TL;DR: The minimum detectable stalling duration in video streaming is between approximately 80 and 200 milliseconds, for most viewers.
One of our customers recently asked about some possible video measurement artifacts: streams that ran into a lot of minor stalling events. That is, video rebuffering shortly, as indicated by the HTML5 video player’s event timeline. Their question was: do users notice these stallings at all? In particular when they’re as short as 100 ms, or less? Initially, we couldn’t provide an immediate answer, but we settled on a default filter to eliminate stallings of <100 ms from our statistics.
We wanted to go deeper and understand what really happens on a psychophysical level — do viewers even notice 100 ms of stalling? Are they more sensitive than that? Or does it really not matter?
To find out, we searched for academic studies, and we found some interesting results. Read on to discover what we learned about stalling detection thresholds, and the importance of knowing the context (content motion, scene context, and viewer attention) to decide whether to consider them or not.
AT&T recently published a paper on AMVOTS, their Automated Mobile Video Objective Testing System, built in collaboration with Ericsson. It is a lab-based platform for measuring video quality on mobile devices under realistic network conditions. For anyone working in video QoE — ourselves included — it is worth a closer look. We talked with Ericsson researcher David Lindero, who explained to us the background of their joint work. Read on to learn more!
The ISO/OSI model is the invisible backbone of our daily internet use. It’s an abstract framework that organizes the complex process of digital communication into seven distinct layers: Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, and Application. However, the complexity of this stack leads to two important issues when it comes to measuring end-user experience:
Many network measurement tools focus on metrics from a single layer, providing only a partial view – measuring or optimizing one layer in isolation doesn’t guarantee a better overall user experience. In other words: problems experienced by users often stem from complex interactions between these layers.
The highest ISO/OSI layer still does not tell you what the user really experienced. While it gives you important information about what was transmitted on the network, knowing what happened on the screen is the most crucial aspect for the final Quality of Experience.
At AVEQ, our Surfmeter platform is built on a cross-layer measurement methodology. This means Surfmeter doesn’t just look at one piece of the puzzle; it analyzes how the different layers work together to deliver services to your end-users
And while over the course of time some layers have become less important, there is something new on the horizon: Layer 8 – the end-user layer. This is where the actual customer experience happens. In the current research discussions, Layer 8 is becoming increasingly talked about, even though there is no standardized definition of that yet.
Stakeholders across the entertainment and networking industries realize that this holistic approach is crucial for truly understanding and improving Quality of Experience (QoE). Let’s explore this top-most layer in conjunction with the ISO/OSI layers to see why this matters.
AVEQ is pleased to announce the integration of Surfmeter by Enhancell, a leading provider of software-centric mobile network testing solutions. Enhancell is known for transforming standard commercial smartphones and tablets into professional drive test tools, allowing operators to verify network performance without bulky hardware. Through this collaboration, our technology is now embedded directly into their widely used testing ecosystem.
We’re pleased to share new research that has been published in IEEE Access. The findings validate the accuracy of QoE prediction models such as ITU-T Rec. P.1203 against real-world streaming conditions. The peer-reviewed paper, titled “Satellite Streaming Video QoE Prediction: A Real-World Subjective Database and Network-Level Prediction Models,” represents a collaboration between researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (LIVE), Viasat Inc., TU Ilmenau (Audiovisual Technology Group), and AVEQ. As the title indicates, it tackles the challenge of predicting video Quality of Experience (QoE) over satellite networks using real user data.
We’re thrilled to announce a collaboration with Gcore, a global provider of edge AI, cloud, network, and security solutions. Gcore is now using our Surfmeter solution for their CDN offering, to take monitoring of streaming video performance and Quality of Experience (QoE) to the next level. Read on to learn more about how Gcore uses Surfmeter.
We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming webinar in partnership with Creanord, where we’ll explore how network operators can master Quality of Experience (QoE) monitoring for video streaming and social media platforms.
Morning Session: 9:00 AM CET / 10:00 AM EET / 3:00 AM EST Evening Session: 3:00 PM CET / 4:00 PM EET / 10:00 AM EST
Why This Matters
With 40% of customer churn directly linked to network issues, ensuring flawless streaming experiences on platforms like Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, and TikTok is no longer optional – it’s essential for customer retention.
In this webinar, AVEQ will present the latest advancements in OTT and social media quality monitoring, demonstrating how operators can accurately measure the complex variables of modern streaming to gain real-time insights into customer QoE, and how the integration into Creanord’s platform allows Creanord’s customers to improve their visibility on issues affecting customer experience.
