QC checks

86currently active

The full catalogue of automated checks SpectraQC can run against a broadcast deliverable, sourced from the same catalogue the analyser consults at job time. Most are conditional — a check fires only when the delivery spec you attach enforces it, so any given job runs a subset of this list. Each row links to its method page: what it measures, the standard that defines it, and which fields of your delivery spec resolve the thresholds.

Audio

14checks

Loudness, dynamic range, dialogue, phase, silence, click/pop, language identification.

Check	What it measures	Standards
Audio clicks pops	Audio click / pop event count	—
Audio dialnorm	DialNorm metadata validation (AC-3 / E-AC-3)	ATSC A/52 (AC-3)
Audio dual mono	Dual-mono detection per stereo track	—
Audio format	Audio codec / sample rate / bit depth	—
Audio language detected	Spoken-language identification	BCP-47
Audio loudness range	Loudness range (LRA), EBU R128	EBU R128 · ITU-R BS.1770-4 · EBU Tech 3342
Audio loudness speech gated	Speech-gated integrated loudness (ATSC A/85 dialogue measurement)	ATSC A/85 · ITU-R BS.1770-4
Audio phase coherence	Stereo phase coherence per track	—
Audio quasi peak	Quasi-peak programme metre (PPM), IEC 60268-10	IEC 60268-10 · EBU Tech 3205
Audio silence	Per-channel silence intervals	—
Audio tracks	Audio track count + role configuration	—
Channel layout	Channel layout per audio track	—
Clipping	True peak clipping count	ITU-R BS.1770-4 · ITU-R BS.1770-4 Annex 2
Loudness	Integrated programme loudness, EBU R128 / ITU-R BS.1770-4	ITU-R BS.1770-4 · EBU R128 · ATSC A/85

Video

30checks

Codec, resolution, frame rate, signal range, artefact suite (banding, ringing, mosquito noise, image tilt, …), HDR, captions, photosensitivity.

Check	What it measures	Standards
Black frames	Black-frame intervals (full-file scan)	—
Combing	Interlace combing detection	—
Frame rate	Frame rate vs spec allowlist	—
Frozen frames	Frozen-frame intervals (full-file scan)	—
GOP structure	GOP structure / I-frame interval	—
HDR	HDR transfer / primaries / mastering metadata	ITU-R BT.2100 · SMPTE ST 2086 · CTA-861.3
Pixel format	Pixel format / chroma subsampling	—
PSE preliminary	PSE preliminary fast-screen (pre BT.1702)	ITU-R BT.1702-3 · Ofcom Guidance Note 1
PSE strict	Photosensitivity epilepsy analysis, ITU-R BT.1702-3 / Ofcom Annex 1 (SDR + HDR)	ITU-R BT.1702-3 · Ofcom Guidance Note 1, Annex 1 (2009)
Resolution	Frame resolution vs spec allowlist	—
Scan type	Scan type (progressive / interlaced)	—
Signal range	Luma signal range, full-file signalstats	ITU-R BT.601 / BT.709 narrow range
Video aliasing	Aliasing / staircase artefact (high-frequency ratio)	—
Video blockiness	Macroblock / compression blockiness score	—
Video blurriness	Image blurriness (Laplacian variance)	—
Video captions present	Closed captions (CEA-608 / 708) presence	CEA-608 · CEA-708 · Apple QuickTime File Format
Video codec	Video codec vs spec allowlist	—
Video colour banding	Colour banding detection	—
Video colour bars	Colour-bars detection (head window only)	SMPTE ECR 1-1978 · EBU 100Hz colour bars
Video dead pixels	Dead / stuck pixel detection	—
Video decode errors	Decode errors / corrupt packets	—
Video dropouts	Single-frame dropout intervals	—
Video dropped frames	Dropped frames vs declared frame rate	—
Video ghosting	Ghosting / frame-blend correlation	—
Video image tilting	Image tilt angle (Hough-line dominant direction)	—
Video mosquito noise	Mosquito-noise score (compression edge noise)	—
Video pulldown judder	3:2 / 2:2 pulldown judder	—
Video ringing	Ringing artefact score	—
Video slate fields	Slate field extraction + spec match	—
Video slate present	Slate frame presence (head window)	—

Timing & timecode

5checks

Duration, start TC, timecode continuity, A/V sync drift, slate timing.

