Know your metrics

Understanding viewer engagement and the overall Quality of Experience (QoE) is essential for platforms and video developers. With our FastPix video data solution, we provide valuable insights that enable you to measure and enhance these critical aspects. This guide will explore the key metrics we have defined to assess viewer engagement and QoE, helping you optimize content delivery and improve user satisfaction.

Metrics

Understanding views in video metrics

A "view" is defined as any attempt to play a video, regardless of whether the playback is successful. This includes instances where a viewer clicks the play button or when playback is initiated programmatically.

How views are counted:

Initiation of playback: A view is recorded as soon as a viewer attempts to start the video. This means that even if playback fails (for example, due to buffering issues or network interruption), it still counts as one view.
Session duration: Each view remains active until the video playback is either completed or interrupted—such as when the viewer navigates away from the page. Additionally, if playback stops but the viewer does not explicitly end it, the view will be counted for up to one hour.
Continuous viewing: If a viewer pauses and then resumes watching the same video, it is still counted as a single view. Similarly, if a video is looped or replayed during a single session, it will not increase the view count.

Implications for data collection

When analyzing metrics based on views, it's essential to recognize that our measurements are derived from data collected during each unique viewing session. Therefore, if you notice an unexpectedly high number of views in your dashboard, it may be beneficial to review the implementation of your data tracking code to ensure that it initializes correctly for each playback attempt.

Overview of metrics

To effectively measure viewer engagement and QoE, we categorize our metrics into six main groups:

Audience Metrics: These metrics focus on quantifying viewer engagement with the platform.
Quality of Experience (QoE) Metrics: These metrics assess the overall experience of viewers while interacting with video content.
Playback Metrics: These metrics provide insights into how effectively videos are being accessed and viewed by users.
Startup Metrics: Startup metrics measure the initial performance of a video upon playback.
Stability Metrics: Stability Metrics measure the reliability of video playback to ensure a smooth viewing experience.
Render Quality Metrics: Render quality metrics evaluate the visual quality experienced by viewers

Category	Metric	Definition
Audience Metrics	Views	Total number of times the video has been viewed.
	Unique Visitors	The number of distinct users who have viewed the video.
	Playing Time	Total time spent by viewers watching the video.
QoE Metrics	Overall Experience Score	A composite score reflecting the overall viewer satisfaction with the video playback experience.
Playback Metrics	Playback Success Score	The percentage of successful playback instances compared to total playback attempts.
	Playback Failure Percentage	The percentage of playback attempts that resulted in failure.
	Exits Before Video Start	The number of viewers who exited before the video started playing.
	Video Startup Failure Percentage	The percentage of times the video failed to start after being requested.
Startup Metrics	Startup Time Score	A score quantifying viewer satisfaction based on how quickly the video starts playing after being requested.
	Video Startup Time	The time taken for the video to begin playback after initiation, measured in seconds.
	Player Initialization Time	The duration it takes for the player to initialize and be ready for playback commands after page load.
	Page Load Time	The time taken for the page containing the video to load fully before playback begins.
	Total Startup Time	The cumulative time from initiating playback until the video is ready to watch, including all delays.
	Jump Latency	The average duration viewers wait for a video to resume after jumping to a new timestamp within the content.
Stability Metrics	Stability Score	A score reflecting the level of interruptions during video playback; higher scores indicate fewer disruptions.
	Buffer Ratio	The percentage of total viewing time spent buffering; lower ratios indicate a smoother viewing experience.
	Buffer Frequency	The frequency of rebuffering events during playback, measured in events per second; higher frequencies can indicate playback issues.
	Buffer Fill	The average duration (in seconds) that viewers experience rebuffering per video view.
	Buffer Count	The total number of times buffering occurred during a video view; frequent buffering can negatively impact viewer satisfaction.
Render Quality Metrics	Render Quality Score	A score quantifying perceived visual quality based on the percentage of views rated at the highest quality level (100). Higher scores indicate better visual quality.
	Upscale Percentage	The average percentage of time that the video player upscales the resolution during playback; frequent upscaling may affect perceived quality.
	Downscale Percentage	The average percentage of time that the video player downscales the resolution during playback; this can indicate how well content matches viewer device capabilities.
	Max Upscaling	The maximum percentage to which the video player upscales the video resolution to match the device's screen resolution.
	Max Downscaling	The maximum percentage to which the video player downscales the video resolution to fit the screen.
	Average Bitrate	The average number of bits per second delivered in the video stream, indicating data consumption and potential quality levels.
	Live Stream Latency	The delay between real-time events and their display on viewers' screens during live streaming sessions; lower latency is preferable for real-time engagement.

In the following guides, we will delve deeper into each metric category.