So, you need to implement a video watermarking solution. How do you decide which solution and vendor are the right ones for you?
When choosing a content protection partner for video watermarking, finding the right solution for your needs is important. Many factors come into play, but here are key questions to ask potential vendors to ensure their watermarking solution is viewer-friendly and pirate-unfriendly, provides a universal, cost-efficient approach and actually works!
Q1. Is the watermark imperceptible to the viewer?
Video watermarking must be virtually imperceptible to the viewer. Security is highly important, but it cannot compromise the viewer experience. A good watermarking solution is virtually imperceptible, which not only doesn't impact viewer experience, but also makes it harder for a pirate to discover and circumvent.
Q2. Is the watermark robust against real-world pirate attacks?
In an era of AI-powered video manipulation, pirate attacks are increasingly technically sophisticated, with professional pirates motivated by high-margin income from selling stolen content. Pirates constantly invest in new techniques to circumvent security, and live sports are the most lucrative targets. Deploying a watermarking technology resilient to various manipulations (including with the use of AI) that adapts in response to attacks in real-time is crucial for protecting this content. Therefore, the watermarking solution must be offered as a managed and supported service rather than an off-the-shelf product or set of tools.
A data-driven AI-assisted approach is crucial for a watermarking vendor. Collecting and analysing vast datasets while monitoring content globally at scale enables the vendor to generate valuable intelligence. This insight allows for accurate predictions of pirate countermeasures and the development of proactive solutions that stay ahead of emerging threats.
Q3. Is the watermark always embedded during playback for all content types?
If the watermark is displayed throughout the duration of the protected content playback, be it a live linear channel or VoD asset, then any capture of pirated content from that source should include the watermark and therefore deliver a result.
Conversely, if the watermark is only displayed intermittently during playback, the capture process will become more complex, as the content monitoring system will need to align video capture with the display time of the watermarking. Accordingly, the number of failed captures will inevitably be higher, and the extraction/identification process may require frequent manual intervention, resulting in higher costs.
Q4. Can the watermark be extracted from a short pirate video capture?
This question is especially important to ask when you are considering protecting live content. Some watermarking solutions, notably those that use A/B variant sequencing to create a unique temporal pattern to identify the infringing subscriber, can require video captures of longer duration for successful extraction. This renders them less effective for the protection of live content – remedial action, such as service suspension, usually has to happen in real-time – it’s of little benefit after the event is over!
In addition, the need for extended video captures can reduce the reliability of the capture process, and larger video files will always mean higher storage costs. Finally, solutions that support watermark extraction from just a few minutes (or even seconds) of captured pirate video will be equally proficient at protecting both live and on-demand video.
Q5. Is the watermark deployable on all devices, including legacy STBs and OTT apps?
For broadcasters and service operators distributing content across multiple channels, it’s essential to ensure robust protection for valuable exclusive content across all client devices and platforms. Protecting an exclusive movie on OTT platforms offers limited value if pirates can still easily capture or restream it from an older broadcast device without fear of detection. Pirates will always identify the easiest way to steal content and exploit those distribution channels and devices. A universal watermarking solution deployable on all key devices will cover all the bases.
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