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Quasar®Cloud native file based QC

Audio/Video QC made easy for cloud workflows

Cloud Native File Based QC

Free Whitepaper for you

Free Whitepaper for you

Overview

Quasar® is the first file QC software built natively for the cloud architecture. Encompassing all the latest features of Pulsar; industry’s most efficient audio and video quality control software, Quasar video quality checker promises the fastest rate of QC in the cloud.

 

Quasar not only ensures your content security through IAM cross-account roles, whitelisting and pre-authenticated URL, it is the most advanced cloud video QC software with support for high in-demand features such as HDR, IMF/DCP analysis, Adaptive bitrate QC, Harding PSE etc. Quasar, with its sophisticated QC checks can be used to verify the content before submitting to key VOD services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, iTunes and HBO.

Overview

Quasar is the first file QC service built natively for the cloud architecture. Encompassing all the latest features of Pulsar; industry’s most efficient audio and video quality control software, Quasar video quality checker promises the fastest rate of QC in the cloud.

 

Quasar not only ensures your content security through IAM cross-account roles, whitelisting and pre-authenticated URL, it is the most advanced cloud video QC software with support for advanced features such as HDR, IMF/DCP analysis, Adaptive bitrate QC, Harding PSE etc. Quasar File QC can be used to verify the content before submitting to key VOD services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, iTunes and HBO.

Features & Benefits

Dynamic scaling

Performing QC on a large content volume can be time consuming. Quasar auto scales to support varying content volumes and can process thousands of files simultaneously and quickly.

Security & Latency
Security & Latency

With IAM cross-roles, pre-authenticated URL, whitelisting for REST API and other security features, you need not worry about your content security. Further, auto provisioning of virtual machine in content region ensures faster content QC.

Reliability

Advanced monitoring for early detection of potential problems, detailed system logging to trace back any rare issues, and failover mechanisms allowing workflow continuity even with infrastructure failures make Quasar a reliable service.

SaaS
SaaS service

Quasar is available as a fully managed SaaS service. This eliminates the need of any staff for system management, thus, reducing your time and cost. You can also deploy it in your own Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).

Reference-based analysis
Reference-based analysis

Quasar allows for a side-by-side comparison of a media file with its master/reference file using SSIM, PSNR and Ref-Q™, providing an efficient and cost-effective means of getting a frame-by-frame report of all such differences. This reduces manual inspection costs and increases the accuracy of the results.

VOD QC
VOD QC

Quasar supports QC checks for formats like MPEG-DASH, Apple HLS, Microsoft Smooth Streaming, and fragmented MP4 in addition to support for broadcast formats. You can auto-assign different QC templates to different encoding files to perform your video QC.

Harding PSE
Harding PSE

Harding FPA engine is integrated into Quasar QC checks allowing users to perform Photosensitive Epilepsy Validation using the industry defacto standard Harding PSE and receive a valid Harding certificate for HDR and SDR content.

QCtudio

QCtudio provides the ability to enhance your QC processes and elevate QC efficiency. Now you can review Quasar's results in an innovative interactive interface on a video timeline, adding comments for further collaboration, and modifying alert categories for precision. You can export updated reports in XML/PDF as well as in formats compatible with NLE solutions.

Dynamic scaling

Performing QC on a large content volume can be time consuming. Quasar auto scales to support varying content volumes and can process thousands of files simultaneously and quickly.

Security & Latency
Security & Latency

With IAM cross-roles, pre-authenticated URL, whitelisting for REST API and other security features, you need not worry about your content security. Further, auto provisioning of virtual machine in content region ensures faster content QC.

Reliability

Advanced monitoring for early detection of potential problems, detailed system logging to trace back any rare issues, and failover mechanisms allowing workflow continuity even with infrastructure failures make Quasar a reliable service.

SaaS
SaaS service

Quasar is available as a fully managed SaaS service. This eliminates the need of any staff for system management, thus, reducing your time and cost. You can also deploy it in your own Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).

Reference-based analysis
Reference-based analysis

Quasar allows for a side-by-side comparison of a media file with its master/reference file using SSIM, PSNR and Ref-Q™, providing an efficient and cost-effective means of getting a frame-by-frame report of all such differences. This reduces manual inspection costs and increases the accuracy of the results.

VOD QC
VOD QC

Quasar supports formats like MPEG-DASH, Apple HLS, Microsoft Smooth Streaming, and fragmented MP4 in addition to support for broadcast formats. You can auto-assign different QC templates to different encoding files.

Harding PSE
Harding PSE

Harding FPA engine is integrated into Quasar allowing users to perform Photosensitive Epilepsy Validation using the industry defacto standard Harding PSE and receive a valid Harding certificate for HDR and SDR content.

Our customers

Venera serves some of the finest companies of the world in helping improve their content QC operations. Here’s a snapshot of the brands who trust us.

Venera Client Emilel
Venera Client Sony
Venera Client HBO
Venera client Extreme reach
Venera NBC Universal
Venera Client Hearst
Venera Client Disney
Venera Client tokia
Venera client cinidigm
Venera client AMC network
Venera Client Ibfbs
Venera Client NEC
Venera Client Toei
Venera Client TSP media
Venera Client Third Eye

Wide range of checks

Quasar – file based QC on Cloud supports a wide range of QC checks. A subset of these QC checks is displayed here. Click here for the detailed list.

Color Gamut

Colour Gamut

Active Region

Active Region

Cadence

Cadence

Flshaframes

Flash Frames

Photosensitive Epilepsy

Photosensitive Epilepsy

Language ID

Audio Loudness

Audio Loudness

Audio Peaks

Audio Clipping

EAS

EAS

Audio Test Tone

Audio Test Tone

Audio Drops

Audio Drops

Technical specifications

Quasar Native Cloud File QC service supports a wide range of broadcast, archiving and VOD formats. It also allows a wide range of audio, video checks on media content.

Formats

Container: MXF, GXF, LXF, MOV, MP4, 3GPP, MPEG-2 TS, MPEG-2 PS, FLV, WMV, AVI, WAV, BWF, AIFF, Smooth Streaming, HLS, MPEG-DASH, IMF, DCP, Elementary

 

Video: H.265, H.264 (incl. AVC-Intra 50/100 and SONY XAVC), MPEG-2 (incl. D10, XDCAM, HDCAM, IMX-30/50), VC-1, DV (incl. DVCPro25, DVCPro50, DVCPro100/HD), Avid DNxHD (VC-3), Apple ProRes, JPEG-2000, Canopus HQ/HQX

 

Audio: LPCM, AES3, SMPTE 302M, MPEG-1/2, AAC, HE-AAC, WMA (Standard & Professional)

 

HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR-10, HDR-10+

Verification Checks

General: Compliance, Factory templates – Netflix, DPP, ARD-ZDF, Loudness (R128, CALM, OP-59, ARIB), iTunes & CableLabs

 

IMF/DCP: CPL based analysis, Package validation, CPL cross-checks, CPL checks, PKL cross-checks, OPL checks, Assetmap check, IMSC checks, Sidecar checks DNxHD (VC-3), Apple ProRes, JPEG-2000, Canopus HQ/HQX

 

ABR: Playlist cross checks. Segment cross checks, Profile cross checks, Encrypted Packages

 

Video Parameters: Codec, Video Format, Color space, Chroma Format, Color Matrix, Scan Mode, Duration, Frame Rate, Resolution, Display/Pixel Aspect Ratio, GOP Length, GOP Type, Field Order, Frame Sizes, Buffer Size, Bitrate (CBR/VBR), Profile/Level, Entropy Coding, Reference Pictures, MBAFF, Timecode Discontinuity, Timecode frame drop, 2020 Color Space

 

Video Quality: Black Frames, Blockiness, Brightness, Cadence, Chroma Hits, Chroma Line, Clipping, Colored Frames, Color Bars, Color Gamut, Combing, Credit Roll, Camera Dead Pixels, Dead Pixels, Digital Hits, Field Dominance, Flash Frames, Freeze Frames, Luma/Chroma levels, Half/Full lines, Bar Artefacts, Letter/Pillar Box, Active Region, Photosensitive epilepsy (Harding) (SDR and HDR), Media offline, Slate, Postal Stamp

 

HDR Parameters:HDR Formats, Reporting of HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision metadata

 

Static Metadata: Verify (display Color primaries, mastering display luminance, content light level)

 

Dynamic Metadata: Compliance, Validate HDR10+ metadata (MaxSCL, Average Max RGB, Distribution values, Tone-mapping information, Targeted system display maximum luminance), Validate Dolby Vision metadata (Metadata version, shot must not contain <0,0,0> in level 1 metadata, Detect duplicate dynamic metadata, Crosscheck canvas aspect ratio, Crosscheck Video track information, Crosscheck (Calculated/metadata) Image aspect ratio

 

Audio: Codec, Sampling Frequency, Quantization Bits, Channels, Bitrate (CBR/VBR), Drops, Silence, Mute, Test Tones, Loudness (R128, CALM, AGCOM, ARIB, Speech Gated), Loudness Range, Dialnorm, Sample Peak (DBFS, PPM), True Peak, Dual Mono, Clipping, EAS tone, Phase Mismatch, Language ID

 

