Video Optimizer Release 2.3 (03/11/2019)

 

Before you download Video Optimizer 2.3, make sure you meet the following system requirements for your operating system:

Video Optimizer 2.3 Installation Requirements

• At least 2GB of RAM
• Java 8 or above
• For Android developers, Android SDK Level 19 or above
• For iOS developers, use latest version of Xcode
• WinPcap (Windows)
• Brew(Mac)
• Ifuse(Mac)
• OSXFuse(Mac)
• FFmpeg
• VLC media player (Windows & Linux)
• Wireshark

Video Optimizer 2.3 Features

This release includes the following features and enhancements:

• iOS Secure Collector
• Attenuate and Secure collection option displayed on the Start Collector window.
• Updates to instructions window
• Secure collection using Command Line Interface
• New Video Best Practice “Resolution and Perception“ tests for video resolution greater than 720p
• New “No data” icon added to indicate that a Best Practice is not applicable when a trace does not have relevant data available for analysis.
• Waterfall Tab enhancements - Displays appropriate domain names and IP addresses, and highlights the Maximum number of Simultaneous Connections for the trace.
• Other Enhancements:
• Startup Delay compares video startup delay graphically against 3 reference apps
• Handling special characters and spaces in adb path and other applicable locations.
• Android versions Oreo and above to stop vpn collector on the device if there is an existing collector instance running on the device.
• Update content viewer.

Known Issues in Release 2.3

1. Application names, CPU usage, signal strength is not displayed for traces taken with Android Version Oreo and above.
2. Video Optimizer is not capable of running a collection on the 2018 iPhone devices. Fixing this requires a few updates.
   1. Apple has to officially release the XCode Update to handle the new ECID's.
   2. User will have to install / update to the latest HEAD of libimobiledevices.
   3. Code changes in VO to support the newer ECID (Should be present in 3.0 release).

 

Video Optimizer Release 2.2.1 (11/13/18)

 

Before you download Video Optimizer 2.2.1, make sure you meet the following system requirements for your operating system:

Video Optimizer 2.2.1 System Requirements

• At least 2GB of RAM
• Java 8 or above
• For Android developers, Android SDK Level 19 or above
• For iOS developers, use latest version of Xcode
• WinPcap (Windows)
• Brew(Mac)
• Ifuse(Mac)
• OSXFuse(Mac)
• FFmpeg
• VLC media player (Windows &Linux)
• Wireshark

Video Optimizer 2.2.1 Features

This release includes the following features and enhancements:

• New Best Practice “Variable Bitrate” is added to test if the video stream is using Variable bitrate or not.
• New ‘Configuration Required’ icon added to indicate if the Video Best Practice tests requires additional configuration
• Time Range analysis has been re-designed with addition of Total Payload Data displayed in Best Practices trace summary and Time range analysis results section.
• Attenuator enhancements to support Android 9 “Pie”
• iOS Secure Collector (Beta version)
• Android Secure Collector supports Pie version
• Other enhancements include
• Handling special characters in file names
• Handling missing traces in the recent files
• Updates to the iOS collector installation

Known Issues in Release 2.2.1

• Application names, CPU usage, signal strength is not displayed for traces taken with Android Version Oreo and above.
• Some iOS traces taken using HD show as low resolution.
• No traffic file is displayed for iOS HD traces(intermittent)

 

Video Optimizer Release 2.1 (09/13/18)

Before you download Video Optimizer 2.1, make sure you meet the following system requirements for your operating system:

Video Optimizer 2.1 System Requirements

• At least 2GB of RAM
• Java 8 or above
• For Android developers, Android SDK Level 19 or above
• For iOS developers, use latest version of Xcode
• WinPcap (Windows)
• Brew(Mac)
• Ifuse(Mac)
• Xfuse(Mac)
• FFmpeg
• VLC media player
• Wireshark

Video Optimizer 2.1 Features

This release includes the following features and enhancements:

• iOS Attenuator enhancements allows to now precisely apply cellular network simulation with throughput which is in 'Kbps' by setting up the MITM proxy on Mac.
• Secure Collector now supports analysis for DIRECTV application
• Collection and Analysis of traces for Devices with Android OS version Pie (9.0)
• Secure Collector now supports devices with Android OS version Oreo
• Other enhancements include:

• Allows to open recent files from the File menu
• User will now be able Select/De-Select the Best Practices using one universal button in Preferences

Known Issues in Release 2.1

• Application names, CPU usage, signal strength is not displayed for traces taken with Android Version Oreo and above.
• Some iOS traces taken using HD show as low resolution.
• EndUTC displays incorrect time on the Metadata panel on the BP tab

