QC Checks & Processes

Profile-driven validation of detected metadata against your delivery spec. Each field is evaluated only when your profile pins a requirement for it.

• Container format
• Video codec, profile, level, and tier
• Width and height
• Display aspect ratio and pixel aspect ratio
• Frame rate and frame-rate mode
• Chroma subsampling and bit depth
• Scan type and scan order (field dominance)
• Color space, primaries, transfer, matrix, and range
• Video bitrate mode and maximum bitrate
• GOP open vs closed
• Audio format, profile, channels, and channel layout
• Audio sampling rate, bit depth, and compression mode
• Audio bitrate mode, language, and maximum bitrate
• Integrated loudness and true-peak limits

Professional MXF and AS-11 delivery validation beyond single-file metadata.

• Partition section order (header, body, footer, random index)
• Essence container label (OP1a and AS-11 X1 / X2 / X3 / X4)
• AS-11 descriptive metadata required by profile
• AS-02 companion essence file presence
• Material-identifier chain across multi-file packages
• UMID display-format consistency (advisory)

Accessibility and default-stream flags on each essence track.

• Default stream disposition
• Forced stream disposition
• Hearing-impaired / accessibility disposition
• Stream accessibility vs profile expectations

Transport-stream PID sanity for MPEG-TS style containers.

• Video PID presence
• PID uniqueness across programs
• PID within accepted range (0x0010–0x1FFE)
• Program-to-stream mapping

Identity digests and basic completeness checks.

• SHA-256 file digest
• CRC32 digest
• MD5 digest
• Truncation check (file size vs declared duration and bitrate)

Broadcast filename structure when a queue row is marked as broadcast content.

• 11-character AD-ID base code structure
• HD (H) or 3D (D) suffix validation
• Accepted maximum length advisory

Core video stream descriptors reported by the container.

• Resolution
• Display aspect ratio
• Pixel aspect ratio
• Video codec and format profile
• Format level and tier
• Frame rate and constant vs variable mode
• Progressive vs interlaced scan type
• Chroma subsampling
• Bit depth
• Bitrate mode and peak bitrate

Color pipeline tags as carried in the file header and stream descriptors.

• Color space
• Color primaries
• Transfer characteristics
• Matrix coefficients
• Limited vs Full Range

Compression structure checks when pinned by profile.

• GOP open vs closed header flag

Timeline labeling consistency across tags and frames.

• Drop-frame vs non-drop-frame detection
• Frame-by-frame timecode continuity
• First-frame video vs audio vs container timecode
• Picture-domain VITC comparison

Active-format side data for downstream framing (SMPTE ST 2016-1 / CEA-708).

• AFD code presence in frame side data
• Required AFD code vs profile
• Informational AFD reporting when profile is silent

HDR metadata stack validation against profile-declared format.

• HDR10 static metadata presence and consistency
• HDR10+ dynamic metadata
• HLG signaling and BT.2020 matrix expectations
• Dolby Vision profile, level, and layer presence
• Mastering display primaries and luminance range
• MaxCLL / MaxFALL cross-validation
• PQ peak ceiling and advisory HDR headroom limits

Head- and tail-window detection of reference patterns.

• SMPTE RP 219 / EBU color-bar pattern detection
• Test-pattern fingerprint at program edges

Interlaced field dominance for broadcast workflows.

• Top-field-first vs bottom-field-first dominance
• Field reversal detection
• Mixed progressive/interlaced frame detection
• Progressive content reported as not applicable

Broadcast legal luma and chroma limits.

• Illegal luma pixel ratio
• Illegal chroma pixel ratio
• Active-picture vs full-raster measurement region
• Matte-bar exclusion on high-confidence letterbox
• First flagged illegal frame on the timeline
• Per-frame legal strip on the signal graph

Sustained luma tolerance band around legal levels.

• Out-of-tolerance luma pixel percentage
• Sustained run duration threshold
• Blanking-black exclusion from tolerance count
• Longest qualifying run anchored on timeline

Legal chroma saturation ceiling for broadcast sources.

• Peak saturation vs legal chroma box
• Saturation at or above ceiling (fail)
• Saturation High, Low and Average traces on signal graph

Frame-to-frame luma and chroma behavior across the program.

