Wowza Video Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics are key performance indicators that measure various aspects of video streaming from the viewer’s perspective. These metrics help evaluate how effectively video content is delivered and how viewers experience the stream. One of these metrics is video start time. In Wowza Video you can review general video start time metrics for your videos and live streams, then drill down into specifics for this metric in your streams.
Note: Quality of Experience metrics is a premium feature available exclusively to Wowza Video subscribers with an annual subscription. To access this feature for enhanced streaming insights, contact our sales team.
Note: For Wowza Streaming Engine with Wowza Video subscribers, we provide Quality of Experience metrics, including video start time, for live streams and stream targets.
The video start time QoE metric is the duration it takes for a stream to begin playback after the playback is initiated by the viewer or when the video begins to auto-play. It measures the time from when the user clicks play until the video actually starts. This metric is essential for evaluating user experience, as a shorter video start time signifies a more responsive and seamless viewing experience.
Shorter video start times lead to a smoother, more seamless viewing experience. Monitoring and optimizing video start time helps you better deliver high-quality, reliable video streams, enhancing the overall user experience.
To get to the Video Start Time Details page, click Analytics in the main navigation, then click the Quality of Experience tab. Under the Video Start Time section, click Explore Start Time. You must have This QoE metric displaying data to get to the Video Start Time Details page.
The following configurations and fields can be found on the Video Start Time Details page:
- Filter by – Filter data with preset time periods or enter a custom time period. You can also filter by stream type (Livestream or a VOD stream) and stream name. Start typing in the Select assets field to filter the stream names and choose one. Last, you can filter by device. Click Apply Filter after you make your changes.
The Video Start Time Details page initially displays the top three streams from your initial QoE filtering on a graph. You can use the Filter by functionality at any time to refilter data and view new data for video start time.
Note: When you filter the data, it is returned in the following intervals:
- If you filter data between 0 minutes to 8 hours, the granularity of the data returned is by minute.
- If you filter data between 8 and 24 hours, the granularity of the data returned is per hour.
- If you filter data between 24 hours and 175 days, the granularity of the data returned is per day.
- If you filter data between 175 days and 14 years, the granularity of the data returned is per month.
Note: If you are using one of the following Wowza Streaming Engine with Wowza Video workflows, you can view analytics for your live stream or stream target, depending on which workflow you've used. Type the live stream name or stream target name in the Select assets field to display the data.
View, change, and analyze data for the stream(s) you filtered for:
- Video Start Time Details Graph – Displays the the video start time for selected streams. Hover over the line chart to get the exact viewer start times at a specific time for each stream. You can check the checkbox on up to five videos/streams listed in the related Video Start Time list below the graph, then click Update Graph to change the data you see on the graph.
- Video Start Time list – The table lists all streams in the timeframe you filtered by. Select up to five streams to display on the graph by checking the checkbox next to the name of each stream you want to view, then clicking Update Graph. The table includes:
- Name – The name of the stream.
- Type – The type of stream whether it be a video or live stream.
- Plays – The total number of plays of the live stream or video.
- Phone – The average video start time and number of plays for the stream for this device type.
- Desktop – The average video start time and number of plays for the stream for this device type.
- Tablet – The average video start time and number of plays for the stream for this device type.
- TV – The average video start time and number of plays for the stream for this device type.
- Other – The average video start time and number of plays for the stream for this device type.
- Total/Average – The average video start time for the live stream or video for all device types.
More information
To learn more about QoE metrics, see the following articles:
