Tektronix to ensure video and audio quality for Cogeco cable users


Tektronix, a provider of broadcast video test, monitoring and analysis
solutions, announced that its Sentry digital content monitor has been selected
by Cogeco Cable, Canada’s fourth largest cable operator, to improve quality of
video services.



Cogeco Cable selected Sentry for its comprehensive approach to ensuring its
subscribers consistently enjoy the best possible viewing experience. Sentry’s
monitoring capabilities enable the early detection and diagnosis of video and
audio errors, which can help operators fix the underlying issues, and in many
cases prevent costly in-home service appointments.



Cogeco Cable will deploy Sentry’s advanced Quality of Experience (QoE) and
Perceptive Video Quality (PVQ) modules. With QoE, Sentry does a full decode of
each MPEG packet looking for structural errors that cause picture and audio
impairments. Each impairment is scored based on the severity, taking into
account the frequency, duration and position on viewers’ screens of each
impairment.



Sentry’s PVQ module detects picture blockiness and other artifacts caused by
over-compression using an eMOS (effective Mean Opinion Score) based scoring
algorithm. Sentry’s combination of advanced QoE capabilities and PVQ provides
Cogeco Cable with the most comprehensive real-time monitoring and alerting
system available today.



“Maintaining subscriber growth while reducing overall operating costs is a
key initiative and we believe Sentry’s exceptional monitoring and management
capabilities will help us achieve our goals,” said Jacques Gravel, VP of
Network Services.



Cogeco Cable will initially deploy Sentry in its master headend, where it will
be comprehensively monitor the standard definition (SD) and high definition
(HD) programming throughout the company’s Ontario systems. Cogeco Cable will
configure and manage its Sentry units using Tektronix Medius application.



“Cogeco Cable has a well-deserved reputation for service excellence and
their choosing Sentry shows their commitment to providing services with the
best possible quality,” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product
Line, Tektronix.



Sentry has been used by nine of the top 10 U.S. cable operators and now four of
the top five Canadian operators.



Sentry utilizes advanced deep packet inspection (DPI) technology to give cable
operators unparalleled visibility into network anomalies at the IP and MPEG
layers at all critical locations in the network.


By Telecomlead.com team
[email protected]