A Cost-Constrained Video Quality Satisfaction Study on Mobile Devices

Mobile videos on smartphones have been widely used and enjoyed by increasing numbers of people in recent years; however, due to the high bit rates of video streams, viewers must pay high data communication costs when watching videos over cellular networks. Thus, the viewers' quality of experience (QoE) for streaming videos is influenced by their psychological states under this cost pressure. This paper evaluates the cost-constrained video quality. First, a cost-constrained QoE framework that considers technical factors, content types and cost pressure is developed. Then, a cost-constrained video quality satisfaction (CVQS) model is proposed to assess users' video quality satisfaction (QS) considering the three aspects. Finally, the proposed model is verified by empirical analysis, mathematical fitting and experimental simulations. The proposed CVQS model maximizes the QS of videos by considering the cost to users, the users' personality profiles and objective video quality. An example application that employs the CVQS model is provided to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the model.