VLQoE: Video QoE instrumentation on the smartphone

TY - JOUR

T1 - VLQoE

T2 - Video QoE instrumentation on the smartphone

AU - Ickin, Selim

AU - Fiedler, Markus

AU - Wac, Katarzyna

AU - Arlos, Patrik

AU - Temiz, Canberk

AU - Mkocha, Khadija

PY - 2014/1

Y1 - 2014/1

N2 - The usage of network-demanding applications is growing rapidly such as video streaming on mobile terminals. However, network and/or service providers might not guarantee the perceived quality for video streaming that demands high packet transmission rate. In order to satisfy the user expectations and to minimize user churn, it is important for network operators to infer the end-user perceived quality in video streaming. Today, the most reliable method to obtain end-user perceived quality is through subjective tests, and the preferred location is the user interface as it is the closest point of application to the end-user. The end-user perceived quality on video streaming is highly influenced by occasional freezes; technically the extraordinary time gaps between two consecutive pictures that are displayed to the user, i.e., high inter-picture time. In this paper, we present a QoE instrumentation for video streaming, VLQoE. We added functionality to the VLC player to record a set of metrics from the user interface, application-level, network-level, and from the available sensors of the device. To the best of our knowledge, VLQoE is the first tool of its kind that can be used in user experiments for video streaming. By using the tool, we present a two state model based on the inter-picture time, for the HTTP- and RTSP-based video streaming via 3.5G. Next, we studied the influence of inter-picture time on the user perceived quality through out a user study. We investigated the minimum user perceived inter-picture time, and the user response time.

AB - The usage of network-demanding applications is growing rapidly such as video streaming on mobile terminals. However, network and/or service providers might not guarantee the perceived quality for video streaming that demands high packet transmission rate. In order to satisfy the user expectations and to minimize user churn, it is important for network operators to infer the end-user perceived quality in video streaming. Today, the most reliable method to obtain end-user perceived quality is through subjective tests, and the preferred location is the user interface as it is the closest point of application to the end-user. The end-user perceived quality on video streaming is highly influenced by occasional freezes; technically the extraordinary time gaps between two consecutive pictures that are displayed to the user, i.e., high inter-picture time. In this paper, we present a QoE instrumentation for video streaming, VLQoE. We added functionality to the VLC player to record a set of metrics from the user interface, application-level, network-level, and from the available sensors of the device. To the best of our knowledge, VLQoE is the first tool of its kind that can be used in user experiments for video streaming. By using the tool, we present a two state model based on the inter-picture time, for the HTTP- and RTSP-based video streaming via 3.5G. Next, we studied the influence of inter-picture time on the user perceived quality through out a user study. We investigated the minimum user perceived inter-picture time, and the user response time.

KW - Human Computer Interaction (HCI)

KW - QoE (Quality of Experience)

KW - QoS (Quality of Service)

KW - Smartphone

KW - User interface

KW - Video

U2 - 10.1007/s11042-014-1919-0

DO - 10.1007/s11042-014-1919-0

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84921699668

SN - 1380-7501

VL - 74

SP - 381

EP - 411

JO - Multimedia Tools and Applications

JF - Multimedia Tools and Applications

IS - 2

ER -