Check	What it measures	Standards
A/V sync drift	A/V sync drift, audio onset vs video luma transition	—
Duration	File duration	—
LTC VITC	LTC / VITC sidecar timecode	SMPTE 12M · SMPTE RP 188
Start timecode	Start timecode (container or stream tag)	SMPTE 12M
Timecode continuity	Packet PTS monotonicity + gap detection	—

Subtitles & captions

13checks

Format, encoding, frame-rate match, cue continuity, line / character limits, MXF SMPTE-436M ANC detection.

Check	What it measures	Standards
Character count	Subtitle total character count	—
Cue gaps	Minimum gap between adjacent cues	—
Frame rate match	Subtitle frame rate vs video frame rate	EBU-STL · TTML 2 frameRate
IMSC subtitle conformance	IMSC1 / IMSC1.1 subtitle conformance, W3C TTML2	W3C TTML2 · W3C IMSC1 · W3C IMSC1.1
Language tag	Audio stream language tag (ISO 639)	ISO 639-2 · BCP-47
Line count	Subtitle total line count	—
Min cue duration	Subtitle minimum cue duration	—
Subtitle encoding	Subtitle file character encoding	—
Subtitle extended chars	Subtitle extended-character / smart-character ban	—
Subtitle format	Subtitle format vs spec allowlist	SRT · WebVTT · TTML 2
Subtitle max duration	Subtitle cue maximum display duration	—
Subtitle reading speed	Subtitle reading speed (characters per second)	BBC Subtitle Guidelines · Netflix TTSL
Timing range	Subtitle timing range vs programme duration	—

Container & structure

2checks

Container format, MXF structural conformance, slate detection.

Check	What it measures	Standards
Container	Container format vs spec allowlist	—
MXF structural conformance	MXF structural conformance, SMPTE ST 377-1	SMPTE ST 377-1 · SMPTE ST 377-4 · SMPTE ST 378

Package & sidecar

11checks

IMF package conformance, inter-component consistency (loudness, language, duration, audio uniqueness, required audio, subtitle coverage), and sidecar metadata reconciliation against the primary essence.

Check	What it measures	Standards
Duration vs video	Sidecar audio duration vs primary video	—
IMF conformance photon	IMF conformance (Netflix Photon)	SMPTE ST 2067-2 · SMPTE ST 2067-3
IMF package conformance	IMF package conformance, SMPTE ST 2067	SMPTE ST 2067-2 · SMPTE ST 2067-3 · SMPTE ST 2067-100
IMF structural conformance	IMF structural conformance (catch-all)	SMPTE ST 2067-2 · SMPTE ST 2067-3 · SMPTE ST 429-8
Pkg audio loudness divergence	Inter-component loudness consistency	EBU R128 (per-component)
Pkg audio uniqueness	Inter-component audio uniqueness (anti-duplicate)	—
Pkg duration match	Package component duration consistency	—
Pkg language consistency	Inter-component language consistency	ISO 639-2 · BCP-47
Pkg required audio	Required audio components present	—
Pkg subtitle dialogue coverage	Subtitle dialogue coverage vs audio silence	—
Sidecar metadata conformance	Sidecar metadata conformance & reconciliation	SMPTE ST 2067-2 · SMPTE ST 2067-100 · AMWA AS-02

Other

11checks

Check	What it measures	Standards
MXF as11 dpp conformance report	AS-11 UK DPP HD conformance report (AMWA)	AMWA AS-11 UK DPP HD · SMPTE ST 377-1
MXF as11 dpp metadata	AS-11 / UK DPP DMS-1 metadata surface	AMWA AS-11 UK DPP HD · SMPTE ST 377-1 (DMS-1)
MXF dm conformance	AS-11 UK DPP descriptive-metadata conformance	AMWA AS-11 UK DPP HD · ISO 639-2
MXF segmentation conformance	AS-11 segmentation / programme parting	AMWA AS-11 UK DPP HD
MXF track structure conformance	AS-11 Material Package track structure	AMWA AS-11 UK DPP HD
Scan essence match	Scan type vs essence reconciliation	—
Segment marker accuracy	Segmentation marker accuracy (region-typed routing)	SMPTE ST 2067-3 (IMF CPL markers)
Test signal bars duration	Colour-bars duration conformance	—
Test signal slate duration	Slate / clock duration conformance	—
Test signal tone frequency	Line-up tone frequency conformance	EBU R49 / SMPTE (1 kHz line-up tone)
Test signal tone level	Line-up tone level conformance	EBU R68 (-18 dBFS alignment) · SMPTE RP 155 (-20 dBFS)