Video Optimizer Release 2.0 (05/18/18)

Before you download Video Optimizer 2.0, make sure you meet the following system requirements for your operating system:

Video Optimizer 2.0 System Requirements

• At least 2GB of RAM
• Java 8 or above
• For Android developers, Android SDK Level 19 or above
• For iOS developers, use latest version of Xcode
• WinPcap (Windows)
• Brew(Mac)
• Ifuse(Mac)
• Xfuse(Mac)
• FFmpeg
• VLC media player
• Wireshark

Video Optimizer 2.0 Features

This release includes the following features and enhancements:

• iOS attenuator feature is now available both on the GUI and CLI versions. It currently supports static attenuation for the required speeds.
• Video analysis settings has been added to the Preferences within Video tab. A new option called “Near Stall” is included in video preferences.
• Enhanced support for HLS video streaming.
• Modified Video Parser wizard to easily edit the capture group
• Other Enhancements include:
  • Refresh button is now moved to the TCP/UDP flow table in Diagnostic tab
  • Export JSON has been streamlined and enhanced with additional metadata
  • Percentage savings and verbiage updates have been added to the Best Practices such as Text file compression, Image format and Minify CSS, JS, and HTML

Known Issues in Release 2.0

• Application names, CPU usage, signal strength is not displayed for traces taken with Android Version Oreo and above.
• With iPhone X, intermittent delay in starting the trace.  

Video Optimizer Release 1.4 (01/18/18)

Video Optimizer - Release 1.4 (1/18/2018)

Before you download Video Optimizer 1.4, make sure that you meet the following system requirements for your operating system:

Video Optimizer 1.4 System Requirements

• At least 2GB of RAM
• Java 8 or above
• For Android developers, Android SDK Level 19 or above
• For iOS developers, use latest version of Xcode
• WinPcap (Windows)
• Brew(Mac)
• Ifuse(Mac)
• Xfuse(Mac)
• FFmpeg
• VLC media player
• Wireshark

Video Optimizer 1.4 Features

This release includes the following enhancements:

• Improvements to stability and performance of the Secure Collector.
• Diagnostic tab improvements to ensure the listing on the graph is aligned with the options selection from the menu (view).
• Help button will provide more information about Dumpcap path, FFMPEG, FFPROBE path in the preferences window.
• Command Line improvements to support Dynamic attenuation.

Known Issues in Release 1.4

• Blank screen is displayed when you take the first trace using an iOS collector. User should stop and take a new trace to continue.
• Application names are not displayed for traces taken with Oreo

Video Optimizer Release 1.3 (11/20/2017)

Before you download Video Optimizer 1.3, make sure that you meet the following system requirements for your operating system:

Video Optimizer 1.3 System Requirements

• At least 2GB of RAM
• Java 8 or above
• For Android developers, Android SDK Level 19 or above
• For iOS developers, use latest version of Xcode
• WinPcap (Windows)
• FFmpeg
• VLC media player
• Wireshark

Video Optimizer 1.3 Features

This release extends the following features to be released with Video Optimizer 1.3:

Secured Collector

This feature allows collection of encrypted data and analysis of the same. It now works with Android versions Marshmallow and Nougat.

New Best Practice: Concurrent Session

Concurrent session is a new best practice that is added to the set of Video Best Practices section. The concurrent session best practice displays the maximum number of concurrent sessions for each manifest in the Video trace. The table displays the manifest name, the maximum number of concurrent sessions for the manifest and the duration that concurrency was active for. If the maximum concurrency occurs more than once in the manifest then the duration of concurrency for each instance is added up and displayed in the table.

New Best Practice: Image Comparison

This best practice compares the dimensions of the downloaded images verses the dimensions displayed on the screen and fails the test if it is greater than or equal to 50% savings of pixels.

New Best Practice: Multiple Simultaneous Connection to Many Endpoints

Opening many connections all at once can cause bottlenecks in slower network conditions. This best practice will help detect those connections that connect to many endpoints. It triggers fail when it detects more than 12 connections in use at the same time.

Best Practice enhancement: Multiple Simultaneous Connections to One Endpoint

A new IP column is added to simultaneous connection to one Endpoint to display all the IP’s along with the domain name.

Video Best Practices Pass Fail Configuration

Startup delay, Stall duration and Segment Redundancy best practices now provide user an option to trigger pass and fail criteria. Users will have an option under File, under preferences to define the custom values.

