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Test cases
OTT playback test cases, for everything after the first two minutes
Twenty eight cases covering adaptive bitrate recovery, DRM licence renewal mid stream, output protection, concurrent stream limits and leaked slots, geo and availability windows, resume position conflicts across devices, ad break cue points, subtitle and audio switching, offline download expiry and platform interruptions.
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Last updated
28 worked examples
Start playback and measure time to first frame
TypePerformancePriorityHigh- Test data
- Press play on a title on a stable connection at the target bandwidth
- Expected result
- First frame renders inside the stated budget, the initial rendition is chosen for fast start rather than maximum quality, and no black frame precedes audio.
Step down the bitrate ladder as bandwidth falls
TypePerformancePriorityHigh- Test data
- Throttle from 10 Mbps to 800 kbps during playback
- Expected result
- Rendition steps down within a few segments and playback continues without stalling. A player that buffers rather than adapting has a broken ladder.
Recover the bitrate after bandwidth returns
TypePerformancePriorityHigh- Test data
- Throttle to 800 kbps for two minutes, then restore full bandwidth
- Expected result
- Rendition climbs back within a bounded period. A ladder that steps down and never recovers leaves every viewer watching the lowest quality after one dip.
Survive a complete network drop and reconnect
TypeStatePriorityHigh- Test data
- Disconnect for thirty seconds mid playback, then reconnect
- Expected result
- Player retries with backoff, resumes from the same position rather than restarting, and shows a recoverable state instead of a fatal error.
Acquire a DRM licence and refuse playback without one
TypeSecurityPriorityHigh- Test data
- Play a protected title, then attempt playback with the licence request blocked
- Expected result
- Playback proceeds in the first case and is refused with a distinct error in the second. Protected content never falls back to an unprotected stream.
Renew a DRM licence that expires mid playback
TypeBoundaryPriorityHigh- Test data
- A title longer than the licence duration, watched continuously past the expiry point
- Expected result
- Licence renews without interrupting playback. This is the defect that only appears on long content and is missed by testing the first two minutes.
Enforce output protection on external displays
TypeSecurityPriorityHigh- Test data
- Play premium content over a connection that does not support the required protection level
- Expected result
- Playback is blocked or downgraded to the permitted resolution according to the rights agreement, with a message that explains the restriction.
Restrict the maximum resolution by plan and device
TypeFunctionalPriorityHigh- Test data
- A plan capped at standard definition on a device capable of ultra high definition
- Expected result
- Ladder is capped server side. A cap applied only in the client is bypassed by requesting the higher rendition directly.
Enforce the concurrent stream limit
TypeBoundaryPriorityHigh- Test data
- Plan allows two streams. Start a third, then start two simultaneously from two devices
- Expected result
- Third is refused with a clear message naming the limit, and the simultaneous case resolves to exactly two rather than allowing three through a race.
Release a stream slot when playback ends abnormally
TypeStatePriorityHigh- Test data
- Force kill the app mid playback, then start a stream elsewhere
- Expected result
- Slot is released within the stated heartbeat window. A slot that leaks locks paying subscribers out of their own account.
Refuse playback outside the licensed territory
TypeSecurityPriorityHigh- Test data
- Request a geo restricted title from an out of territory address and through a proxy
- Expected result
- Refused with a geo specific message, and the check is applied at licence issue rather than only at the catalogue listing.
Honour the availability window for a title
TypeBoundaryPriorityHigh- Test data
- A title one minute before its release time and one minute after its expiry
- Expected result
- Refused in both cases in the correct timezone, and an in progress stream at the expiry boundary is handled according to the documented rule.
Save and restore the resume position on the same device
TypeStatePriorityHigh- Test data
- Watch to 12 minutes 30 seconds, close the app, reopen the title
- Expected result
- Resumes within the stated tolerance of the saved position, and the position is saved periodically rather than only on a clean exit.
Reconcile resume positions across two devices
TypeBoundaryPriorityHigh- Test data
- Watch to 20 minutes on one device, then to 10 minutes on another while the first is offline
- Expected result
- Documented conflict rule is applied consistently rather than the last write winning silently, and the viewer is not sent back to an earlier point without explanation.
Mark a title as watched at the correct threshold
TypeBoundaryPriorityMedium- Test data
- Stop just before the completion threshold, then just after, then skip to the credits
- Expected result
- Completion is recorded only past the threshold, and skipping to the end does not mark the episode watched if the policy requires actual viewing.
Seek accurately forwards and backwards
TypeFunctionalPriorityHigh- Test data
- Seek to the last second, the first second, and repeatedly scrub across a segment boundary
- Expected result
- Playback lands within tolerance of the requested position every time, audio and video remain in sync, and rapid scrubbing does not leave the player stalled.
Keep audio and video in sync after an interruption
TypeFunctionalPriorityHigh- Test data
- Resume after a rendition switch, after an advertisement break and after a network recovery
- Expected result
- Sync is maintained in all three cases. Drift that appears only after an interruption is the most commonly reported and least commonly tested playback defect.
Insert an advertisement break and return to content
TypeStatePriorityHigh- Test data
- A mid roll break, then a break where the advertisement fails to load
- Expected result
- Content resumes at the exact cue point in both cases. A failed advertisement must not consume the break slot silently or leave the player stuck.
Prevent seeking past an unwatched advertisement break
TypeNegativePriorityMedium- Test data
- Seek beyond an unplayed mid roll cue point
- Expected result
- Player returns to the cue point according to the documented rule rather than allowing the break to be skipped by scrubbing.
