Unlock Deeper Insights with Wowza’s QoE Drill Down Pages
Enhancing Video Streaming with Quality of Experience (QoE) Analytics
A few months ago, Wowza introduced the Quality of Experience (QoE) tool in Wowza Video, providing users with detailed insights into their viewers’ streaming experiences. This powerful tool helps identify potential obstacles, establish guidelines for optimal viewing, and ultimately make data-driven decisions to improve streaming quality.
Now, we’re excited to introduce the next evolution in our QoE analytics journey—the Drill Down Pages. These new pages allow users to break down key events over time, offering deeper insights into specific QoE metrics.
Table of contents
Introducing Drill Down Pages for QoE Metrics
The Drill Down Pages provide enhanced visibility into three critical QoE metrics:
- Start Time – How long it takes for a video to begin playing after a request.
- Rebuffer Time – The duration of buffering interruptions during playback.
- Rebuffer Count – The number of times buffering occurs in a session.
Let’s explore each metric in detail and see how the Drill Down Pages can help optimize video performance.
Explore Start Time: Understanding Video Load Performance
The Explore Start Time page enables users to select and compare multiple assets over time, analyzing how quickly videos start playing.
What is Start Time?
Start time refers to the time between when the player is loaded, the play request is made (via autoplay or manual play), and the first frame of the content appears. A lower start time correlates with higher play and completion rates—if a video starts quickly, viewers are more likely to stay engaged. Ad request time is included in Start time, but the playback time of the ad is not included.
Why Does Start Time Matter?
Monitoring start time can uncover key performance issues, such as:
- A slow-loading pre-roll ad request delaying playback.
- High-resolution videos increasing load times unnecessarily.
- Low performing networks or CDN at the time of the event
With the Explore Start Time page, you can pinpoint the exact causes of delays and optimize your content for better viewer retention.
Explore Rebuffer Time: Reducing Buffering Interruptions
The Explore Rebuffer Time page helps analyze average buffer times per asset over a given period.
What Causes Rebuffering?
Buffering especially disrupts the viewer experience more than a long start time does. It can be caused by:
- Network connectivity issues
- Inefficient encoding settings
How to Improve Rebuffer Time
Even if buffering issues seem out of your control, there are optimizations you can make:
- Adjust player start strategy: Set the start loading setting it to “auto” or “low” to allow adaptive bitrate streaming, ensuring a smoother start.
- Optimize your encoding ladder: Lowering the minimum resolution in your encoding settings can help mitigate buffering issues.
Explore Rebuffer Count: Understanding Buffering Distribution
The Explore Rebuffer Count page reveals how buffering events are distributed throughout a video session.
Why Rebuffer Count Matters
Buffering once but for a longer duration may be less disruptive than frequent short buffering interruptions. A session with a single buffering event is often preferable to one with multiple small rebuffering events, which can frustrate viewers.
How to Optimize Rebuffering Count
By analyzing rebuffering patterns, you can:
- Increase player buffer size, allowing more content to be preloaded before playback resumes.
- Optimize resolution and bandwidth settings to prevent excessive buffering events.
Elevate Your Video Streaming Experience with QoE Drill Down Pages
The QoE Drill Down Pages empower you to make data-driven improvements by offering detailed visibility into how your video content performs.
By leveraging these insights, you can proactively enhance your audience’s viewing experience, leading to higher engagement and better retention. After all, you can’t improve what you don’t measure!
Start using the Drill Down Pages today and take control of your streaming quality!