Introduction
Live streaming videos are gaining popularity among businesses. They are one of the most effective ways to get your message across to millions of people in the shortest amount of time. But more often than not, it turns into a disaster because it relies on computers.
If the video quality is low, you’re unlikely to convert leads into sales.This guide will show you how to improve the quality of your stream using video streaming tests so you can reach the largest possible audience. Eight easy steps that anyone can follow!
What Are the Benefits of a High-Quality Live Stream?
A high-quality live stream can help you build a stronger connection with your audience and make them feel like they’re part of the action. It’s also an excellent way to show off your brand’s personality.
In addition, if your stream has poor video quality or lags behind real-time (which is familiar with older computers), viewers may think that your device is having problems rather than the internet connection itself — which would also reflect poorly on them as on you.
There are several benefits to using a high-quality live stream:
- Increases viewer engagement
- Improves brand recognition
- It makes your company look professional
- Increase Brand Awareness and Sales Opportunities
- Attract Better Sponsorships and Affiliate Deals
- Improves customer satisfaction levels
- Improves click-through rates for links shared during the broadcast (but only if viewers click them!)
- Reduces bounce rates for landing pages
To ensure you reap the above benefits, it is essential to perform OTT application testing. Such a procedure will enhance your users’ experience, thus offering you higher ROI.
Let’s get started!
Graphics, UI and UX Testing
Live streaming can be an incredibly powerful tool for businesses, but it’s not without its challenges. When it comes to live streaming, the first thing that you need to do is make sure that your video quality is good.
And this is where the graphics, UI, and UX testing comes in. The biggest one is making sure that your users have a positive experience when they use live streaming. Here are some of the things you should look for in your platform testing:
Graphics – Does the graphics look good on all devices? This includes both the video player and the chat window. If you’re running a video player on your own server or using a third party video player like Viddler, make sure that it’s functioning properly and looks good on different devices. You also want to make sure that the chat window looks good on all devices – especially those with smaller screens.
UI – If you’re using an image-based chat platform such as Facebook Messenger, make sure that all of your features are easy to find and use.
- Does the User Interface work as expected?
- Are all features accessible through the interface?
- Do they work as expected in each device tested?
- Are all buttons clickable?
- What happens if someone doesn’t know how to use them?
- How much effort will they put into trying to figure out how they work?
UX –
- Can users find their way around your app or website easily by using various functions and buttons?
- Do they understand how to use it properly?
- Are there any unnecessary steps involved in using live streaming tools?
Bandwidth Testing
Bandwidth testing is a technique used to determine how much data can be transferred between two locations. Bandwidth testing is carried out by using a network analyzer that allows you to measure the amount of data being transferred from one location to another.
In order for bandwidth testing to be effective, you need to have a good understanding of your bandwidth requirements and need to know these things:
- How much bandwidth do you need?
- Where will your viewers be streaming from?
- What type of device will they be using?
- What kind of network connection do they have?
- How many people will be watching at once?
Load Testing
Load testing is one of the most important aspects of performance testing. It helps to understand how your application behaves under heavy loads and whether it can handle more.
A typical load test involves simulating a large number of users accessing your application at the same time. The goal is to make sure that you have enough resources available so that your server doesn’t crash or run out of memory while handling the increased load.
You should make sure that you understand how various types of users will interact with your app, so that you can create a design for them. You should also prepare for any errors that may occur during the load test, such as:
- A bad connection between the client and server
- A slow internet connection
- A slow device (PC or mobile phone)
Performance Testing
Performance testing is one of the most important aspects of live streaming. It helps you identify issues with your hardware, software and network infrastructure.It is the one that will determine if a platform can handle a large number of viewers and stay stable and whether your app is ready to be launched or not.
Live streaming Performance testing can be done manually and also automated using tools like load generators, stress testers and automation frameworks.
Performance testing involves measuring and analyzing the performance of an application under different scenarios, such as heavy load, slow response times and so on. The data collected from these tests can help you identify problems in your code and solve them before production release.