• Inter-frame luma swing events
• Inter-frame chroma swing events
• Sustained near-black segments
• Sustained near-white segments
• Full Y / Cb / Cr min, avg, and max graph

Informational spike markers — they don't pass or fail on their own.

• Sudden luma min/max excursions
• Sudden chroma min/max excursions
• Conservative transient-only filtering

Multi-channel still-frame detection with head/tail grace.

• Hard freeze
• Near-freeze
• Variance confirmation to reduce dissolve false positives

Per-frame block-structure artifact scoring.

• Average blockiness score
• Peak blockiness frame and timestamp
• Startup grace to suppress decoder artefacts

Per-frame perceptual sharpness / blur estimate.

• Average blur score
• Peak blur frame
• Contribution to picture quality score

High-frequency grain and noise characterization.

• Average noise level
• Peak noise level

Solid-color and extended black segment detection.

• Flat-frame percentage across program body
• Per-segment flat color classification
• Extended black segments in content body
• Head/tail grace for normal leader and fades
• Seekable timestamp per flagged segment

Abnormally static picture detection.

• Mean frame-to-frame difference
• Fraction of frames below noise floor
• Low-motion interview / product-shot tolerance

How much the picture changes over time.

• Frame-to-frame variation index
• Unusually low-complexity warn and fail bands

Persistent defective pixel accounting (ISO 9241-307–inspired classes).

• Dead full pixels
• Stuck full pixels
• Dead subpixels
• Stuck subpixels
• Resolution-scaled per-million defect limits
• Display quality class (Class 0–4)
• Frame location (e.g. upper left, center)
• Evidence frame and seekable timestamp
• Slate/leader exclusion from analysis window

Gradient banding in dark image regions.

• Frames affected by banding percentage
• Focused on the dark areas where banding shows most

Weighted composite from contributing visual checks.

• Composite score
• Pass, warn, and fail bands
• Critical override from stability or freeze failures
• Inputs: noise, blockiness, banding, stability, freeze, flat frames, dead pixels, blur

Letterbox, pillarbox, and mid-program aspect shifts.

• Dominant active image crop
• Letterbox / pillarbox informational status
• Mid-content active-area change findings
• Crop tolerance and timestamped change events

Combing on content declared progressive.

• Interlaced-frame rate on progressive sources
• Warn and fail rate thresholds

Editorial pacing metrics — informational only.

• Total scene cuts
• Average shot length
• Cuts per minute

Legacy tape-source artifact signatures.

• Monochrome line dropout
• Flat saturated line dropout
• Concealed frame repeat
• Chroma-only dropout
• Multi-line burst dropout
• Source-format preset (VHS, Betacam, DigiBeta, others)

Scene-uncorrelated luminance spikes.

• Rapid luminance opposing changes
• Flash events not explained by scene cuts
• Peak flash frame timestamps

Sustained oscillating brightness (ITU-R BT.1702–informed).

• Minimum event duration
• Minimum reversal count
• Scaled thresholds for 8-bit and 10-bit domains
• Photosensitive-risk vs luminance-instability class

Composed verdict from flash, flicker, and pattern analysis (WCAG 2.3.1 / ITU-R BT.1702).

• Hazardous flashes per one-second sliding window
• 3–50 Hz sustained risk-flicker with hazard confirmation
• Luminance flash mapped to cd/m²
• Regular high-contrast spatial stripe patterns
• Extended prolonged flash detection
• Profile-tunable photosensitivity thresholds

ITU-R BS.1770 measurement against your profile's limits (ATSC A/85 or EBU R128).

• Integrated loudness (LUFS)
• Comparison with a sibling XML loudness report's integrated LUFS, when present
• Maximum short-term loudness (3 s window)
• Maximum momentary loudness
• True peak (dBTP)
• Loudness range (LRA)
• Mono through 7.1 channel layouts
• No-audio skip with clear status

PCM clipping policy separate from loudness limits.

• Clipped sample count per channel
• Worst-channel summary
• Timeline clipping events
• Profile warn and fail escalation

Full-clip spectral analysis — informational only.

