13 Dec What is the role of Quality of Experience in film contents?

The experience of viewing films, even the classic ones, has changed. A lot of streaming services have appeared to offer viewers virtually unlimited access to content. Films can be watched on a lot of different types of electronic devices. People watch cinematic art in various environments on different-sized screens. It doesn’t matter if they are using a smartphone while on the bus ride to work or if they choose a laptop while lounging in a bed in a hotel: it is not more necessary to go to a theatre to watch a film. In fact, a lot of theatres are shut down and film releases are not exclusively at physical events.

What users prefer

Perhaps one of the main questions is: where does the consumer prefer to watch films? A study conducted tries to answer this question.

Overall, the respondents show an overt fondness for cinema-going. Watching films on DVD and on a computer or laptop were mentioned more often, but this option was not valued or preferred over cinema-going. Concerning smaller screens, watching films on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets was least preferred; they are not ranked often, and if ranked, they usually end up in the last place. Concerning television, films are most likely watched postponed, but renting films by video-on-demand is not that frequent at all; nearly half of the respondents say they never have.

An amazing experience

What doesn’t change is the fact that films are not just a visual experience: they are felt by a viewer through a viewer’s senses. An individual does not merely watch a film as a passive viewer; instead, he or she experiences the film through cognitive, automatic, and emotional responses. One of the best examples of this is a horror movie. Watching it, a viewer becomes part of seeing, hearing, and perceiving the film’s world as if they are in it, subjected to physical sensations like chills, emotional responses like fear, and cognitive responses like closing their eyes to danger. The more multisensory a film is, the more effect it has on a viewer, and the more successful it is as an artwork.

Considering experience, one of the more apparent benefits of streaming services over cinema is the quality of the experience. When you go to the cinema, you must deal with a few issues that make the viewing experience less than ideal. For one thing, you have no control over the sound in the cinema; for some people, it can therefore be far too loud and aggravating to watch. You also have little choice over whether to have subtitles, as most showings at the cinema are devoid of subtitles.

However, when you watch a movie online, you can control the sound’s volume and quality. In addition, you can use headphones or a good speaker to listen to the film and make the experience much more pleasant. And if you’re watching a movie on a streaming service, you can manage it in the privacy of your own home, on your terms. You can turn the lights off, kick your feet, and relax.

Measuring in streaming

Another benefit of streaming services over the cinema is the flexibility of the viewing experience. All you need is a steady internet connection and a device to stream the content. You can watch a show or movie whenever you want, as many times as you wish.

However, if streaming companies want to assure they meet the user expectation regarding all these sensations and emotions, organizations must control a lot of parameters to offer a great moment during the films. We have covered all the issues that must be afront and, also, some of the benefits companies could have when doing so.

Measuring and predicting the user’s Quality of Experience (QoE) of a multimedia stream is the definitive step towards improving and optimizing the provision of streaming services. This enables to better understanding of how Quality of Service (QoS) parameters affect service quality, as it is perceived by the end user. Over the last few years, this goal has been pursued by means of subjective tests and through the analysis of the user’s feedback. Existing statistical techniques have led to poor accuracy (order of 70%) and the inability to evolve prediction models with the system’s dynamics.

There are few QoE prediction models that use AI algorithms that can be used for real-time prediction of QoE and can be efficiently integrated into online learning systems that can adapt the models according to changes in the environment. Video-MOS is leading this trend offering a probe that can be connected at any point of the value chain.

A film’s value, as experienced by an end consumer, is dependent on the work carried out in all the sectors, such as the quality of the production, a good fit between the expectations created through marketing and the film itself, and an enjoyable presence in the form of comfortable cinema seats or uninterrupted streaming. In this chain, which is vertical in value system terms, products flow downstream from production to exhibition, while money flows upstream from exhibition to production, creating a circular flow of products and money.

At the end of the road, streaming services companies must evaluate the Quality of Experience to offer the best audio and image content. Home cinema has never been so far to be an incredible experience as it was in a theatre a long time ago.