Container: Conformance, Format, File Size, File Name Validation, No of streams, Incorrect extension MXF: Version, Operational pattern, Timecode presence/track count/mode/start value/source, Index table presence/location/completeness/correctness, Origin parameters, KLV alignment grid/fill elements, Partitions validity/Status/Completeness/Instance count/Index table presence/Essence presence/Max length, Essence wrapping/external check/referencing/partition strategy, Audio track numbers/element size/channel count/configurations, Descriptive metadata presence/scheme, Run-in sequence, Random index pack, Segmentation track, File package count, Index edit rate, Index duration, Audio/Video sample rate, Audio/Video stream type, Audio/Video edit rate, Video line map, System item presence, Block Align, Channel status mode, Fixed channel status data, Stored F2 offset, Display F2 offset, Sampled X/Y offset, Display X/Y offset, Identical GOP indicator, Edit unit byte count, Slice count, Dark metadata, Timecode frame drop, Audio locked/unlocked status, Audio ref level, Index start position, Single index location, Single essence location, Forward index direction, Image start/end offset, Colour siting, Padding bits, Black ref level, White ref level, Colour range, Constant B picture flag, Single sequence, Low delay, AS-02 Support Transport Streams: SCTE35, Program count, PCR Jitter, Packet Length, PID Usage, PIDs, PID Bitrate, Packet Intervals, PAT checks, PMT checks, Stream checks, PES checks, Language Metadata Verification

 

QuickTime: Checks and correction for PASP, FIEL, GAMA, CLAP, COLR. Channel Configuration, Track properties, Movie properties, Language Metadata Verification, Check disabled tracks, Check multiple codec entries, Check Timecode properties

 

Cross Checks: Video-Container: Width, Height, Frame rate, Aspect ratio, Bitrate, Profile/Level, Scan mode, Field order, Chroma format, GOP type, GOP length, B-pictures, Low delay, Duration, Component depth Audio-Container: Sampling frequency, Bit depth, Channels, Bitrate, Duration Audio-Video: Duration in meta-data, Actual duration

 

Meta-data: Closed Captions (608/708) presence/conformance/format/location, AFD, Bar, V-Chip, Teletext

 

Reference-Based Analysis: Ref-Q, SSIM, PSNR

Cloud Platforms
Storage Formats

Quasar Native Cloud File QC service supports QC of content stored on AWS S3, Azure Blob storage, BackBlaze storage and Google Cloud storage.

 

  • AWS S3
  • Azure Blob
  • Google Cloud Storage
  • Backblaze Storage

Quasar editions

Quasar is available two deployment models – SaaS & Private. SaaS is the most popular edition wherein the entire infrastructure is managed by Venera. Private edition is available for users who strictly need to run their workflow within their own VPC. Variety of plans are available for different content volume and budgets in both the editions. Contact us to discuss the most suitable plan for your workflow.

SaaS

Subscription

Monthly & Annual plans

Adhoc Plan

Available

Infrastructure cost

Venera responsibility

Infrastructure management

Venera responsibility

Content Storage location

User owned

Private

Subscription

Monthly & Annual plans

Adhoc Plan

Not Available

Infrastructure cost

User responsibility

Infrastructure management

User responsibility

Content Storage location

User owned

SaaS

Subscription

Monthly & Annual plans

Adhoc Plan

Available

Infrastructure cost

Venera responsibility

Infrastructure management

Venera responsibility

Content Storage location

User owned

Private

Subscription

Monthly & Annual plans

Adhoc Plan

Not Available

Infrastructure cost

User responsibility

Infrastructure management

User responsibility

Content Storage location

User owned

Quasar Plans

Beginner - $395

Vminutes

1800

Simultaneous jobs

1

Sign up

Beginner - $395

Vminutes

1800

Simultaneous jobs

1

Sign up

Medium - $695

Vminutes

1800

Simultaneous jobs

1

Sign up

Beginner - $395

Vminutes

1800

Simultaneous jobs

1

Sign up

Starter - $195

Vminutes

750

Simultaneous jobs

1

Sign up

Beginner - $395

Vminutes

1800

Simultaneous jobs

1

Sign up

Medium - $695

Vminutes

1800

Simultaneous jobs

1

Sign up

More content?

We have a range of higher content volume, cost-effective plans. Contact us to discuss more

Sign up

Workflow integrations

We actively integrate with the prominent solutions in digital media industry to provide an integrated offering for your workflows that are easy & efficient to use.

Venera Client Knox Mediahub
Venera Client aws Elemental
Venera Client SDVI

Factory templates

We provide ready-to-use templates of technical specifications required by these prominent content platforms, which can be used by you for the specific channel you want to display your content.

Venera Client Prime Video
Venera Client Netflix
itunes
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FAQ’s

What is Quasar and how it is different from Pulsar?

It is the first file-based QC solution built natively for the cloud architecture. It does include all the QC features of Pulsar QC software, our on-premise QC solution. If your workflow is in the cloud, your content resides on cloud storage, and you want to QC your content directly without downloading it, then Quasar is the right solution for you.

