Metrico solution evaluates mobile video performance at handset level

Metrico Wireless Inc. launched a new product to test how mobile video performs on end users’ handsets as wireless operators try to address the growing trend of viewing video on mobile phones.
Increasingly, end users are viewing video over mobile devices, and operators are trying to figure out how to monetize for the increased traffic on the network that is expected to come from mobile video viewing.
Chromatic is designed to evaluate how streaming video performs from the end user’s perspective in a live network. “Video performance is getting a lot of attention right now,” said Simon Bone, director of product management at Metrico. “Mobile operators need to know what kind of video quality subscribers are actually experiencing on their wireless devices. They need to know which devices perform the best when streaming video content across their wireless networks, and they need an easy, cost-effective way to make that determination.”
Different video players, networks, operating systems and devices each deliver video differently, Bone noted.
The portable device, which has been in development for about a year, can work in the lab and in the field as operators evaluate how end users see mobile video instead of having to extrapolate the quality of the video based on traffic information from the network. Chromatic also can evaluate two devices simultaneously so operators can measure performance against a common reference design.
The mobile video testing solution is the latest in Metrico’s lineup of test tools. The company also offers test tools that evaluate call, audio and mobile data performance.