Command Line option to throttle speed for Network Attenuator

Video Optimizer command line will now accept both Uplink and Downlink parameters applied at the same time via command line options.

DNS Packet Analysis

Now Video Optimizer can analyze the DNS packets along with TCP/UDP packets.

Video Request Table

Video Request Table in Video tab now has an option to export the video requests to an excel sheet and allows to save in user preferred location.

Extend Manifest Dash Format

There is a new MPD(XML) format that is parsed into a ManifestDASH which can handle “.m4a” video segments.

Preferences UI

Preferences UI under the File menu now provides 3 logging levels such as debug, info, and error options to collect the log so it helps in debugging if any issues. It also has configurable paths for ffmpeg, ffprobe and dumpcap.

iOS Enhancements

When collecting iOS traces, user will now have an option to select HD recording. Also, iOS traces now capture the Bluetooth event if it is on and will be displayed in Diagnostics chart.

Known Issues in Release 1.3

• Video Best Practices - Under preferences, when user enters a higher value than the default fail value for any of the video best practices, it saves the value without providing any error message. It instead saves the profile but doesn’t apply. Make sure to enter a value lower than default value.
• Application names are not displayed for traces taken with Oreo version
• User will require to create a new provision file if user deletes provisioning profile and certificate from the preferences

Video Optimizer Release 1.2 (05/11/17)

Before you download Video Optimizer 1.2, make sure that you meet the following system requirements for your operating system:

Video Optimizer 1.2 System Requirements

• At least 2GB of RAM
• Java 8 or above
• For Android developers, Android SDK Level 19 or above
• For iOS developers, use latest version of Xcode
• WinPcap (Windows)
• FFmpeg
• VLC media player
• Wireshark

Video Optimizer 1.2 Features

This release extends the following features to be released with Video Optimizer 1.2:

New video tab

A new table called ‘Video Results Summary’ is available under the video tab and it includes all the chosen video related information such as Stalls, Start-up delay, Buffer occupancy, Segments info, Bytes buffer/Seconds buffer, IP sessions/addresses, Maximum concurrent sessions, TCP connections, Redundancy etc. It also allows to manage and analyze multiple manifest files in the same trace. ‘Start-up delay reminder’ option is now available whenever we have video in the traffic for analysis. ‘Maximum Concurrent sessions’ is another option available in video tab that will display the maximum number of concurrent video sessions.

Network Attenuator

The user can apply cellular network simulation precisely with Throughput which is in ‘kbps’ instead of delay in ‘ms’. Also notification messages are displayed on the phone denoting applied speed. The user is able to create own profile with required values and use it during trace collection.

UI Window for User Configurable Best Practices

This is a new UI added to the tool to help users choose the best practices they want to test against depending on the application type. This option is available under File/preferences and once the selection is made, analysis will apply to the selected best practices. ADB path can be found under preferences instead of File menu. Additionally, we limit the video segments to be displayed in the diagnostics graph only when any of the Video best practices or any of the Image best practices such as Compression, Metadata or Format is selected for analysis.

New Best Practice: Multiple simultaneous connections to one IP range

This is a new best practice added under “Connections” best practices group that reports unnecessary connections. It checks if the multiple connections can be consolidated into one single connection – which would speed up content delivery and leave connection capacity for additional content. Ensuring that your mobile application’s load can be handled by your back-end server is an important test to follow before you launch your service.

Video Parser

Video parser has the ability to parse any streaming video manifest or video URL to identify key streaming features. Using this tool VO can perform video stream analysis and will allow the user to test any non-encrypted stream of video. Streaming apps often change their profile which causes the developers to stop analyzing the application. Different stream types like video on demand vs. live stream often have a different type of profile and characteristics. This makes individual custom coding untenable for long term sustainability of the tool.

DNS packets capture

Video Optimizer will capture all the DNS packets.

Known Issues in Release 1.2

• Video Tab IP addresses/IP Sessions fields in the Video tab will display all the sessions and addresses related to the entire traffic, not particular for the video traffic. Additionally, it doesn't update when manifest selection changes.
  In the Video Results Summary table under Video tab, the values will remain, even if the manifest file(s) is deselected after setting the startup delay. Workaround is for the user to set the start-up delay/reselect the startup delay of a movie they would like to analyze.
  The fields 'Network Comparison', 'IP sessions', 'IP Address' and 'Mbytes Total' under the video results summary table are displaying results for all videos regardless of video selection.
  For Non-DRM traces, video frame thumbnails are displayed only on a Mac platform. For Windows/Linux we show blobs.
• DNS Packets - Analyzer displays DNS packets as UDP.