Are there different ways to use Quasar?

Quasar service is available as a fully managed SaaS service as well as a private edition offering that you can deploy in your own virtual private cloud (VPC).

What are the advantages of Quasar SaaS service over the private edition?
  • You don’t need to worry about managing the cloud infrastructure and can focus only on performing QC.
  • You can immediately start using Quasar. Either manually or via REST API.
  • You will get committed SLAs for service upkeep.
How is my content security ensured if I choose Quasar SaaS service?
  • There is no access to the user’s content and the processing VMs.
  • Quasar does not store any user credentials in the Quasar system.
  • We use AES-128 encryption for the temporarily downloaded content on processing VMs. Content is deleted from the processing VMs after the QC process is completed.
  • You may post the file to Quasar for QC without giving any security credentials using IAM cross-roles or a Pre-authenticated URL.
What will happen if there is a sudden burst of media content which needs a QC immediately? How Quasar will handle this?
  • Quasar is an elastic system that can be dynamically auto-scaled to any size without needing users’ intervention, allowing hundreds of files to be processed simultaneously.
  • Quasar has been tested with the ability to run up 1000 concurrent jobs. That is the most scalable cloud native QC system.
Can I integrate Quasar into my workflow?

Yes, you can integrate Quasar and all of its QC checks with your workflow using REST API.

Which cloud platforms are supported by Quasar?

AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

Can I perform the Harding PSE test using Quasar?

Yes, we have integrated the Harding FPA engine within Quasar’s sophisticated video quality checker. This allows users to perform Photosensitive Epilepsy validation using the industry defacto standard Harding PSE. Quasar is only solution that has integrated Harding PSE for both HDR and SDR content.

Will I incur data transfer charges due to the content analyzed by Quasar?

No. We automatically create the Quasar video quality checker instances in the same AWS region as the content. This allows Quasar to perform all the content QC checks without any data transfer charges to you.

Blog articles

Our experts and thought leaders share their knowledge of technologies pertaining to QC solutions for digital media industry in these scholarly articles.

What is Cadence and why its validation is important?

Feb 14, 2024

Understanding video cadence (or pull-down) in the broadcast industry can be challenging. In this blog article, we will explain what Cadence (or Pull-down) is along with its practical application, and different pull-down patterns.

Frame Shifting or Blanking Shift Issue Unveiled

Dec 13, 2023

What is frame shifting, it's impact on video quality, and how to overcome the challenge effectively with automated QC tools?

qc-dolby-atmos

Understanding Dolby Atmos and its QC challenges

Aug 10, 2023

Dolby Atmos is a revolutionary leap in surround sound technology that takes the audio experience to a whole new level. Learn more about it.

Caption-Audio Synchronization issues due to editing: Automated QC and alignment 

Nov 1, 2023

By leveraging automated QC tools, content creators can ensure precise caption-audio synchronization, and save  time and resources while delivering high-quality, synchronized captions for their videos.

Importance of QC in Audio Phase issues

Aug 29, 2023

Audio phase plays a pivotal role in sound reproduction. Understand the causes of audio phase issues and their QC solution.

What is Cadence and why its validation is important?

Feb 14, 2024

Understanding video cadence (or pull-down) in the broadcast industry can be challenging. In this blog article, we will explain what Cadence (or Pull-down) is along with its practical application, and different pull-down patterns.

Frame shifting or Blanking shift issue unveiled

Dec 13, 2023

What is frame shifting, it's impact on video quality, and how to overcome the challenge effectively with automated QC tools?

Caption-Audio Synchronization issues due to editing: Automated QC & alignment

  Nov 1, 2023

Learn why caption-audio synchronization is important and how to deliver high-quality synchronized captions in your video using automated QC tools

Importance of QC of Audio Phase Issues

Aug 29, 2023

Audio phase is a complex and intricate phenomenon that plays a pivotal role in sound reproduction. Understand the causes of audio phase issues and its solution

Understanding Dolby Atmos and its QC challenges

Aug 10, 2023

Learn about the revolutionary technology of Dolby Atmos that takes your sound experience to a new level.

Subtitle QC

CapMate 101 – Caption/Subtitle Files Verification and Correction Solution

Aug 4, 2022

Many of our customers had been telling us that the process of validating and correcting closed caption files is tedious, time consuming and costly! And that they needed an innovative QC solution...

Group of Pictures

Understanding GOP – What is “Group Of Pictures” and Why is it Important

May 4, 2022

GOP or “Group of Pictures” is a term that refers to the video structure representing how digital video is grouped. But before we get into understanding GOP, let’s start with the basics...

Dialog Gated Loudness

Dialog-gated Audio loudness and why it is important

Apr 13, 2022

Learn what is dialog gated loudness, it’s importance in video content, and how our QC products can help you detect it in an automated manner...

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What our clients say

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