• Per-track spectrum summary metrics
• Sparse frequency timeline
• Spectrogram matrix in report charts
• Aligned timebase with video signal graphs

Absent, silent, or flat audio detection.

• Extended silence segments (silencedetect)
• Flat zero-RMS waveform stretches
• Dead-peak detection
• No-audio stream skip

Phase correlation for stereo and dual-mono sources.

• Negative phase correlation fraction
• Profile correlation threshold

Head- or tail-positioned line-up tone when enabled.

• 1 kHz tone presence at head or tail
• Tone level vs expected dBFS
• Absent required tone (fail)
• Off-level tone (warn)

PCM container tag consistency for broadcast MXF.

• Codec name vs container tag agreement
• Bit-depth wrapping errors
• ST 302M / ST 337M / Dolby E presence hints

CEA-608 and CEA-708 caption stream validation.

• Caption stream presence
• CEA-608 vs CEA-708 type identification
• Minimum caption duration coverage
• CEA-608 field integrity
• Caption gap findings with timestamps

Safe-area compliance for on-screen text and graphics (SMPTE ST 2046-1 / EBU R 95).

• Valid OpenAI Platform API key required
• Title-safe zone (90%) violations
• Action-safe zone (93%) violations
• Element descriptor and overrun edge in findings
• Bounding-box highlights in preview and reports
• Sub-pixel tolerance for minor edge overshoot

Folder-based frame sequence handling.

• Frame numbering pattern resolution
• Frame count reporting
• Frame rate from file, profile, CDL, column, or prompt
• Inferred frame-rate advisory chip
• Visual QC across numbered frames
• Audio, interlace, container-only checks skipped with guidance

Numbering and length checks for image sequences.

• Missing frame numbers
• Minimum frame count vs profile
• Short-sequence advisory

Per-frame color tag aggregation (SMPTE ST 268-1 for DPX).

• Cross-frame color tag consistency
• Partial or incomplete color metadata
• Missing color tags on sampled frames
• Off-profile color space vs delivery allowlist
• DPX header magic and endian validation
• OpenEXR header read for EXR sequences

Built-in delivery targets for 2K and 4K digital cinema.

• DCI 2K and 4K container targets
• JPEG 2000 picture and PCM audio expectations
• DCI color and frame-rate conformance
• Reel and packaging structure

Structure and reference validation for Interoperable Master Format packages.

• CPL, PKL, and ASSETMAP structure
• Track-file references and completeness
• Per-asset hash verification
• Essence descriptor conformance

Structure and reference validation for Digital Cinema Packages.

• ASSETMAP, VOLINDEX, CPL, and PKL structure
• Reel and asset references
• Per-asset hash verification
• Interop and SMPTE DCP support

Status of every finding from the prior baseline run.

• Still present (persistent) findings
• Resolved findings
• Newly introduced findings
• Prior baseline run summary (time, profile, operator)
• Production-will-fix item recheck

Side-by-side report section between versions.

• Delivery detail deltas (baseline | revised columns)
• Findings audit table
• Side-by-side reference frame captures
• Embedded reference frames in saved metadata
• Profile name or path mismatch warning

Objective picture comparison against the baseline file.

• Pixel accuracy (PSNR)
• Structure and detail match (SSIM)
• Perceived quality (VMAF)
• Baseline | revised | change columns in report

Operator-raised findings outside automated coverage.

• Operator severity
• Response and note workflow
• Counts toward the verdict and exports just like automated findings

NLE handoff for faster fixes.

• XML markers
• EDL markers at content timecodes
• Findings, conformance rows, and manual flags included
• Drop-frame timeline-start adjustment

Lossless time-series for downstream tooling.

• Per-frame video signal series
• Audio level time-series
• Loudness M/S/I timeline
• Spectrum measurement columns

Hardware-accelerated analysis for faster runs on long-form and high-resolution files.

• GPU-accelerated decode and analysis
• Faster throughput on long-form and 4K

Spreadsheet-ready export of findings and measurements.

• Per-finding CSV export
• Per-frame measurement columns
• Ready for archival and analysis

Put your own brand on client-facing reports.

• Your logo on report headers
• Custom report header and footer
• Hide OnSpecQC branding