Miscellaneous issues

• Unresponsive UI due to specific traces causing exceptions. Workaround is to restart the application.
• Diagnostics tab is sorting the column 'Remote IP End Point' alphabetically instead of numerically.

Video Optimizer Release 1.1 (05/11/17)

Before you download Video Optimizer 1.1, make sure you meet the following system requirements for your operating system.

Video Optimizer 1.1 System Requirements

Before you download Video Optimizer 1.1, make sure you meet the following system requirements for your operating system.

• At least 2GB of RAM
• Java 8 or above
• For Android developers, Android SDK Level 19 or above
• For iOS developers, use latest version of Xcode
• WinPcap (Windows)
• FFmpeg

Video Optimizer 1.1 Features

Release 1.1 extends the features released in the Video Optimizer version 1.0.

Network Attenuator

The Network Attenuator feature supports dynamic attenuation. It lets you add a delay (attenuation) in milliseconds for the download and upload streams. The new enhancement lets you do the following:

• Apply variable attenuation
• Apply static attenuation

 

Variable Attenuation

When a variable attenuation is applied during collection, a preloaded script is used and the attenuation speed changes during the collection. A step chart is displayed on the diagnostic chart for the variable speeds and the values match to the attenuation applied during the collection.

 

Static Attenuation

The following options are available for static attenuation:

• Downlink
• Uplink
• Downlink and Uplink

A red straight line is displayed for downlink on the diagnostic chart. A blue straight like is displayed for uplink on the diagnostic chart.

Video Best Practices

This release has enhancements to a group of best practice tests that offer guidance on mobile development issues with video. A new tab “Video” is available on the analyzer where all the manifest and the video segments are listed on this tab. A new pop-up window is displayed where all the video segments are listed when the user sets the startup delay. The stalls are automatically detected after the startup delay is set.

Image Best Practices

This release has enhancements to the best practice tests in the area of image format. Video Optimizer converts all the images to WebP format (for Android) or Jpeg2000 format (for iOS) and it gives a “Pass” if there are no savings after the conversion. This best practice will give a “Pass” when there are no images with a savings of more than 15 percent, and a Fail if there is at least one image with more than 15 percent savings when converted.

Android Device Data Capture – CPU Temperature and GPS Events

This release includes Android device data capture and Diagnostic tab correlation, CPU Temperature, and location events.

 

CPU Temperature

A new option “CPU Temperature” is available under View/Options/CPU Temperature. The thermal temperature of the device is displayed on the diagnostic chart as the CPU Temperature. A green graph is plotted on the diagnostic chart.

 

GPS/Location events

GPS/location events information is collected from the device and displayed on the diagnostic chart. Active, Standby state is plotted on the graph. Pings are also marked on the diagnostic chart. The following information is available by hovering on the pings:

• Time
• Location info
• Latitude
• Longitude
• Locality
• Provider

Performance Enhancements

This release includes performance-related enhancements such as a faster launch for Video Optimizer and support for bigger traces.

Installation Enhancements

This release includes installation-related enhancements such as the vlcj media player, and an updated help document.

Rebranding

This release includes rebranding of the ARO Command Line Utility and folder structures to the Video Optimizer.

Video Parser Utility (Beta version)

The Video Parser utility significantly broadens the reach of video optimization by supporting different video formats. This tool has the ability to parse any streaming video URL to identify key streaming features using regular expressions. By using this tool, Video Optimizer can perform video stream analysis and allow the user to test any unencrypted stream of video. Different stream types like video on demand vs. live stream often have a different type of profile and characteristics.

What are the known issues in Release 1.1?

• Network Attenuator
• When no attenuation is applied, the diagnostics chart displays some irrelevant values.

• iOS Issues
• Video Analysis is not available for iOS devices. For this release video analysis is only available for Android.
• Screen capture is failing while collecting a trace via Command line inertface for iOS devices.
• A black screen is displayed on the video viewer as soon as the trace is opened instead of an image from the device on which the trace was collected.

• Android Device Data Capture – CPU Temperature
• CPU temperature is device dependent.

• Video Best Practices
• In line videos are sometimes captured as part of trace analysis and a single segment is displayed on the diagnostics chart. The user is able to select the segment.
• When there are two manifest files in the video trace, the buffer graph for bytes and seconds are inaccurate.
• “Show Video viewer” will still be available for traces with no videos and when clicked, it will open the previous trace video but it will not be playable.