Security Testing
As a professional OTT service provider, you know that security testing is important for your business. In a world where data breaches are common and hackers are always looking for vulnerabilities, it’s important to test your application for security flaws before exposing it to the public. It’s important to have security testing in place because you want to make sure that your audience feels safe and secure.
Security testing can be done in various ways. One of them is by using an automated tool. It can help you in performing the following tasks:
- Checking if your server has been hacked or not
- Verifying the authenticity of your site
- Analyzing the traffic on your website
- Determining whether your website is secure or not
- Testing the speed and performance of your website
Interoperability Testing
Interoperability testing is one of the most important steps in ott automation testing for a streaming platform. The ability to view a live stream on multiple devices is important. Interoperability testing ensures that a live stream can be played on multiple devices, operating systems and browsers. For example, if you are creating a live stream on ott platform, you need to test it on different browser versions like Chrome, Firefox, etc.
If your content is not interoperable with all these browsers, then your audience will not be able to watch your content on different devices. This can include desktop computers, laptops, tablets or mobile phones. It is important that the video streams are compatible with each other so that users can access them from any device they choose.
Stream Testing
Using a robust stream testing platform, you can test your live streams to ensure they are being delivered as expected. You can test for errors such as dropped connections, network issues and more.
The best way to perform stream testing is to use virtual IPs. This means that you are not using your own IP address as a proxy but instead, using one assigned by your ISP. This allows you to set up different tests and determine which ones are having the most consistency in performance.
Usability Testing
One of the most important aspects of user experience is usability. Usability testing is a process where you test a product or service to understand what users think of it, and how they use it. It involves observing people as they use your product to see if they are able to perform tasks smoothly and efficiently.
By doing usability testing, you can find out whether your app is easy to use and understand, whether users like it and how long it takes them to master its features. It also helps you identify potential bugs in the app so that these can be fixed before release.
When it comes to usability testing, the most important thing is to understand the user experience. A good user interface is essential for a successful live streaming platform.
The first step in usability testing is to identify the target audience. You need to know who you are going to test your app with and what their needs are so that you can create a design that will meet their expectations.
Next, run through some questions with them so they can tell you what they think works well and doesn’t work well on your website or app. This will help shape the final product and make it more useful for everyone involved.
Network Testing
In this test, the network is tested with different types of internet connection.
Network latency occurs when a service is trying to connect with another remote machine. Network Latency test simulates latency on different networks (e.g., local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN) and cellular networks).
You can conduct this test to see how much latency there is between your endpoints and the OTT platform you’re testing. Ideally, you want minimal latency so that your stream runs as smoothly as possible without any hiccups.
Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred between two machines in a given period of time. A low bandwidth condition may occur if there is a lot of traffic on the network or if you are using a slow modem or router. High bandwidth conditions occur when you have more than enough capacity to handle your needs.
In order to test your live streaming service, you need to create a few test environments with different amounts of bandwidth. You can run tests with different types of connection speeds and different latency levels as well.
We recommend testing your live streaming service with at least two different connection types:
- High bandwidth – Test with a fast internet connection (100Mbps or above). This will ensure that your live stream is not affected by slow networks or congested areas. You may want to create a separate test environment for this purpose.
- Low bandwidth – Test with a slow Internet connection (5Mbps or below). This will help you identify any issues related to low-bandwidth connections and overloading your stream.
Conclusion
To sum up, the best way to improve the quality of live streaming is to ensure that you perform—
- Graphics, UI and UX Testing
- Bandwidth Testing
- Load Testing
- Performance Testing
- Security Testing
- Interoperability Testing
- Stream Testing
- Usability Testing
- Network Testing
Generally, it is necessary to overcome the obstacles of live streaming: bandwidth, latency, and sometimes error. Live streaming has a direct relationship with the quality of video and audio. The resolution varies in proportion to these factors. However, customers are much more sensitive to quality than they are to features. It is important to focus on quality when you get ott application testing.
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