What You’ll Learn
How to gain deeper understanding of end-user experience on major streaming and social media platforms
Methods to translate complex performance data into actionable Mean Opinion Scores (MOS) based on ITU-T international standards
Strategies to proactively identify and resolve network issues before they impact customers
Proven approaches to reduce churn and increase customer satisfaction
Featured Speakers
Werner Robitza, CEO, AVEQ Alexander Dethof, CTO, AVEQ Claus Still, CEO, Creanord
Creanord is a specialist in network performance and service assurance with more than 20 years of experience in developing solutions for mobile operators, broadband fiber, managed service, and wholesale providers, as well as critical communication providers. Creanord’s PULSureTM solution enables accurate tracking of network and application performance. Creanord’s technology has been implemented in over 30 countries and more than 60 networks globally.
About AVEQ
AVEQ is a technology company specializing in the measurement and analysis of video streaming performance and Quality of Experience (QoE). AVEQ’s flagship product, Surfmeter, is built on industry-standard QoE models and enables streaming and content providers, network operators, and regulators to obtain end-user-centric data to validate performance and diagnose service quality issues. Companies trusting AVEQ include Tier-1 ISPs, OTT, and network providers in the EU and the US, as well as benchmarking providers in the DACH region.
At AVEQ, a significant part of our work involves the deep analysis of video streams to understand and quantify quality. While our flagship product Surfmeter uses a client-side approach to measure delivery QoE (i.e., how well does the network support streaming?), we also needed a solution to understand video quality at the source. Think, for example, ingesting video streams that might be affected by blockiness or frozen frames. Or verifying encoder output. To address this, we built the AVEQ VideoAnalyzer — and in this post we’re going to give you a sneak preview of it.
Are you providing Internet services, and your customers complain about buffering screens and broken movie nights? Are you perhaps telling them that the problem might be their local WiFi, because in your own network monitoring tools, ping tests show that the video CDN was available within a few milliseconds? Of course, ping tests are, and will remain, an essential tool for basic network diagnostics. But when your customers complain about buffering, broken conferences, etc., are they still the only tool you should be reaching for? In this post, we’ll explain how modern application-layer monitoring is the key to enable a great QoE to your customers. Read on to find out more!
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When Do Users Perceive Stalling in Video Streaming?
BlogTL;DR: The minimum detectable stalling duration in video streaming is between approximately 80 and 200 milliseconds, for most viewers.
One of our customers recently asked about some possible video measurement artifacts: streams that ran into a lot of minor stalling events. That is, video rebuffering shortly, as indicated by the HTML5 video player’s event timeline. Their question was: do users notice these stallings at all? In particular when they’re as short as 100 ms, or less? Initially, we couldn’t provide an immediate answer, but we settled on a default filter to eliminate stallings of <100 ms from our statistics.
We wanted to go deeper and understand what really happens on a psychophysical level — do viewers even notice 100 ms of stalling? Are they more sensitive than that? Or does it really not matter?
To find out, we searched for academic studies, and we found some interesting results. Read on to discover what we learned about stalling detection thresholds, and the importance of knowing the context (content motion, scene context, and viewer attention) to decide whether to consider them or not.
Read moreWhat AT&T’s AMVOTS Tells Us About the State of Video QoE Measurement
BlogAT&T recently published a paper on AMVOTS, their Automated Mobile Video Objective Testing System, built in collaboration with Ericsson. It is a lab-based platform for measuring video quality on mobile devices under realistic network conditions. For anyone working in video QoE — ourselves included — it is worth a closer look. We talked with Ericsson researcher David Lindero, who explained to us the background of their joint work. Read on to learn more!
Read moreThe OSI Model in Practice: How Surfmeter Measures the End-User Layer
BlogThe ISO/OSI model is the invisible backbone of our daily internet use. It’s an abstract framework that organizes the complex process of digital communication into seven distinct layers: Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, and Application. However, the complexity of this stack leads to two important issues when it comes to measuring end-user experience:
At AVEQ, our Surfmeter platform is built on a cross-layer measurement methodology. This means Surfmeter doesn’t just look at one piece of the puzzle; it analyzes how the different layers work together to deliver services to your end-users
And while over the course of time some layers have become less important, there is something new on the horizon: Layer 8 – the end-user layer. This is where the actual customer experience happens. In the current research discussions, Layer 8 is becoming increasingly talked about, even though there is no standardized definition of that yet.
Stakeholders across the entertainment and networking industries realize that this holistic approach is crucial for truly understanding and improving Quality of Experience (QoE). Let’s explore this top-most layer in conjunction with the ISO/OSI layers to see why this matters.
Read moreAVEQ Surfmeter Brings Automated, Standardized Video QoE Testing to Enhancell’s Echo Tools 5.0
NewsAVEQ is pleased to announce the integration of Surfmeter by Enhancell, a leading provider of software-centric mobile network testing solutions. Enhancell is known for transforming standard commercial smartphones and tablets into professional drive test tools, allowing operators to verify network performance without bulky hardware. Through this collaboration, our technology is now embedded directly into their widely used testing ecosystem.
