Impact of Video Luminance on Perceptual Quality and Energy Consumption in Video Streaming

The 16th International Conference on Quality of Multimedia Experience (QoMEX’24)
18 – 20 June 2024, Karlshamn, Sweden
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Authors: Minh Nguyen, Görkem Güclü, Martin Lasak, Robert Seeliger, Stefan Arbanowski, Stephan Steglich (Fraunhofer FOKUS, Berlin, Germany)

Abstract: Video streaming services have become integral to modern digital experiences, yet they present a challenge in balancing perceptual quality with energy efficiency. This paper presents a study on the impact of luminance changes in video streaming on the perceptual quality experienced by end users and the associated energy consumption. We investigate different luminance change scenarios and evaluate their effects using objective quality metrics and energy consumption measurements.

The results demonstrate the trade-off between the visual quality and energy efficiency in video luminance reduction. We found that the video luminance can be reduced by 8% with acceptable quality while saving nearly 11% energy consumption. In addition, common quality metrics reacts differently with the changes in video luminance, that implies a subjective test to find the best performant metric. Insights from this study have implications for video streaming service providers and device manufacturers aiming to optimize both user experience and energy efficiency.

Index Terms: Quality of Experience, Objective Quality Metrics, Green Streaming, Luminance.