Pixelmetrix bagged the TV Technology STAR Award for its Electronic Couch Potato and Consolidator. The Electronic Couch Potato is designed to monitor the true customer viewing experience by providing measurements from the end point of the content delivery chain. The ECP connects after the Set Top Box and provides feedback on various service quality parameters to a central site, including but not limited to, network transmission quality, overall service quality and availability.

“The Electronic Couch Potato and Consolidator is an expansion on the Pixelmetrix philosophy of providing end-to-end visibility. At the recent IBC, it generated much excitement and interest from telcos, TV broadcasters and IPTV service providers. Indeed, the STAR Award has added a nice touch to this newly launched offering which was featured for the first time at our IBC booth,” Danny Wilson, Pixelmetrix President & CEO, enthused.

Mark Hallinger, Editor of TV Technology Europe, said, “STAR awards are given to interesting new products that help a user save money or accomplish a task in an easier way. The products selected help advance the industry - some were chosen because of technical novelty or innovation, some because they filled an important gap in the production or transmission chain, and some because they were just cool products.”

The uniqueness of the ECP lies in its ability to simulate a human being by sequentially changing channels on a Set Top Box via a built-in infrared control mechanism. Service plan verification through switching channels, recording measurements on service quality for each channel and eventually reporting it to a central management console, equips the service provider with an in-depth knowledge of the end-user’s experience. Most importantly, it helps to check whether the channel is actually available in the first place.

The ECP takes the raw audio-video output of the STB as its input to make parameter measurements. It utilizes the decoded signal from a consumer-graded STB to make a complete and true evaluation of the end-user’s QoE. The ECP also has an Internet Protocol interface to report telemetry on various parameters of the protocol stack, including the transport and IP layers.

Pixelmetrix develops a host of IPTV and Preventive Monitoring systems that offer unique attributes and versatility, allowing operators to achieve end-to-end visibility and keep tabs on their network architecture.

The STAR Award (Superior Technology Award Recipient) is designed to celebrate and showcase the preeminent technological innovations available to the broadcast industry. TV Technology Europe’s editor reviewed a variety of products, examined the technical applications and their overall contribution to the industry, and then chose 21 winners.