Software-Driven Advancements in Testing and Measurement Techniques

In the ever-evolving landscape of the broadcast industry, T&M and QC remain mission-critical for ensuring high-quality, reliable media delivery across hybrid, IP, and streaming workflows.

According to Erik Otto, CEO of Mediaproxy, problems with satellite links, 4G/5G, internet connections, and terrestrial transmitters cannot be controlled or predicted, while everything else - software and hardware - is in everyone's control. This shift towards software and cloud solutions is transforming these traditional practices.

Software innovations are at the forefront of this transformation. Companies like Telestream and Interra Systems are incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into their products, with Telestream focusing on practical AI and responding to customer requests for features like clock and slate reading, contextual analysis, and object detection. Interra Systems, on the other hand, is using AI in areas like video signal quality or degradation measurements.

Broadcasters are also increasing the level of automation in checking audio-video quality, but this may not always align with compliance requirements, which can vary based on geographic region. Modern QC and T&M systems use software platforms that offer automated quality control, cloud scalability, consumption-based pricing, and secure deployment options, allowing broadcasters to dynamically scale operations while optimizing costs.

The data-based, IP broadcast world has seen a major adoption of software for equipment setup, troubleshooting, quality control (QC), and regulatory compliance. Vendors showcase multi-channel waveform monitors and analyzers that simultaneously handle multiple inputs (SDI, IP, 4K, HDR/SDR), incorporating features such as physical layer analysis and NDI signal troubleshooting.

The shift to IP workflows brings technical challenges that require effective software-based monitoring, diagnostic, and control tools to ensure the reliability and quality of broadcast operations in a hybrid and streaming-centric world. Triveni Digital's monitoring system, for instance, uses AI techniques for quality scoring of feeds.

Despite the dominance of software and cloud solutions, hardware solutions still provide features like latency and PTP timing that software solutions cannot. This has led to a preference for a hybrid approach. Mediaproxy, for example, has been completely software-based since its founding in 2001, but still relies on hardware for certain functions.

In summary, T&M and QC remain essential in the IP broadcast domain, but software innovations are transforming these practices from hardware-centric, siloed tasks into integrated, automated, cloud-enabled workflows that support hybrid broadcast-IP environments and evolving media formats with greater agility and efficiency. The increasing diversity and complexity of services being delivered in broadcasting is a key trend, with AI becoming more sophisticated over time to address these challenges.

To ensure high-quality media delivery, resolution, whether in HD, UHD, or 8K, is a crucial aspect in the resolution of hybrid, IP, and streaming workflows.
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