Bitmovin introduced updates across its products and services including the Bitmovin Player and Stream Lab video stream testing, and a new tool for real-time insights into video playback.
Streaming solutions developer Bitmovin has introduced several updates across its products and services including the Bitmovin Player and video stream testing system Stream Lab, and announced a new solution that delivers real-time insights into video playback.
Bitmovin Player AI Analysis
Bitmovin’s internal playback stream testing system for the Bitmovin Player now uses AI analysis, enabling it to process over 1 million stream tests every week. Viewers today watch content across a wide range of devices, and delivering consistent high-quality streams across all these devices is a complex challenge for streaming services.
With the new AI-powered testing infrastructure, Bitmovin are running and processing tests across more than 180 different device types. This new testing framework uses AI analysis to determine the root cause of issues, the results of which Bitmovin uses to generate its weekly SDK releases. This ensures that the Bitmovin Player delivers a consistent quality of experience across devices, giving video services confidence that viewers can watch in the highest possible quality regardless of the viewing device.
Stream Lab Automation
The new features added to Bitmovin’s automated video stream testing solution Stream Lab include an improved UX that makes it faster for video service providers to set up and run tests, and also makes it easier to group tests based on different device types. Bitmovin has also expanded the number of locations supported by Stream Lab by extending its VPN testing locations to include the Middle East region.
Stream Lab can be used to test clear or DRM protected streams in real streaming environments, and to test on older and newer models of actual devices. Users can also access pre-set tests built for specific use cases, and receive detailed functionality reports and quality of experience metrics.
Real-time Observability
Bitmovin’s Observability is a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insights into video playback. It enables video providers to set up video playback, give proactive viewer support and gain new visibility across both content and advertising playback.
Originally a feature within Bitmovin Analytics, Bitmovin Observability has now been launched as a separate tool in its own right. Unlike general purpose observability platforms, its features are tailored for video playback. With its deep session-level insights, error debugging, incidents screen with alerts and monetisation telemetry, the platform has been designed specifically for real-time monitoring, making it a good match for enterprise streaming services alongside high-profile events such as sports.
The new Bitmovin Observability is fast to deploy, straightforward and features AI-powered capabilities tailored to video data, as well as an MCP server to enable LLMs and AI agents to access the data and tools. MCP [Model Context Protocol] is an open-source standard for connecting AI applications to external systems. Built-in advertising observability gives insights that streaming services can act on immediately to enhance ad performance and engagement.
The solution also analyzes playback data and assigns the service a Playback Score from 0 to 100 based on factors such as start-up, smoothness, video quality, and session success. To improve their score, video providers can use Bitmovin's AI Session Interpreter to get clear actionable insights and recommendations to optimize performance and enhance the viewer's experience.
Stefan Lederer, CEO and Co-Founder, Bitmovin, commented, "While general purpose observability products have a lot of value in enterprise IT, they aren't designed for video. Bitmovin Observability is different because it's tailor made for video streaming so it provides the necessary detail to identify and resolve issues with playback quality, advertising or viewership. Real-time observability is also particularly important for live events streaming because monitoring video playback globally is extremely challenging, and service disruptions directly affect revenue."
Bitmovin has been showing these new systems at Demuxed in London, 29 to 30 October. bitmovin.com
