Abstract
The objective of this research was to establish and quantify the relationship between the physical degradation factors of multimedia telecommunications (teleconferencing) system and subjective human perception. A field survey of real users was first carried out to determine customers' major complaints and corresponding system degradation factors. A prototype teleconferencing simulator was then developed in two separate sound-treated chambers equipped with audio/video equipment running under a custom-developed software program. The experiments using the semantic differential methodology were performed utilizing 26 paid participants (14 college students and 12 housewives). The results indicated that audio/video synchronization and the frame rate were the main system factors for both subject groups, but different pattern of factors' influence was found according to the group, implying that the system configuration would hopefully accommodate the characteristics of the end users. Also, a single quality index, reflecting several human perception highly correlated with user satisfaction, was developed to evaluate telecommunication systems as a guideline for system preference. The results provide some fundamental data on the human subjective perception of multimedia telecommunications quality, and further can help establish the quality standards to enhance service level.
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