and broadcast workflows and media asset management systems. The growing list of integration partners can be seen at Integration Partners.

Intelligently correct out of limit Video Levels:

• Video luma level – including black levels
• Video chroma – color limit errors
• Video RGB – gamut/legality problems

Video ‘legalizers’ simply clamp or clip peak values that exceed the limits. This squeezes the range of picture contrast, can produce color artifacts where the colors become saturated and visual artifacts when the video is re-encoded. Vidcheck has developed patented intelligent algorithms that dynamically analyze the image to correct limit violations while maintaining the integrity and quality of the picture.

Original over limit highlights

Legalizer color artifacts

Vidchecker correction

Intelligently correct out of limit audio peak levels and audio loudness (CALM & EBU R128):

• Audio peak level – levels that are too high.
• Audio Loudness measured to ITU-R BS.1770 and corrected to required program loudness levels – makes sure that audio levels are correct and legal to ATSC A/85 (CALM) and EBU R128 requirments.
• DialNorm correction.

The US Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act requires the Federal Communications Commission to regulate the audio of commercials from being broadcast at louder volumes than the program material they accompany. CALM has become law in Canada and in the USA, so meeting this legislation is vital for all broadcasters and post-production houses in North America.

The ATSC practice A/85 for Audio loudness for DTV recommends use of ITU-R BS.1770-3 for loudness measurement and techniques to control peak levels and loudness. The EBU has issued loudness normalization recommendation R128 and Tech 3341. These are all covered by Vidchecker including auto correction for out-of-spec levels.

Vidchecker-post does everything Vidchecker does but processes 1 file at a time instead of 4 and the processing is limited to 8 logical cores. Please see Vidchecker for full product details.

Vidchecker-post is the version of Vidchecker for low-volume QC requirements. It is designed for post production houses, content distributors and smaller broadcasters who do not have the file-testing throughput requirements of larger companies. It is full-featured QC at a price that the smallest post production companies can comfortably afford. It can be upgraded to the full Vidchecker for the price difference as your file testing throughput requirements grow.

Please note: Vidchecker-post does not have a Grid option (so can only be used stand-alone) or a Dolby-E option. Vidchecker-post is limited to 8 logical cores.

Vidchecker-post does everything Vidchecker does but processes 1 file at a time instead of 4 and the processing is limited to 8 logical cores. Please see Vidchecker for full product details.

Vidchecker-post is the version of Vidchecker for low-volume QC requirements. It is designed for post production houses, content distributors and smaller broadcasters who do not have the file-testing throughput requirements of larger companies. It is full-featured QC at a price that the smallest post production companies can comfortably afford. It can be upgraded to the full Vidchecker for the price difference as your file testing throughput requirements grow.

Please note: Vidchecker-post does not have a Grid option (so can only be used stand-alone) or a Dolby-E option. Vidchecker-post is limited to 8 logical cores.

The Vidchecker Advanced Media Player, Vamp, is used to play video and audio files on a PC screen or SDI, for QC review.

Vidchecker and Vidchecker-post comes with their own simple player to view content that has been tested or corrected. However, some environments requite a more sophisticated view of the content. The Vidchecker Advanced Media Player (Vamp) is an ideal tool to guide the user through any alerts raised as part of the automated quality control process. To begin with Vamp displays the alerts along a time line representation of the content. The user can then very easily navigate to each alert in turn or randomly jump though scene by scene. Navigation is via standard industry transport controls. With the addition of a hardware graphics output card it is possible to take either an HDMI or SDI output from a workstation to a second monitor.

As well as playing out the video and audio, Vamp’s main features include timeline display of video keyframes and all audio tracks; location and description details of all alerts from Vidchecker/Vidfixer auto QC; file metadata display e.g. AS-11 MXF and “file info” data (e.g. file container, video track/codec details, and audio codec/track details) for each track.

Vamp is a standard Windows PC application.

The Vidcheck Advanced Media Player, Vamp, is used to play video and audio files on a PC screen or SDI, for QC review.

Vidchecker comes with its own simple player to view content that has been tested or corrected. However, some environments requite a more sophisticated view of the content. The Vidcheck Advanced Media Player (Vamp) is an ideal tool to guide the user through any alerts raised as part of the automated quality control process. To begin with Vamp displays the alerts along a time line representation of the content. The user can then very easily navigate to each alert in turn or randomly jump though scene by scene. Navigation is via standard industry transport controls. With the addition of a hardware graphics output card it is possible to take either an HDMI or SDI output from a workstation to a second monitor.

As well as playing out the video and audio, Vamp’s main features include timeline display of video keyframes and all audio tracks; location and description details of all alerts from Vidchecker/Vidfixer auto QC; file metadata display e.g. AS-11 MXF and “file info” data (e.g. file container, video track/codec details, and audio codec/track details) for each track.

Vamp is a standard Windows PC application.