Switch subtitle tracks during playback
TypeFunctionalPriorityHigh- Test data
- Switch between two languages and off, mid playback and immediately after a seek
- Expected result
- Correct track renders in sync within a second, the previous track is removed, and no duplicate captions are displayed simultaneously.
Render subtitle characters and positioning correctly
TypeCompatibilityPriorityMedium- Test data
- Tracks with accented characters, right to left script, and cues positioned to avoid burned in text
- Expected result
- Characters render without substitution, direction is correct, and positioning is honoured rather than every cue being forced to the bottom centre.
Switch audio tracks and preserve the selection
TypeStatePriorityMedium- Test data
- Select an alternative language and a described audio track, then play the next episode
- Expected result
- Selection persists across episodes where the policy says so, and falls back predictably when the chosen track is absent from a title.
Download for offline playback and play without a connection
TypeFunctionalPriorityHigh- Test data
- Download a title, enable flight mode, play it
- Expected result
- Plays fully offline including subtitles and the selected audio track, and the resume position is stored locally and synced on reconnection.
Expire an offline download at the end of its licence
TypeBoundaryPriorityHigh- Test data
- A download played one hour before its expiry and one hour after, both while offline
- Expected result
- Plays before expiry and is refused after it. An offline licence that never expires because the device cannot be reached is a rights exposure.
Handle interrupted and resumed downloads
TypeStatePriorityMedium- Test data
- Interrupt a download at 60 per cent, resume it, and fill the device storage during a download
- Expected result
- Resumes from the interruption point rather than restarting, and a storage failure produces a clear message with no unplayable partial file left behind.
Handle interruptions from the operating system
TypeStatePriorityHigh- Test data
- An incoming call, a headphone disconnect, backgrounding the app and a device lock during playback
- Expected result
- Playback pauses and resumes according to platform convention, audio does not continue after a headphone disconnect, and the position is not lost.
Report playback telemetry accurately
TypeStatePriorityMedium- Test data
- A session with two rendition switches, one stall, one seek and an abandoned start
- Expected result
- Reported watch time, stall count and abandonment match what actually happened, since these figures drive both rights reporting and engineering decisions.
Operate the player with a keyboard, remote and screen reader
TypeAccessibilityPriorityHigh- Test data
- Keyboard and directional remote navigation through play, seek, subtitle and audio controls
- Expected result
- Every control is reachable and labelled, focus is visible on a television at viewing distance, and subtitle settings are announced and adjustable.
What goes in each field
ID
RequiredStable identifier, prefixed by module.
Test case
RequiredWhat is being verified, in one line.
Type
Functional, negative, boundary, security, state, performance, accessibility or compatibility. Use it to check coverage is spread rather than clustered on the happy path.
Priority
Risk based, weighted by churn and by rights exposure. Anything that stops playback, plays content the viewer is not entitled to, or loses the resume position is High. Subtitle and audio failures are High in regulated markets.
Test data
The specific values, including the invalid and boundary ones.
Expected result
RequiredThe precise observable outcome, including message text where the wording itself is the requirement.
Throttle the connection, then restore it
Playback tests pass on a good connection on a new device. These four conditions are where subscribers actually churn.
Restore the bandwidth, not just remove it
Most sets check that quality drops under throttling. The defect is the ladder that steps down and never climbs back, leaving every viewer on the lowest rendition after one dip.
Watch past the licence duration
A DRM licence shorter than the title expires mid stream. Testing the opening minutes of a feature length film will never reach the point where renewal happens.
Kill the app and count the slots
Force stop mid playback, then start a stream elsewhere. A stream slot that leaks locks paying subscribers out of the account they are paying for.
Create a resume conflict deliberately
Watch to 20 minutes on one device and 10 on another while the first is offline. There has to be a documented rule, because last write wins sends viewers backwards.
Why playback defects drive churn
Adaptive bitrate is usually tested in one direction only. Throttling the connection and confirming that quality drops is the easy half; the half that matters is whether the ladder climbs back when bandwidth returns. A player that steps down under a brief dip and then stays there delivers the lowest rendition for the rest of the session, which viewers experience as a permanently blurry service rather than as a temporary network event. The recovery case takes two minutes to run and it is absent from almost every published set.
DRM fails on duration rather than on setup. Licence acquisition is tested constantly because nothing plays without it, but a licence whose duration is shorter than the title has to be renewed mid stream, and that path is only reachable by actually watching long enough. The related rights cases are output protection on an external display and the resolution cap by plan, and the cap has to be applied server side: a ladder limited only in the client is bypassed by requesting the higher rendition directly.
Concurrency has two failure modes that pull in opposite directions. A limit that is not enforced under simultaneous starts lets a third stream through a race, which is a rights problem. A slot that is not released when the app is force killed locks a paying subscriber out of their own account, which is a support problem and a far more common complaint. Both need testing, and the second one needs the abnormal exit rather than the clean one.
Resume position is where viewers notice sloppiness most sharply. It has to be saved periodically rather than on a clean exit, because the app being killed is the normal way playback ends on a phone. Across devices it becomes a conflict resolution problem, and there needs to be a documented rule rather than whichever write arrived last. The same care applies to the completion threshold: skipping to the credits should not mark an episode watched if the policy says otherwise, because that figure feeds both recommendations and rights reporting.
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QAble tests playback across devices and networks, including adaptive bitrate behaviour, DRM and rights enforcement, concurrency limits and offline licensing.
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