Read moreNew Research: ITU-T P.1203 Validated on Real-World Satellite Streaming Data
Blog, NewsWe’re pleased to share new research that has been published in IEEE Access. The findings validate the accuracy of QoE prediction models such as ITU-T Rec. P.1203 against real-world streaming conditions. The peer-reviewed paper, titled “Satellite Streaming Video QoE Prediction: A Real-World Subjective Database and Network-Level Prediction Models,” represents a collaboration between researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (LIVE), Viasat Inc., TU Ilmenau (Audiovisual Technology Group), and AVEQ. As the title indicates, it tackles the challenge of predicting video Quality of Experience (QoE) over satellite networks using real user data.
Read moreGcore Deploys AVEQ’s Surfmeter for End-to-End Streaming QoE Diagnostics and CDN Optimization
NewsWe’re thrilled to announce a collaboration with Gcore, a global provider of edge AI, cloud, network, and security solutions. Gcore is now using our Surfmeter solution for their CDN offering, to take monitoring of streaming video performance and Quality of Experience (QoE) to the next level. Read on to learn more about how Gcore uses Surfmeter.
Read moreCreanord Hosts Webinar with AVEQ on Mastering OTT & Social Media Quality of Experience
NewsNovember 6, 2025 – Two Sessions Available
We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming webinar in partnership with Creanord, where we’ll explore how network operators can master Quality of Experience (QoE) monitoring for video streaming and social media platforms.
Unlocking Customer Loyalty – Mastering OTT & Social Media Quality of Experience
Episode #18 of the Pulse of Networks Webinar Series: How to Build Outperforming 5G Networks
Date: November 6, 2025
Morning Session: 9:00 AM CET / 10:00 AM EET / 3:00 AM EST
Evening Session: 3:00 PM CET / 4:00 PM EET / 10:00 AM EST
Why This Matters
With 40% of customer churn directly linked to network issues, ensuring flawless streaming experiences on platforms like Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, and TikTok is no longer optional – it’s essential for customer retention.
In this webinar, AVEQ will present the latest advancements in OTT and social media quality monitoring, demonstrating how operators can accurately measure the complex variables of modern streaming to gain real-time insights into customer QoE, and how the integration into Creanord’s platform allows Creanord’s customers to improve their visibility on issues affecting customer experience.
What You’ll Learn
Featured Speakers
Werner Robitza, CEO, AVEQ
Alexander Dethof, CTO, AVEQ
Claus Still, CEO, Creanord
Register Now
Choose the session that works best for your timezone and register on Creanord’s website!
About Creanord
Creanord is a specialist in network performance and service assurance with more than 20 years of experience in developing solutions for mobile operators, broadband fiber, managed service, and wholesale providers, as well as critical communication providers. Creanord’s PULSureTM solution enables accurate tracking of network and application performance. Creanord’s technology has been implemented in over 30 countries and more than 60 networks globally.
About AVEQ
AVEQ is a technology company specializing in the measurement and analysis of video streaming performance and Quality of Experience (QoE). AVEQ’s flagship product, Surfmeter, is built on industry-standard QoE models and enables streaming and content providers, network operators, and regulators to obtain end-user-centric data to validate performance and diagnose service quality issues. Companies trusting AVEQ include Tier-1 ISPs, OTT, and network providers in the EU and the US, as well as benchmarking providers in the DACH region.
VideoAnalyzer — AVEQ’s High-Performance C++ Toolkit for No-Reference Video Metrics
Blog, NewsAt AVEQ, a significant part of our work involves the deep analysis of video streams to understand and quantify quality. While our flagship product Surfmeter uses a client-side approach to measure delivery QoE (i.e., how well does the network support streaming?), we also needed a solution to understand video quality at the source. Think, for example, ingesting video streams that might be affected by blockiness or frozen frames. Or verifying encoder output. To address this, we built the AVEQ VideoAnalyzer — and in this post we’re going to give you a sneak preview of it.
Stop Believing Ping Tests Are Sufficient: Why ping tests are no longer enough for a great QoE
BlogAre you providing Internet services, and your customers complain about buffering screens and broken movie nights? Are you perhaps telling them that the problem might be their local WiFi, because in your own network monitoring tools, ping tests show that the video CDN was available within a few milliseconds? Of course, ping tests are, and will remain, an essential tool for basic network diagnostics. But when your customers complain about buffering, broken conferences, etc., are they still the only tool you should be reaching for? In this post, we’ll explain how modern application-layer monitoring is the key to enable a great QoE to your customers. Read on to find out more!
Read more