• Video Parser Utility
• The “search success” message is displayed on top when you launch a new Video Parser Wizard from the menu.
• In the Video Parser Wizard window, the result section of the wizard does not save the previously chosen XREF options for the data capture group when the next set of capture group is entered.
• When a user sees a negative segment number, it means that there is no manifest in HLS and no recognized segment number is present in the request.
• Analyzer is getting stuck while parsing the requests available in the Video requests under the Video tab.

Video Optimizer Release 1.0 (12/30/16)

Video Optimizer Release 1.0 (12/30/16)

Video Optimizer 1.0 is a new developer tool in the new Entertainment Experience Suite, and it is based on the award winning Application Resource Optimizer. Video Optimizer allows mobile application developers to test the network performance of video, images and other files for compression, speed, battery drain and other aspects of performance.

Video Optimizer 1.0 System Requirements

Before you download Video Optimizer 1.0, make sure you meet the following system requirements for your operating system.

• At least 2GB of RAM
• Java 7 or above (should have the latest update of Java 1.7 or above)
• For Android developers, Android SDK Level 19 or above
• For iOS developers, use Xcode 8
• WinPcap
• FFmpeg

Video Optimizer 1.0 Features

Release 1.0 is built for testing on iOS and Android devices, and extends the features released in the Application Resource Optimizer versions 1.0-5.1. Several features have further requirements, as listed here.

VPN Secured Collector (Supported on Android 4.2 to 4.4 (KitKat) only and Mac for collection) The secure collector feature in Video Optimizer can decrypt HTTPS traffic – providing you with a more thorough analysis of the traffic transmitted during your testing.

Network Attenuator (Supported on Android only)

The Network Attenuator feature allows you to vary the attenuation of uplink and downlink network bandwidth, letting you test the impact of slower network speeds and different levels of network congestion on your app’s performance. The Network Attenuator feature can be used with Android devices and the Video Optimizer’s VPN collector.

Video Best Practices

A group of Best Practice tests that offer guidance on mobile development issues with video. These tests let you visualize and diagnose common streaming issues to optimally balance Deliver Quality (DQ) versus Video Quality (VQ). The DQ key performance indicators (KPI) are startup time, stalls, track switches, and latency.

Security Best Practices

A section of Best Practice tests in the area of security help you check that your app is using HTTPS to better secure private data, and that you are using the latest HTTPS version to help you avoid unsecure SSL connections. Other security tests look for weak ciphers to protect the data you are transmitting with a stronger method of encryption and checks that the ciphers you are using support forward secrecy.

Image Best Practices

New best practice tests to help you use images more efficiently. One new test looks at your image metadata to determine if unnecessary metadata is being included. Metadata can greatly increase file size, but has little benefit for the end user. Removing extra metadata makes the images smaller and lets them download faster.

Another new test helps you find the best level of image compression so that the images in your app maintain quality at a smaller size. You can analyze all images (JPG, GIF, PNG, WebP) to ensure that the image was properly compressed.

Peripheral support using the VPN Collector

The VPN collector in Video Optimizer 1.0 can collect data from peripherals.

Support for Android and Apple versions

• Android device (or emulator) running 4.4 or higher
• iOS device running iOS 6 or higher

What are the known issues in Release 1.0?

• Android Emulator
• Video Optimizer works only with ARM emulators.

• Security Best Practices
• In our testing, only KitKat devices detected a week cipher.
• Private data transmission: There is a false positive scenario that Analyzer reports a sixteen digit number as a credit card number.

• Video Best Practices
• Note: Traces that are collected from a paused video do not capture the manifest file, so the thumbnails are not displayed.
Some traces do not generate segments as the manifest file is not created.
• Only stalls have the pass/fail criteria. All the other video best practices are currently informative only.
• Although there are stalls in the trace, sometimes the buffer occupancy graph doesn't report them.
• After setting the video start-up delay, you cannot set the recovery time that occurred in the trace.

• HD/SD Video Options
• HD option is disabled for windows.
• HD /SD option is disabled for Linux.

• Secured Collector
• Selecting 'Secure' and not installing a certificate doesn't give an error when browsing occurs through secure websites like Yahoo, Google, Amazon, YouTube, etc.

• Analyzer
• HTTPS cache statistics tab displays all zeros.
• When you click the zoom option on the Diagnostics Tab, you are not kept at the same point, for example, the page goes to the starting point.

• Other Issues
• When the Graph on the Diagnostics Tab is zoomed in, the video in the Image/Viewer may take longer to respond to commands such as Pause.
• In the Diagnostic chart it shows a delay of the chunk arriving as a stall on the graph. However on the video viewer the spinning wheel is not displayed so it is not really a stall.