Frequent visitors will have noticed that the EBU is now providing (free) API-level access to its collection of Quality Control Tests on EBU.IO/QC. The API v1.0 gives access to all 240+ published (and any deprecated) QC Tests, including their detailed definition, description, input and output parameters, default values, examples, and other related information. The images that the EBU associates with each Test are also available via an API call, for use in products and services such as QC software, training material and delivery specs. The QC Tests and related information are provided under the CC-BY 4.0 license.
Easy access
EBU project leader Frans de Jong explains the reasons for the newly implemented API access: "The Tests published on EBU.IO/QC were always freely available, but until last month users had to go through the website or use the XML export functions of EBU.IO/QC. The API support was added at the request and with the help of industry users and now allows users to easily obtain the latest QC definitions from within their applications. We also used this opportunity to update the underlying data model, which is now at v 3.0."
Use of the API
Users of the API can either request an overview of all available EBU QC Tests, ask for a specific Test or query a specific version of a Test. This granularity helps to optimize the number and size of required API calls. For example:
https://ebu.io/qc/api/v1/items returns all published/deprecated Tests
https://ebu.io/qc/api/v1/items/0001F returns a specific Test
https://ebu.io/qc/api/v1/items/0001F/versions/2.0 returns a specific version of a Test
Group effort
Initial feedback from the industry has been positive. "It was interesting to see that people explicitly asked us to include the images we use to create the QC Tests, as this provides a simple way to visualise what QC is about", notes De Jong. "It also reflects the creativity of the editors in the QC group, because in the end the credit for the QC collection goes to all those who are contributing to the creation of these Tests. It really is a group effort to create and update the collection. Currently the group is focused on updating Tests related to subtitling."
A detailed description of the API can be found here: https://ebu.io/help/qc/api.